Schools in Malta amid the pandemic

Six months after the first case of covid-19 appeared in Malta, schools are still closed for pupils. With Malta placing the third in the EU for deaths pro rata, the situation looks very bleak.  While schools opened last Monday for educators, students will start coming in to school in a staggered way starting from October 7th till the 14th.

The situation was under control at the beginning of July, but after airport was opened, and a series of mass events were held, the situation relapsed and the number of those infected started increasing daily. There have now been registered 35 deaths related to Covid 19, and more than 700 people are infected with the virus.

Schools closed immediately in March after the first few cases were diagnosed. Online teaching was implemented. However, now it is essential that schools open as students cannot remain cooped at home. They need to socialise and even though they will be in bubbles, there is nothing better than meeting one's friends face to face. This also goes for the learning. It is better to teach students when they are in  front of you and you can monitor their behaviour.

Looking forward to this scholastic year, with all the problems and obstacles it will offer!

Malta scores low in PIsa results

Once again, Malta has scored abysmally in the Pisa results. What is of particular concern to me is the fact that state schools still rank behind church and independent schools. This is an injustice to the majority of students on the Maltese Islands who attend state schools.

More needs to be done. Whilst one cannot deny that a lot is being done structure wise, with new schools being built, and older ones being refurbished, unfortunately, this is not the way to go.

Social justice for these children can be gotten by raising standards and expectations of all students, once again instilling discipline in schools, and putting importance on kindness, and respect, both towards authority, towards each other and also towards the environment.  Being smart is also a value which has gone with the wind.

Letting students come to school with their tracksuits, or letting boys wear earrings is not the way forward. Whilst I have nothing against equality, schools should be allowed to set their own policies and not have them imposed upon by the Education Department. Giving students everything they want is strictly not on. In life, one cannot get everything one wants. A rethinking of the way that Maltese state schools are heading is to be urgently done.

The full details about the Pisa results can be found in this link:

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/education-system-in-the-dock-as-students-score-low-in-major-survey.

SAB POSTU F’AMBJENT TA’ TAGĦLIM ADDATTAT GĦALIH

A student speaking about his experiences at a vocational school. He says that he is very happy as this is the ideal place for him to learn and thrive.

This school is found in the central town of Paola and caters for students aged 15 to 18 years.

Education Exposed: Leading a school in a time of Uncertainty

I read this book, which was published at the end of January, in just three days. As an assistant head of school, I got to know about it through twitter. Further perusal of it, made me conclude that this book would be useful to me and I pre-ordered this book, so that I could read it as soon as it got published. Even though my context is different, as I live in Malta, I could very well understand and empathize with what the author was stating.

This book has many interesting topics which are all important for school leaders. The book starts with behaviour, which is a crucial aspect of any school. The salient point about behaviour is that behaviour has to be taught. I fully concur with this. The school should show to students where the boundaries lie and what it does and does not accept.

The author also comments on the learning outcomes. This method of teaching is being introduced slowly into Maltese schools, along with continuous assessment. I concur with Strickland in that the children knowing the learning objectives is not beneficial to them.

Strickland also mentions another point: that of the importance of team work among teachers in a school. It is also essential that the school head invests in the people who work around him. As he states, a good school is one where students have one good teacher after another.

I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to all those who like me are in a position of
leadership in a school, as it gives you much to think about.

Continous Assessment and changes in the Maltese education system

Last Friday, at school, we had training about continuous assessment. This will be introduced as from next scholastic year, in year 9 in all subjects. This change will affect all Maltese schools. The students will be made to complete between three to five tasks , spread over three years, that is, from year nine to eleven.

While I am not averse to continuous assessment per se, I have my doubts whether this system will be successful. The Education Department is assuming that we live in an utopian world where all students are keen to learn, where they will all do their tasks and complete them by the deadline date. The stark reality for those who work in schools could not be further away from this. Nowadays, with the inclusive system in place in Maltese schools, schools are co-ed, and all academic abilities are grouped together in secondary school. Students with challenging behaviour are always a force to be reckoned with. The intake in schools depends on the catchment area, which severely defines the school culture.

These changes being wrought to the Maltese education system have all been done in the last few  years. These changes have occurred at such a fast pace that sometimes, it becomes quite a headache to keep up. Thus, next year, teachers at my school will be facing the advent of the learning outcomes framework and also this new system of continuous assessment. Half yearly exams have also been scrapped.

While I will be there to support teachers in the implementation of these system, I have very grave reservations about these. Will they lead to a better education for our students? Are these systems equitable for all students? While I am in favour of inclusion, only time will tell whether these changes will be a success or not.