In Malta, there tends to be very large discrepancies between private, church, and state schools. I decided to create a survey to explore some of the differences between them, and the effects that these have on our students once they leave compulsory schooling.
One of the most obvious differences between private, church and state schools in Malta is the variation in usage of the two national languages: Maltese and English. The general trend is that state schools mostly make use of Maltese and private schools mostly make use of English. Church schools tend to have roughly equal degrees of usage between the two languages. The result of this is that students’ levels of capability in the two languages will vary depending on what type of school they attended.
A total of 169 individuals participated in this survey, with 81 of them having attended a church school, 48 having went to a private school, and the remaining 40 went to a state school.
According to the results of my survey, 47.5% of state school respondents reported that Maltese was the most commonly used language of instruction (the language that the teacher uses to teach), and 37.5% reported that it was an equal mix of both. Church schools do tend to slightly favour English (33.3%) over Maltese (24.7%) but most use both (42%). However, private schools take the language disparity to another extreme. A staggering 96% of private school respondents reported that English was the most commonly used language of instruction, and only a very tiny minority of 4% reported that there was an equal mix of both.
This came as no surprise to me. At my school, every single lesson (except for the Maltese lesson itself) was conducted in English. So were all assemblies, masses, and school plays. The grade average for our Maltese exams were always lower than that of other subjects. One time our headmaster sent out an email to all parents practically begging them to speak to their children in Maltese because throughout our daily lives we were only being exposed to the language for 40 minutes a day (the length of one lesson) and students were just simply not learning how to speak their own language. Such an outcome is both shocking and embarrassing. How can one send their child to an expensive institution with the goal of giving them a better education, only for them to graduate many years later lacking one of the most basic of skills necessary to be a functioning member of Maltese society?
Looking back, I wonder if anyone had written back to the headmaster demanding that more lessons be taught in Maltese. It sounds like a simple solution, but since a good number of foreigners send their children to private schools for the exact reason outlined above, it is very unlikely that this will happen.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that state schools have the opposite problem whereby students graduate from school not having a good command of English, which is just as much of a setback (if not more) than not having a good command of Maltese. According to my survey, 57.5% of state school respondents reported that it was common for students to not have a good command of English. This is of course a problem, especially considering the fact that state school students make up a much larger percentage of the population than private school students, and good knowledge of English is very necessary for furthering one’s education at university where that is the official language of instruction.
It seems that in church schools, incompetency in the two languages is more evenly distributed. When asked if it was common for students to not have a good command of the respective languages, 23.5% responded in the affirmative for Maltese and 21% for English. While these numbers are relatively low, they are still nowhere near a perfect result.
Students need to graduate school with a good knowledge of both languages, not one or the other. For a country that prides itself on bilingualism, perhaps we should start looking into how our school system creates such disastrous linguistic divisions. And with private school kids solely making use of English, it is no wonder that English has been dubbed ‘the language of the elite’.
Of course, due to the fact that private schools cost thousands of euros per year in tuition, it comes as no surprise that a good number of students who attend come from rich families (not all of them of course, but a good chunk). I personally am a bit sceptical of this socially acceptable form of segregation as it breeds a culture of elitism. My survey revealed that 62.5% of private school attendees were told that they attended the best school in Malta, in comparison to 40.7% of church school attendees and 27.5% of state school attendees.
According to a European Commission report, students attending a private school in Malta are likely to be two years more advanced in their learning when compared to a state school. It is unclear whether this is a result of private school attendees being from richer and more educated families, or a result of the private school itself offering better education. It is likely that they both factor into it. Regardless, the report says that equality of opportunity poses challenges since socioeconomic status has a major impact on students’ academic performance and consequently raises the likelihood that they will experience poverty and social isolation in the future.
The problem is that instead of addressing this issue, politicians simply send their kids to private schools. The trend of Prime Ministers and other Ministers not wanting to send their kids to state schools is incredibly alarming. If they believe that a state school is not good enough for their children, perhaps they should work towards fixing that instead of shrugging their shoulders and going ‘not my kid, not my problem’.
I could go on and on about the results of my survey. For example, one thing I noticed in particular is that church schools seem to lack the sports facilities found in state and private schools, and this could be due to the fact that all-girls schools do not make such facilities a priority. However, it would take an entire thesis to explore every single discrepancy, so for now I will leave it at that.
This article was written by an independent writer whose views are not associated with The Third Eye. The Third Eye strives to be the student’s voice, and that entails giving them a platform to voice their opinions.