Education for all – is it an elusive dream?

Next year we can celebrate 70 years since we introduced education for all. But is education only about the right to attend? We should be much more ambitious: education is about developing the knowledge, ability, personality and talents to become active citizens and employable.

The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education has found evidence for a rethink of the local education structures impacting on inclusive teaching and assessments.

The report calls for a radical mind shift from a charity-based model, which leads to dependency, to a human rights approach that leads to independence and self-reliance. The report also says that to move forward, it is recommended that there is a national discussion on the concept of inclusion, followed by a legislative and policy review.

We must ensure that support is re-focused to increase the capacity of colleges and schools to meet the needs of all learners and that a national training body is established to ensure the development of a skill for educators. We need to provide the necessary support to schools to develop a curriculum to engage all learners while using evidence-based assessments. In turn this requires teaching and learning approaches that meet the diverse needs and a self-review at all system levels should be promoted.

The external audit by the European Agency was conducted on the local system to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the structures, as well as to provide feedback for future policy. This report, presented to the media this week, is published online on education.com.mt.

In November 2013, the Education Ministry approached the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education to conduct a review of the system in order to assess the current landscape. The report states that the local structures in place for inclusive education present difficulties for stakeholders in a number of areas. Specifically, the report points out that some system factors promote an integrative approach for some learners, rather than an inclusive approach for all learners.

There is a strong need to develop a long-term approach to policy-making and thus to reduce fragmentation. There must be clear roles and responsibilities to provide support at all levels. Continuous development and support to stakeholders, including training, up-skilling and legislative changes are among the main recommendations of this report.

Inclusion is a whole-school approach and the report recommends that all children become the responsibility of those running the schools and teaching the children. Heads of schools, teachers and LSAs should be given on-going training in inclusive education so that all children will be reached and their academic and social training is improved.

The ministry will be consulting with all stakeholders about the findings of this document in the coming weeks. The public is also invited to provide feedback on this document on [email protected] by the end of March 2015.

Education +

Late last month, we launched Education plus. The main objectives of this initiative are those of cultivating student engagement and motivation; to promote high aspirations in learning; to update and diversify existing training programmes and assessment methods in both general education and vocational education and training and to strengthen meaningful and reciprocal links between the two worlds of education and employment.

Malta is the only country in the European Union with both Education and Employment under one ministry. This allows us to focus on priorities and build bridges between the two sectors.

Education + will also enhance the teaching profession by providing teachers with the relevant continuous professional development and by providing the right support and conditions to maximise teaching skills, dispositions and values.  It will support apprenticeships, traineeships and work-based and work-placed learning initiatives in the context of lifelong learning. Through Education + we aim to accredit and certify experimental and work-based learning.

Our philosophy is that of having a skilled workforce to complement business needs. It is not always a simple task since industries are forever changing, but we believe that together we can build a lasting relationship between classrooms and workplaces.

Education + aims to engage with social partners and interested stakeholders in order to inform and facilitate appreciation of the successes achieved and to promote further informed discussions about the roles education and industry should play in society at large.  Thus we must increase basic skills attainment in literacy and numeracy.

We must work hard to reduce the dropout and early school leavers rate and promote further participation in adult and lifelong learning. One of the main targets of this initiative is that of improving the skill base of the workforce and to ensure that education and training are relevant to transversal skills required by industry. This will provide opportunities for students’ career exploration.

This is a collective effort and we need to build collaborative partnerships with all stakeholders. The industry can contribute through human resources, finances, facilities and equipment and leadership to help accomplish agreed-upon goals and outcomes. Together we can plan and design curriculum and instructional development that will be of interest to all parties.

We hope that such partners can sustain newly developed educational programmes by offering short term placements for students and teachers. A number of local and multi-national businesses have already come forward but we need more and more participation to ensure that our youths play a central role in creating a better tomorrow.