Decline in religious vocations not affecting Church schools... for now

The start of the current scholastic year saw roughly 17,000 students return to school in approximately 84 church schools in Malta, which make up roughly 40% of all schools.

As such, these faith schools – whose teachers’ salaries are paid by the State – play an important role in educating a big portion of the Maltese student population. 

Church schools are run by various religious orders, all of which are dependent on religious vocations into the order to propagate the orders’ ethos and traditions. 

But with vocations on the decline for years, the running of many of the church schools has been taken over by lay teachers, rather than members of the orders.

Several heads of school and provincial superiors have said that while the effects of the decline in vocations are noticeable now, the situation could get a lot worse in the near future. 

Brother Martin Borg

“At the moment, we are still succeeding in passing on the order’s traditions and charisma to the schools, however we haven’t had a new vocation in some 18 years. My worry is for the next generation of headmistresses because we have no new vocations and a day will come when there is nobody to pass on the school’s traditions,” said Sister Cecilia Schembri, provincial superior of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition. 

This was echoed by Brother Martin Borg, provincial superior for Lasallian schools in Malta that include Stella Maris and De La Salle Colleges. Borg agreed that the situation is not good as they too have not been getting many new vocations in recent years. 

“The problem is serious. It has been around for a long time and it is still with us,” he said. 

He said the order is looking at ways of counteracting this problem and that in the meantime, to keep the orders’ traditions alive, the school offers teachers the option to undergo training courses in the spirituality of the order’s founder.

Not all orders however are facing the same struggles. Fr Eric Cachia, headmaster at Savio College, said that at the moment the order has 12 new vocations, all of whom are university graduates. 

“We don’t really have a problem at the moment, thankfully, the future looks quite good,” he said. 

Father Eric Cachia

He said that the school still believes in continuity and in having teachers who are very much in sync with the order’s philosophy. 

“The lay teachers we have working at the school are all very dedicated and have immersed themselves quite well in the order’s heritage and traditions,” he said. 

Kenneth Vella, headmaster at Mater Boni Consilii and author of a PhD thesis on the subject, explained that schools’ tradition, ethos and heritage are fundamental to the operation of these schools. 

“All schools have an ethos; however, church schools also have their own heritage and traditions, which they’ve had for many years and as a result it is very important for the schools to keep this identity,” said Vella. 

While schools’ identity is threatened by declining vocations, Vella said that his research, which was carried out at the University of Lincoln, suggests that identity has not yet been lost and he is more optimistic about the future. He argues that church schools in Malta, contrary to faith schools abroad, are helped by the fact that Malta is a small country where Catholicism is still strong. 

Moreover, he said that the 1991 agreement between the Church and the state – which recognised the right of the church to establish and lead its own schools with autonomy – is also a big factor in the schools’ resilience. 

Sister Cecilia Xuereb

“The agreement puts church schools on par with other schools in the country. The conditions for people working in these schools are as good as they are in other schools and not prohibitive to recruiting talented teachers,” he said.

According to Vella, the prominence of Catholicism in Malta, coupled with the fact that working conditions in church schools are as good as they are in other schools, means that there is less difficulty in finding good teachers whose world view is in line with that of the respective orders. 

“If there is still an influence of members of the orders in the schools, it is a lot easier to find lay people who can take over and offer continuity,” he said. 

Vella said that, even though no nuns are involved in the running of Mater Boni Consilii school, the order’s nuns are often included in activities, to preserve the link between the school and the religious order. 

In addition to this he said that it is essential for there to be proper training for those who wish to take on leadership roles within these schools, such as the newly set up Master’s degree in Catholic leadership at the University. The course prepares those who want to take up leadership roles in church schools and Vella’s hope is that this will alleviate some of the effects declining vocations could have on the schools.  

While this could help, it remains to be seen how these schools will adapt as their orders become smaller and smaller.