ABSTRACT

The island of Malta, plus the smaller islands of Gozo and Comino, are located at a strategic point in the Mediterranean, and function with a centralised education system heavily infl uenced by a colonial legacy and by the powerful presence of the Catholic Church. Although there are much smaller numbers of young people than in the USA or other European systems, the problems of dealing with lowerattaining students in a globalising economy are becoming more evident and are similar to those in other developed countries. The neocolonial and church infl uences continue to set a pattern for class and gender inequalities, and the economy and politics remains dominated by powerful interest groups with strong interfamily connections. The education system is subject more to external than internal infl uences, teachers in particular being subject to centralised policies into which neither they, nor teachers unions, have much input. There is, however, a vibrant critique of the Maltese education system internally from university academics and some practitioners (see Bartolo, Ferrante, Azzopardi, Bason, Grech, King 2002, Borg and Mayo 2006, Darmanin, 2002, 2003, 2010, Sultana, 1998, 2001, 2010). As in some larger capitalist countries education is increasingly subject to a neo-liberal market discourse, which supports social class inequalities in schooling and subsequent placement in the economy. This chapter briefl y covers education policy in Malta with its continuing emphasis on selection of students for different schools and classes, special and vocational education and the views of participants with whom discussion took place. It concludes that while Malta aims at developing a knowledge economy, this economy is not planned to include lower attainers. While more attention has been paid to those with learning diffi - culties and low attainment, some 41 per cent of young people still drop out of education at 16.