Articles written by

Mario Cutajar

Volume 1-Issue 2: November 2003

The Maltese SECE: An Evaluation

This paper attempts to present an evaluation of the Maltese Language SEC 16+ exam. The study evaluated all the components of the May 1998 Maltese SECE, reviewed changes that may have been made to any of the Exam components ever since, and strives to show how accurately a perspective is this exam giving of the students' writing skills and linguistic competence in the Maltese language. A Mixed Research Methodology is employed: a cross-sectional survey, employing self-administered questionnaires distributed to 486 First year Post-Secondary students of varying abilities, and a number of interviews with syllabus and paper setters, markers, lecturers, assistant lecturers and teachers. The evaluation is carried out on the aspects of examination format, content, level and backwash effect.

Volume 5-Issue 1: June 2007

Educational Reform in the Maltese Islands

The political change in 1964, when the Maltese Islands became an Independent Archipelago, initiated a number of revolutionary reforms that the Maltese Education sector has been going through ever since. These last ten years have been extremely significant for Maltese Education, because of the several major measures and reforms that have been introduced. Their aim was to augment the country’s intellectual capital and provide improved quality education that will help all Maltese children to succeed. Replacing the questionable dichotomy of ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ has been, for the past decade, part of an extensive drive by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment and the Education Division to reform the education system in Malta. This paper will present a historical overview of the educational reforms aimed at devolving greater responsibilities to the schools and in particular the establishment of school networks. It will also treat the kind of leadership that has helped to sustain this transition in Maltese Education, so that schools will ‘provide improved quality education in Malta’ (Galea, 2005: xii), and the implications of educational reform in the Maltese Islands.

Extended Article

Volume 20-Issue 1: June 2026

Parental Engagement in Two Maltese State Colleges: A Case Study

In 2006, The Act to Amend the Education Act Cap. 327 (Laws of Malta, 2006) made provisions to sustain and augment the then-existing school-parent partnership. This study examines the current partnership between schools and parents in two Maltese State Colleges and the perceived challenges to nurturing, enriching, and sustaining collaboration between the schools and the parent community. The history of Education in Malta reveals a pattern of fragmented initiatives between schools and parents. For example, the establishment of the College Board of Governors, a tenet of the aforementioned Act, was never implemented after its enactment and is not even mentioned in the Education Act, CAP 605, ACT XXIX of 2019 (Laws of Malta, 2022). The data were collected through questionnaires administered to teachers and parents. Convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to recruit participants. We explored educators’ and parents’ positions on parental involvement and participation in their children's education, as well as the issues and challenges they encountered in sustaining such partnerships. The study seeks to advance understanding of these issues and challenges and to propose a way forward to address the missing link in the structure contemplated by the 2006 and 2019 Acts.