Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1529458
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2024 JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt NEWS Ethics to be option for all 13-year-olds as O-level candidates grow by 32% Exam candidates sitting for the subject of ethics have climbed from just 38 in 2018, to 738 – a new national strategy now proposes the subject be an option for all 13-year-olds, including those taking religion class in schools THE number of students regis- tering for the O-level exam in ethics has increased by a stag- gering 32% between 2023 and 2024, with 738 candidates tak- ing up the subject. Official statistics show that the number of ethics students has been constantly increasing since 2018 from just 38 who first sat for the exam. Ethics is currently only avail- able to students whose parents opt out of Catholic religious education (CRE), but a new National Strategy for Educa- tion is proposing making eth- ics an option to CRE students at Year-9 (13 years of age), without having to drop out of religion. A number of inde- pendent schools have already gone further by offering both religion and ethics in parallel to all students, even to ear- ly-year pupils. Official statistics suggest that the growth in interest in ethics has not been achieved at the cost of religious instruction: The increase in candidates sitting for CRE has remained stable, declining from 3,123 in 2021 to 2,839 in 2023 only to rise again to 2,990 in 2024. The primary aim of the ethics programme is that of provid- ing students with a "moral ed- ucation" and ensure that they can "think and deal reflectively with moral matters, to under- stand the moral issues they will encounter in their daily lives as adult members of Maltese so- ciety and of the world human community." Students are also taught to exercise "practical wisdom in articulating their moral judgement, to understand and tolerate cultures, life-styles, outlooks, and life choices dif- ferent from their own" and to offer solidarity to those in their community and elsewhere who suffer injustice and to respect and support "human rights, social justice, and democratic practice". Why more students are choosing ethics Dr Lucianne Zammit, a lec- turer at the University of Malta and coordinator of the Teach- ing Ethics in Schools Platform told MaltaToday that ever since ethics was introduced in 2014 through a gradual roll- out, the number of students choosing the subject has been increasing steadily each year. "This growth, in my view, is largely due to a highly relevant and contemporary syllabus for moral education that is based on critical thinking, covering topics such as AI and digital ethics, environmental ethics, cyberbullying, and misinfor- mation." Moreover, the secondary school syllabus also deals with the ethical responsibilities associated with voting, em- phasising the importance of informed decision-making to counter misinformation. "This focus is particularly timely giv- en the recent lowering of the voting age to sixteen, which coincides with the end of com- pulsory schooling." According to Zammit, stu- dents find Ethics valuable for their personal development, as it equips them with the" rea- soning skills and awareness needed in both civic and per- sonal contexts". Moreover, while recognising that ethics is a popular choice among children of non-Mal- tese residents, it is also being widely chosen by Maltese stu- dents, with the national and MATSEC examination papers offered in both Maltese and English. Even examiners are noting that students are finding the subject engaging, with an SEC exam report noting the per- formance of such candidates "demonstrated a strong en- gagement with the material, particularly in areas related to practical ethical issues". Moreover, the majority of candidates showed a com- mendable understanding of the fundamental ethical con- cepts and were able to artic- ulate their thoughts clearly in both the multiple-choice and essay sections. For example, when writing an essay on bullying the vast majority of candidates provid- ed real-life strategies to dis- courage and address bullying. "Strong essays incorporated ethical virtues such as empa- thy and linked the discussion to important concepts like the ethics of care and self-esteem," the report says. And when quizzed on animal rights examiners even found "some standout essays" which discussed "advanced concepts such as sentience, speciesism, the role of PETA, and the no- tion of animals' voicelessness". The way forward Ethics was originally intro- duced in the 2012 National Curriculum Framework as an alternative for parents who wished to withdraw their chil- dren from Catholic religious education. But since then, eth- ics has gained popularity with a broad range of students. According to Zammit, this appeal "stems from its focus on pressing ethical issues affect- ing society and the engaging teaching methodologies that emphasise class discussions and critical thinking." She notes that many parents and students have expressed the wish for ethics to be avail- able to all students without re- quiring withdrawal from CRE. One of the measures in the newly launched National Ed- ucation Strategy is to make ethics available as an optional subject for all students in Year 9 (Form 3). This change will allow sec- ondary school students to continue studying CRE while also choosing ethics as one of their option subjects. "In my opinion, all students at all ed- ucational levels should have the opportunity to study eth- ics alongside CRE, without the need to choose one over the other," Zammit said. Religion Ethics 2018 2856 38 2019 3123 153 2021 2925 342 2022 2932 427 2023 2839 558 2024 2990 738 Ethics was introduced as a subject in 2014 through a gradual rollout and the number of students has increased steadily every year Candidates sitting for religion and ethics O-levels