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5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 2 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The study by Marie Therese Pavia and Sylvia Caruana ex- amined the relationship be- tween childhood involvement in meal preparation and eating habits among 101 Maltese ado- lescents aged 13 to 15. Some 53.5% of participants said their childhood involve- ment in preparing meals had positively influenced their eat- ing habits. Among these, 63.9% said they ate more fruit and vege- tables, 58.3% reported greater awareness of food and health, and 52.8% said they had better cooking knowledge. Around three quarters of the adolescents had been in- volved in meal planning or preparation as children, most commonly by chopping ingre- dients, shopping for groceries and choosing recipes. Parents or guardians were identified as the main people encouraging this participation by 93.4% of respondents. The researchers said practi- cal experience was important because nutritional knowledge alone did not necessarily trans- late into healthier behaviour. Some 67.3% of the adoles- cents also considered compul- sory home economics lessons in years 7 and 8 useful for de- veloping food and nutrition knowledge. Pavia and Caruana recom- mended introducing basic home economics education in all primary schools and making practical cooking compulsory throughout secondary educa- tion. They also called for great- er awareness among parents of the benefits of involving chil- dren in meal preparation. Gender stereotypes A separate study by research- er Lorraine Portelli traces the persistent gender associations surrounding home econom- ics to its origins as a subject designed primarily to prepare girls for domestic life. Portelli's study, Unpicking Gender: The Long Journey of Home Economics from Tradi- tion to Transformation in Mal- ta, shows how subjects such as domestic economy, housecraft and needlework were histor- ically embedded in a Maltese education system that assigned different roles to boys and girls. The Housecraft School, es- tablished in Floriana in 1931, taught girl's practical skills in- cluding cooking, laundry and housekeeping, with the stated aim of preparing them for their roles as wives and mothers. Boys, meanwhile, were direct- ed towards technical subjects such as Woodwork. The gender divide persisted for decades. Home economics and needlework were removed from the compulsory curric- ulum for younger students in 1981 as part of an attempt to create a more uniform curric- ulum for boys and girls. But following lobbying by teach- ers and education officials, the subjects were reintroduced for girls in 1983. A major shift came with the 1990 National Minimum Cur- riculum, which paved the way for boys to study home eco- nomics in state secondary schools from 1992. By 2013, male students accounted for around half of those sitting for the SEC examination in home economics. Portelli argues, however, that formal gender equality has not fully erased the subject's femi- nine image. Male students and teachers can still face stereo- typing, while some parents and students continue to associate home economics mainly with catering or traditionally female roles. She concludes that curric- ulum reform needs to be ac- companied by wider cultural change to redefine the subject's social and vocational value. Teachers call for wider rethink The call for curricular reform is echoed in a study by Suzanne Piscopo and Karen Mugliett which surveyed 34 home eco- nomics educators. The study, "Review, Rethink, Renew: Educators' Perspec- tives on Home Economics as a School Subject in Malta", found that 85.3% of educators considered home economics extremely or very relevant to students' current needs. This rose to 94.1% when consider- ing students' future needs as parents or family members. Teachers identified nutrition, healthy lifestyles, financial lit- eracy, consumer awareness, budgeting, childcare, house- hold management and sustain- ability as important skills for independent living. They also expressed concern that young people were increasingly lack- ing practical skills traditionally acquired at home. 'High relevance, low status' Despite its perceived rele- vance, the subject was seen as having relatively low status. While 61.8% of educators rat- ed its status in their school as moderate, 52.9% considered its status in Maltese society to be low or very low. Teachers said home econom- ics was still sometimes viewed as simply a cooking subject, an easy option, or a subject main- ly intended for girls or low- er-achieving students. They called for the subject to be streamlined and modern- ised, with less theoretical con- tent and greater emphasis on practical learning. Among the areas they sug- gested adding were mental health and digital wellbeing, taxation, bank loans, home buying, social media, sustaina- ble consumption, the Mediter- ranean diet and digital literacy. Experiments, cooking, sim- ulations, projects and prob- lem-solving were among the teaching approaches most fa- voured. From cooking to financial literacy Teachers also pointed to practical constraints, including an overloaded syllabus, limited lesson time, inadequate facili- ties and equipment, and insuf- ficient funding. They called for greater pro- motion of the subject, stronger career guidance and better pub- lic awareness, with several ad- vocating that home economics should be available throughout compulsory schooling. The wider issue of the sub- ject's role is explored in an editorial by Mugliett and Pis- copo, which argues that home economics has evolved beyond its traditional domestic role to encompass food, health, finan- cial, consumer, environmental, technological and social litera- cy. The editorial calls for con- tinued curriculum renewal, innovative teaching methods, stronger advocacy and greater visibility, as well as closer col- laboration between home eco- nomics and nutrition educators. Taken together, the studies present home economics as a subject extending well beyond traditional domestic skills, with a role in developing healthi- er diets, financial capability, sustainable consumption and practical skills for everyday life. Researchers call for practical cooking to become compulsory throughout secondary school File photo