Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/706995
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 JULY 2016 15 Interview Education Minister EVARIST BARTOLO faces resistance from parents and teachers alike, as he tries to reform an educational system we were all (more or less) comfortable with. Is it true that the reform has failed its test? PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD education system it must be provided. But the class- room has become a more complex environment for other reasons, too. There are children from different countries, different cultures, differ- ent religions, and speaking different languages. You might have children with disabilities or learning difficul- ties. Others may come from troubled social backgrounds. All this makes for a really tough challenge. So we definitely need to help teachers cope more…" Was this part of the reason behind the home schooling initiative? If some children are schooled at home, the strain on the educational system would be lessened… "No, it's a different issue. First of all, the element of home schooling we are proposing already exists. There are situations where children, for various reasons, cannot go to school. So we provide home tuition… and I think no one has an issue with that. Secondly, we are regulating it strin- gently. It is not an automatic right; parents have to apply, and show what programmes are to be offered. The tutors who will deliver those programmes must have a warrant, like they do at school. You can't sim- ply say: 'Listen: I know what's best for my kids, and will provide them with an experience that is superior to what is offered in schools…'" That attitude does however exist among parents… "Yes. But they have to wake up to the fact that our proposal is not go- ing to give them an automatic right to take those decisions. I think some people have the US model of home schooling in mind. But we are not following that model at all. For ex- ample, you might have parents who are here in Malta only for two or three years. And unfortunately, we have a shortage of international schools. We only have one which is accredited internationally; we could use at least one more…" The system as it is today poses problems for temporary foreign resi- dents (a category that has skyrock- eted in recent years). "We have had cases of Swedish parents – and it's not a capricious example; there is a large Swed- ish community in Malta, many of them young couples with small chil- dren. They tell us they have a prob- lem with sending their children to school. They need to learn Swedish. They'd like them to follow a system which is as close to their own educa- tional model as possible, to minimise disruption when they return to Swe- den. Clearly, we are not in a position to meet those demands. In that case, some of them have asked if it is pos- sible to have home schooling. We're not telling them: 'Sure, no problem, do whatever you like. After all, your kids will no longer be our respon- sibility in two or three years' time'. We're not saying that…" Those scenarios, he adds, are actu- ally the simple ones. "Where it be- comes complex is another situation. I would really like Maltese parents to reflect, before jumping to the con- clusion that home schooling might be the solution to their kids' prob- lems. I am ready to be very patient and sensitive – and probably even to agree – with the criticism levelled at our school system. That it's dull, bor- ing, obsessed with exams, not able to develop a character to its full poten- tial… "OK, let's say all that is true. Let us acknowledge the shortcomings. But don't think that, just by keeping your children at home, you're going to provide them with a richer expe- rience than school. First of all, I am a great believer in socialisation. Kids learn from other kids… and from different kids. The wider the social spectrum to which you are exposed, the more you learn. If you were kept in a bubble at home, you would be deprived of very basic human skills… and that could be dangerous." Meanwhile, home schooling may give rise to other 'dangers'. "We have been approached by more than one family wanting to set up a home schooling system of their own, following the Steiner phi- losophy of education. Our response was: show us the programmes, tell us who will deliver them – and where, because we will be looking into all these things – and the Commission will consider it…" At a glance, the Steiner model seems legitimate enough; but what would happen if other groups start- ed requesting permission to set up home schools based on – for argu- ment's sake – the Church of Scien- tology? Or any of a million wacko, extremist or fanatical cults? This was also part of the initial scepticism about home schooling… it lends it- self to this sort of thing. "That is why what we are propos- ing is under conditions of strict su- pervision. All home schooling initia- tives will have to be accredited. The programmes have to be approved, to ensure there is no fanaticism, no intolerance, no extremism, and no strange or crazy ideas being pro- moted. All that has to be looked into. But we also have to look at the interface between the student and the rest of the world. Let's say you spend 15 years in an institution de- vised by your parents. I can envisage a scenario where parents – provided they are qualified – can put together a programme for the early years. But when it comes to teaching sci- ences, maths, languages… whatever system one adopts, it has to meet the basic literacy, numeracy and IT skill requirements. How will these be taught? The Commission will ask these questions in all cases."