Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/780138
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2017 News 6 TIM DIACONO SIXTH form education in Malta is set for a major top-down revamp, in an attempt to prioritise teaching students crucial life skills instead of feeding them with academic infor- mation. A policy document launched for consultation on Monday by educa- tion minister Evarist Bartolo and a working group including all of Malta's sixth form institutions pro- poses doing away entirely with the current system whereby sixth form students enrol for two A Level sub- jects, three intermediates, and Sys- tems of Knowledge. Instead, students will start sixth form by selecting five subjects that they will study at intermediate level in their first year, with their choice extended to include vocational sub- jects (such as agribusiness, hospi- tality and social care). In their sec- ond year, which will be extended to a full year, students will choose two of those five subjects to study at A Level, along with Systems of Knowledge (SOK). SOK itself, which is intended to give all students some knowledge of humanities and science, will re- main compulsory but the course it- self will be completely transformed into a series of elective study units that will serve as an introduction to subjects that students may later choose to delve into in greater de- tail. SOK will also be used as a high- profile pilot for the transformation of a course into a totally modular approach, with the subject split up into small modules and the stu- dent's progress frequently assessed at different stages as opposed to a single exam at the end of the year. "Students [who spoke at focus groups] were not opposed to SOK and acknowledged it provided an opportunity to learn outside the box of their selected subjects," the report states. "Complaints focused on the formal, terminal summative assessment process applied to SOK, like any other A-level. The subject simply becomes yet another obsta- cle to the ultimate objective of se- curing the certificate, to be hurdled over as soon as possible. Inevitably, any 'joy' of learning and the curios- ity drive are stifled." The document's ultimate aim is to shift the lecturing of all sixth form subjects into a modular ap- proach, and for teachers to not only teach their students their subjects but also crucial life skills – such as self-confidence, teamwork, prob- lem-solving, leadership, commu- nication, and flexibility. Moreover, students will also be taught online and media literacy – such as how to recognize fake news on the In- ternet, how to distinguish between fact and opinion, how to recognize propaganda, and how to resist in- doctrination and hate speech. "Teachers should teach students how to abstract from as early as possible," the report reads. "Learn- ing by rote and memorizing facts does not mean that a concept has been assimilated – rather that meaningless terms have been ac- commodated." Shifting away from end-of-year exams The education policy document also calls for a radical change in the way students are assessed – away from the traditional end of year ex- am and towards a mixture of pres- entations, practical work, comput- er-based assessments, group work, formal interviews, projects, written assignments and tests. "The legacy of passing summative exams as the benchmark of success means that grades, not learning, are the outcomes that are of inter- est to the vast majority of students and parents," the report reads. "The exam culture is obscuring the fact that young people are not learning as much as they could. They study to pass tests, but once the tests are passed, any 'knowledge' and infor- mation is rapidly forgotten as the student prepares for the next shift. There is a need to shift towards productive learning." Education ministry consultant Alex Grech, who chaired the work- ing group over two years of debate, told MaltaToday that the document leaves open the possibility of stu- dents getting to choose how they would like to be assessed. "Obviously there are financial and operational considerations that must be taken into consideration, but yes it is a possibility," he said. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Sixth-form revamp: Intermediates in first year, A-levels in second Sixth forms propose revamp, with students choosing five Intermediates in their first year and two of those at A-Level in their second year Education minister Evarist Bartolo launched a 277-page document with proposals to improve Maltese sixth-forms for public consultation Afriqiyah to sell tickets for Malta flights CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But a Mal- ta International Airport spokesper- son has confirmed that Afriqiyah Airways has made no request to fly to Malta and the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) confirmed that the airline remains blacklisted. A travel agency based in Gzira is advertising regular flights from two Libyan airports, Misrata and Labraq but these flights will be op- erated by Medavia, which already operates chartered flights from Tripoli. However, Afriqiyah, which has been trying to enter the Maltese market, will be selling tickets for the flights. According to reports, Afriqiyah will start accepting reservations as of today. Prices are expected to be Libyan Dinar 1,300 (€860) for Mis- rata-Malta return, LD 750 (€500) single and LD 1,550 (€1,025) Lab- raq-Malta return, LD 850 (€560) single. Planit Travel Services is adver- tising two weekly flights from the eastern airport of Labraq (Tues- days and Thursdays) starting from 9 February using a 29-seat air- craft. The agency is also advertis- ing flights on Wednesday and Sun- day on a 17-seat plane from Misrata starting on 5 February. Afriqiyah has a fleet of six active planes, all made by European plane maker Airbus with two Airbus A320s registered in Lithuania. In November former Air Malta CEO and Lufthansa Technik boss Louis Giordimaina was appointed to the helm of the PanAfriqiyah Airways Malta-based subsidiary, PanAfriqiyah. Giordimaina was appointed on 11 November by Afriqiyah boss Abubaker Elfortia, according to Maghreb Confidential, together with Nicole Frei, a former execu- tive at Dublin-based CityJet. The PanAfriqiyah subsidiary is ex- pected to enable Elfortia to fly his operation by getting round the ban on Libyan companies operating in European airspace. A spokesman for CAD has confirmed that PanA- friqiyah did not meet eligibility cri- teria for the issue of an EU licence. Haftar scores political victory following Malta-Benghazi air link According to Maghreb Con- fidential, Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar – who controls the Libyan army which is loyal to what was the internation- ally recognised government in Tobruk – scored an important political and diplomatic victory after Air Libya circumvented the ban on Libyan carriers by f lying from Malta to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. One of Haftar's political allies, Ali Al Ghatrani was abroad the f light from Malta to Benghazi 's Benina airport, which is con- trolled by Haftar's forces. To bypass the ban, Air Libya called in Georgian aircraft leasing company Aerovista, Maghreb Confidential report- ed. Aerovista leased him a Boe- ing B737-500 under an "ACMI" contract including mainte- nance, f light and cabin crew and an air transport certificate valid in the EU. But MaltaToday is informed that the f light was not a com- mercial one and that the air- craft f lew in and out of Malta on a diplomatic f light. Specialised airport buses in the pipeline TIM DIACONO MALTA Public Transport plans to purchase new buses to oper- ate routes between the airport and towns across the island. They will be specialised, with racks in which passengers can place their luggage and USB sockets in which they can charge their phones. This was announced by MPT chairman Felipe Cosmen at a press conference at the Hilton to commemorate the second anni- versary since Spanish company Autobuses de Leon privatised Malta's bus service. Since then, he said, buses have carried over 83 million passen- gers – 40 million in 2015 and 43 million in 2016. "These figures demonstrate that public confidence in public trans- port is growing steadily, although I insist that we don't carry num- bers, but rather people with their own histories." Without providing figures, Cos- men also announced that MPT broke even last year, the first time the national bus company has done so since 2011. He reeled off positive figures previously provided by transport minister Joe Mizzi, such as that 95% of trips are now departing within their scheduled time- frames and that complaints about bus services declined by 75% be- tween 2015 and 2016. Some 80% of passengers now use the tallinja card, and over 100,000 people have downloaded the tallinja app onto their phones. The fleet was also increased by 176 new environmentally friendly buses over the past two years, so that up to 380 vehicles are in use. The specialised airport buses will have suitcase racks on and USB sockets to charge phones