National reform programme 2008-2010 Malta - European Commission

Raising educational attainment and reducing early school leavers
Government is committed towards increasing attainment rates and decreasing the rate of
early school leavers in the coming years. The Budget Speech 2007 and the Pre-Budget
Document 2008 reinforce this objective and outline short and long-term measures which will
contribute towards reaching this goal.
The Maltese Government is currently undertaking an in depth review of transition from
primary school education to post secondary education and the alternative transition to work.
This study compliments the review of student transitions from primary to secondary education
and gives an overarching view of the link and impact of education policy at a primary and
secondary level on student choices and transitions into further education.
Student population trends in post-secondary and tertiary education
Since 1999, the total student population in further and higher education in Malta registered an
increase of 61% in the last eight years as indicated in Figure 1 hereunder.
The average age in the further education sector is typically 16-17 years for the general post
secondary sector, and 16-19 years for the vocational post secondary sector. It is worth noting
that the compulsory education in Malta is till the age of 16. At a tertiary level, the typical age
bracket for courses ranging between 3-4 years is that of 18-22.
Figure 1 - Total Day and Evening Student Population in Further and Higher Education in Malta
(1994-2007)
25,000
20,000
Student population
15,000
10,000
5,000
-
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Post secondary (General) 3,723 3,872 3,250 4,438 5,185 5,033 5,191 5,122 4,970 5,169 5,394 5,732 6,117 6,119
Post secondary (Vocational) 1,748 1,362 1,423 1,621 1,841 1,917 2,615 2,801 3,638 3,858 4,476 6,964 6,730 6,774
Tertiary (Day & Evening) 5,177 5,805 6,263 6,368 7,146 6,959 6,362 7,493 7,332 9,006 9,245 9,530 9,450 9,500
Total Further and Higher education 10,648 11,039 10,936 12,427 14,172 13,909 14,168 15,416 15,940 18,033 19,115 22,226 22,297 22,393
Years
Source:
NSO Education Statistics (1994 – 2005)
Provisional Institutional Data compiled by NCHE (2006 – 2007)
Malta National Reform Programme 2008-2010 - 44 -