It’s no laughing matter In a sound bite recorded during the recent SME Malta week, Joe Farrugia, director general of the Malta Employers’ Association was quoted saying that some students finishing their secondary school education are almost illiterate. So very true. This is not a recent phenomenon. What has gone wrong in the last 20-25 years? How did this come about? How are the students promoted from year to year and how do they use the time in the classroom for five long years? I finished secondary education more than 50 years ago and I can say, with my hand firmly on my heart, that, except for the early dropouts, not a single student from my class or from my school or from any secondary school in Malta, for that matter, completed the five-year term and came out almost illiterate. Why is the standard of English, spoken and written, generally so poor? Many tertiary education graduates seek help to prepare a job application. Similarly, most dissertations are ‘vetted’ for their language standard by family or friends prior to submission. Some months ago, I e-mailed ARMS a one-line question, asking why the eco reduction was not applied on my latest electricity bill. The following...
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