Students at State schools struggling with traditional teaching methods will from September be able to take subjects that focus on hands-on learning.
In a major shift of the education system away from a purely academic approach, successful students in these “applied” subjects will earn a SEAC – Secondary Education Applied Certificate.
The SEAC will be the applied equivalent of the SEC certificate awarded to students who pass their ‘O’ Levels. It will entail passing two applied options as well as the core subjects Maths, English, Maltese and Science – but these could also be taken in the new, applied versions.
Applied subjects will be taught hands-on in workshops rather than through the traditional theory-based techniques.
Subjects include IT, media literacy, retail, hospitality and agribusiness, among others (see below).
Education Ministry officials tasked with overseeing the changes said they were set to improve the standard of the country’s education system, placing it alongside the best in the world. The government had invested significantly in the building of state-of-the-art workshops to cater for the new subjects in colleges all over the island.
While syllabi for the...