Preparing for the secondary education certificate examination in Maltese through private tuition

Abstract

The educational system in Malta and the MATSEC examination system The educational system in Malta offers fee-free education in government and church schools. While government schools are totally fee-free institutions that provide free books and school materials, church schools request donations and the purchase of books (Government of Malta, 2015). On the other hand, though independent schools charge fees and parents buy all necessary materials (Government of Malta, 2015), an amount of the fees paid can be deducted from the parents' taxes. Despite having free education, many students feel the need to receive private tuition especially when they reach transitional phases in their education. Education in Malta is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16 (Vallejo and Dooly, 2008). This consists of six years of primary education, at the end of which students take national benchmark examinations that determine their posts in middle school. Following this, students attend two years in middle school and then three years in senior school. All government primary, middle and senior schools are co-educational. After senior school, students may opt to further their education in a post-secondary school following Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examinations. If the students wish to attend a sixth form school, they are requested to pass (at least grade 5) the Maltese, English and Mathematics SEC examinations together with one science subject and two other subjects of their choice (University of Malta, 2015). Around 54% of Maltese students continue their education in a post-secondary school (Vallejo and Dooly, 2008). Post-secondary institutions include the Junior College, sixth forms, the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) (National Commission for Higher Education, 2009).