Multilingualism and the inclusion of migrant learners in Maltese schools

Abstract

In Malta, as in many other southern European countries, school populations have become much more multi-ethnic and multilingual due to the migratory fluxes of recent years. The presence of migrant learners requires inclusive didactic measures and linguistic policies which can facilitate integration and ensure that the educational set-up enhances personal experiences, to the benefit of all learners. In this study, we focus on Maltese schools while briefly referring to cases found in other countries in Southern Europe, especially those that participate in an EU Project entitled MERIDIUM. The increasing number of migrant learners has stimulated local educators and the educational authorities to improve the regulatory framework of the integration policies in favour of migrant pupils and their families. However, schools need more practical and useful measures in order to better understand this phenomenon and its advantages as well as to improve professional skills of the administrative and teaching staff, and the relationships that these could create with migrant learners, parents and communities.