The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education is currently conducting an audit exercise in the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation on the systems and practices used as support and guidance with the aim of the Ministry continuing to achieve Quality Inclusive Education.
This was announced during a dialogue session held in the Ministry by representatives of the Agency together with officials of the Ministry for Education, which was also addressed by Minister Clifton Grima and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Matthew Vella.
This exercise, ‘Transformation of Inclusion: A Route to Quality Education’, builds on another exercise that was carried out 10 years ago by this agency. “I firmly believe that equity and inclusion in practice can improve the quality of life of individuals. In fact, this is an integral part of the ongoing transformation process in the Maltese education system which builds on consultation, support and empowerment. We also see this in the National Education Strategy 2024-2030, which will soon be launched for public consultation, because equity and inclusion are also its third pillar”, said Minister Grima.
Today, the Maltese education system adopts a broad definition of inclusion that includes, among others, students with special needs, students with different sexual orientation, students from ethnic minorities and different religions. Permanent Secretary Matthew Vella said “The working group on inclusion that the Ministry set up earlier this year and this exercise, will once again shed light on our educational system. It will look at what is already in place, while it will be identified where best practices can be further strengthened towards full inclusiveness.”
Inclusivity in the education system was a subject that was well discussed in the consultation meetings that were held in the wide exercise that was carried out to prepare the National Strategy for Education 2024-2030. This was done in more than 200 meetings with educators, students, parents, and also with public and private entities among others. “While the theme of this school year is dedicated to the well-being of students, because we really believe that the person should be at the center of everything, the way forward is for the Ministry to adopt an approach that is centered on the person so that educators, students and parents are really at the center of the education system”, concluded Minister Grima.
This exercise started on October 1 and will continue until the end of next year.
