Malta has continued to demonstrate a strong commitment to addressing early leaving from education and training (ELET), and has now reached its lowest rate and therefore a record rate of 8.6% in 2026. This rate is also below the European target of 9% by 2030. This comes from a survey published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, which shows a significant improvement in our country’s ELET rate. This result places Malta below the European Union average of 9.1% for the first time, and marks a historic turning point in the country’s educational journey.
“This step means that Malta has managed to achieve the EU national target for 2030 almost five years ahead of schedule, a reflection of sustained commitment, clear strategic direction and coordinated action in the education sector. This is the fruit of the investment we are making directly in our educators and students through proactive prevention strategies, reflecting our collective commitment to improving educational outcomes for all, as strongly highlighted in the National Education Strategy 2024–2030,” said Minister for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation Clifton Grima.
Minister Grima said that this result is also due to the fact that, in parallel, more attention has been paid to targeted and school-based assessment practices, and the change in School Based Assessments, which allow educators to better identify and support students who previously had difficulties and are thus achieving better results today. This has encouraged more students to continue their education after the compulsory years. This is especially the change made in the AVC – the Applied Vocational Certificate, through which we are seeing more students continue their studies.
“The milestone achieved reflects the collective efforts of our school administration, educators, students themselves, families, and the community, and therefore I thank all those who were involved in achieving this very positive result, while we will continue with our commitment to further results in the transformation of such an important sector for our country,” said Minister Grima.
This achievement places Malta among the countries that achieved this milestone before the year stipulated by the EU. The situation in our country is now better than that of other countries including Germany, Spain, Denmark, Estonia, Austria and Finland.
The effectiveness of Malta’s approach, as outlined in the National Strategy for Education, is also evident in programmes such as Family Community School Link (FCSL), which plays a vital role in developing a supportive ecosystem around students, recognising the crucial influence of family and community on educational engagement.
The reduction in this rate has strong implications for both individual students and Maltese society as a whole, as it represents an increase in opportunities for young people to succeed in the labour market and actively participate in society. The Ministry for Education’s ongoing commitment to this sector is further strengthened by the launch of the ELET strategy in 2024, which is an integral part of the National Education Strategy 2024-2030.
“The Ministry is working with dedication and commitment to continue building an inclusive and fair education system so that every student can reach their full potential”, said Minister Grima. “In the course of our work we are looking towards one goal, that the education sector be a solid foundation for the well-being of our students and we are seeing that the Maltese education system moves towards a more person-centred approach and holistic achievement,” explained Minister Grima.
Malta is one of the few countries that has consistently reduced the rate in recent years. Since 2017, Malta has recorded the highest rate of reduction in ELET of all EU countries. In 2015, Malta was one of the first countries in the European Union to publish a specific strategy on Early School Leaving (ESL), for students who have not achieved upper secondary level qualifications. ESL has been renamed “Early School Leaving” (ELET) to include not only academic but also vocational pathways.
Today’s result shows the steady decline in this rate, from December 2005, when the rate had reached a record of 33%, to 2012 when the rate was 18.1%, and today the rate has decreased to 8.6%.
