Kyle Patrick Camilleri
Monday, 17 November 2025, 07:41
Last update: about 9 minutes ago
A report by the European Commission’s Education and Training Monitor 2025 has found that one third of 15-year-olds in Malta are underachieving in basic skills and that this is posing a risk to competitiveness.
While the report praised Malta’s steady progress to reduce early school leaving and increase participation across all education levels, this education-related country report highlighted that in Malta, “learning outcomes remain among the weakest in the EU.”
The report noted that these challenges were observed in students across all socioeconomic backgrounds and school types, though were most prevalent amongst students in the lowest socioeconomic quartile. From this bracket of students, nearly half (47.7%) underachieved in mathematics and over half (51.5%) underachieved in reading.
“Students’ socio-economic background continues to strongly shape learning outcomes,” the report declared.
The report stated that the share of top performing students has declined since 2015. Only 7.2% of Maltese were found to excel in mathematics and just 4.6% in science; both these marks are below EU averages of 7.9% of students for mathematics and 6.9% for science. “Significant disparities” were observed across school types when analysing these findings. The report said that “this data reveals systemic quality issues across the entire student population beyond posing a risk to Malta’s competitiveness.”
In addition, “persistent shortages of qualified teachers, especially in STEM, further constrain progress.” Malta’s country report states that “despite high public investment, the supply of STEM graduates remains insufficient to meet growing labour market demand, with tertiary STEM enrolment declining over the past decade.” It also calls for “earlier and more inclusive interventions” to combat the “gender segregation and weak uptake of advanced science subjects.”
The report signalled that in Malta, only 13.6% of STEM students in vocational education and training (VET) were women; the EU average of female VET STEM students is 15.4%. The EU targets for this mark to increase to 25% by 2030.
Malta shows the lowest proportion of tertiary students in STEM across the entire EU. In this regard, the report pondered that “the relatively overall low uptake of ICT could explain persistent labour shortages in the sector.”
Referencing the National Education Strategy (2024-2030), the report declared that “sustained and systemic implementation” is vital in order for the Maltese islands to deliver meaningful results.
Adult learning was found to be in line with the EU average, however, participation in skills training and learning amongst adults is “heavily skewed by education level” as two thirds of highly educated individuals take part in contrast to the 16.3% with lower education. Malta has a relatively high share of low-skilled adults in comparison to the rest of the EU (29.3% v 24.2%). Additionally, young adults between the ages of 25-34 years old are twice as likely to participate in lifelong learning when compared with 55-64-year-olds (54.7% of young adults v 22.5% of older adults).
Ministry notes progress to strengthen Maltese education and training systems
The Ministry for Education, in a published statement, noted the report’s conclusions, including the goals of the National Education Strategy (2024-2030) and its implementation, which affects basic skills, digital skills, teacher training and inclusive learning environments.
“The report highlights improvements in STEM and vocational education,” the Ministry said. It cherry-picked Malta’s positive female participation rates in life sciences, mathematics, and statistics – all of which, for these respective subjects, are above EU average rates.
The Ministry stated that “continued improvements in stipends, scholarship awards, and direct financial aid initiatives continue to encourage studies in priority STEM-related fields, while the Directorate for STEM and VET Programmes and the Digital Education Strategy are strengthening coordination and digital readiness.” Investments in digital education, STEM initiatives, and sustainable educational infrastructure remain key priorities, it added.
Early childhood education and care for children under the age of three in Malta held a participation rate of 44.1% in 2024 – also above EU average. The Ministry referenced improvements in childcare centres’ services, improved staff conditions, and updated quality standards
The Education Ministry said that the early identification of students at risk, alternative learning pathways, and curriculum changes are all factoring in further reducing early school-leaving rates (now standing at almost 9.3%).
The Ministry for Education continued that around nine in every ten VET graduates manage to find a job, tertiary education attainment has increased to 46.3% (above both EU average and 2030 target), over 10% of Maltese graduates continue to pursue opportunities and study abroad, and that “adult learning is advancing, with a steady growth of 46.4%.
On the less positive findings, the Ministry stated that its ongoing efforts will help address challenges related to low enrolment rates in STEM, especially among women, as well as the shortage of teachers in STEM subjects. The Ministry said its ongoing work also aims to “continue improving learning outcomes and narrowing gaps in digital and scientific literacy, while dedicated programmes are supporting students at risk of early school leaving, persons with disabilities.”
While early school leaving rates are positively low in Malta, the report highlighted that this rate still remains high for people with disabilities. In 2022, early school leaving rates for people with disabilities in the EU as a whole stood at 18%; in Malta, this represented one third of them (33%).
The Ministry said that participation in adult learning continues to expand with new initiatives, “so that more students benefit from upskilling opportunities and so that Malta’s workforce remains aligned with the changing needs of the market.”
The Ministry for Education concluded its statement by reaffirming “its commitment to ensuring high-quality and inclusive education and training, while being committed to addressing challenges and continuing to work towards achieving EU education targets.”