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Ministry for Education and Employment Ministry for Education and Employment During 2013 the Office of the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Education and Employment was responsible for the following Directorates / Departments: DIRECTORATE FOR QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION Curriculum and eLearning Department (CMeLD) ELearning Department (ELD) Quality Assurance Department (QAD) DIRECTORATE FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES Student Services Department School Resources Department Human Resources Office RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT DIRECTORATE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING EU AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE DIRECTORATE FOR PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION CORPORATE SERVICES DIVISION EXAMINATIONS DEPARTMENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT UNIT 1 DIRECTORATE FOR QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION Introduction The Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) was established following the enactment of the amendments of the Education Act Chapter 327 in 2006. The mission of this Directorate is to regulate, establish, monitor and assure standards and quality in the programmes and educational services provided by schools, whether State schools or not, as provided for in this Act. The Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) is led by a Director General and supported by three Directors responsible for specific Departments: Curriculum and eLearning Department (CMeLD)* ELearning Department (ELD)* Quality Assurance Department (QAD) *A Director for eLearning was appointed on the 22nd October 2013 thus CMeLD is now two separate Departments that is: Department of Curriculum Management and the Department of eLearning. Curriculum Management and e Learning Department A National Curriculum Framework For All In exercise of the powers conferred by article 47 and 135(e) of the Education Act, the Minister for Education and Employment, after consultation as provided in article 47 of the Education Act, revoked the National Curriculum Regulations, 2000.L.N. 132 of 2000, and made the following regulations: The title of these regulations is the National Curriculum Framework Regulations, 2013; The National Curriculum Framework of studies for all schools in Malta for the purposes of article 7 of the Education Act shall, with effect from 22nd February 2013, be that set out in the document entitled "A National Curriculum Framework for All" published by the Ministry responsible for Education in December 2012; The implementation of the National Curriculum Framework shall proceed in stages according to guidelines to be adopted by the Minister responsible for Education. The National Curriculum Framework for All (2012) is: a reference for action based on general consensus and the contribution of stakeholders as well as those committed to its implementation; a living framework, in such a way that allows for adjustments to new developments during implementation; a policy instrument as well as information on the implementation strategy, actions and benchmarks for implementation, monitoring and evaluation; and a response to the changing demands of individuals and society, rapid changes in our education system driven by globalisation, ICT development, competition, shift of traditional values and new paradigms. The National Curriculum Framework for All aims at Encouraging children and young people and teachers to work together and learn from each other; 2 Sustaining individual attention, so that all children fulfil their capacity; Supporting schools to fulfil the expectations of children and their parents; Providing quality time for social interaction, non-formal learning and peer activity; Directing education leaders to rationalise the content of Learning Programmes so as to ensure quality and not magnitude; Ensuring that, in the context of the holistic entitlement of the Learning Areas, young people in compulsory education have as an indispensible prerequisite mastery in Maltese and English, Mathematics, a Science subject and Digital Literacy; Helping children to regard social justice and solidarity as key values in the development of the Maltese society; Empowering parents and young people to work towards the acquisition of a formal qualification in key competences as the foundation for Lifelong Learning; Supporting education leaders to successfully implement the NCF and systematically monitor its development at classroom level so that national targets are achieved within established timeframes; Requesting teachers to regard children as Malta’s future workforce and therefore ensure that positive attitudes towards excellence, commitment, responsibility, flexibility and entrepreneurship form part of the learning process. The National Curriculum Framework for All implementation board was set and has acquired ESF funds for designing the Learning Outcomes Framework (LOF) – ESF 1.228 that is part- financed by the European Union ESF Funds under: Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007 – 2013 – Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life - Employment part-financed by the European Union Social Fund ( ESF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU funds; 15% National Funds. Learning Outcomes Framework Project (ESF 1.228) The project ESF 1.228 – Design of Learning Outcomes Framework, associated Learning and Assessment Programmes and Related Training has the scope to design a Learning Outcomes Framework, including the Learning and Assessment Programmes associated with it. This ESF project involves the development of the Learning Outcomes Framework for the eight Learning Areas and the six Cross-Curricular Themes as described in the National Curriculum Framework (2012). The project also involves the development of Learning and Assessment Programmes for the different subjects from Years 3 to 11. An international tender has been issued in November 2013 for the development of a Learning Outcomes Framework (LOF) covering compulsory schooling years 3 to 11, related Learning and Assessment Programmes (LAP) for a range of subjects over the same schooling years, and a training programme to upskill key trainers and senior education staff with respect to these deliverables. Separate calls for a Head of Project and for an Administrative Assistant have been issued in the Government Gazette. Selection boards were set up to interview the applicants. Both the Head of Project and the Administrative Assistant are expected to be on the job as from January 2014. An expression of interest for local curriculum experts was issued in the Government Gazette in November 2013. The role of the Local Experts being engaged through this Expression of Interest is to validate the Learning Areas and the Cross-Curricular Themes of the Learning Outcomes Framework and the Learning and Assessment Programmes of the different subjects that will be developed through the tender. 3 The Secondary School Certificate and Profile (SSC&P) 2013 saw further improvements and developments in the SSC&P, the certificate assigned to students who end their secondary school cycle. A certificate at Level 1 or Level 2 within the Malta Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning and the European Qualifications Framework was an initiative taken by the Department for Curriculum Management and eLearning. Spearheaded by the Director General (DQSE), its philosophy is to accredit all learning that happens in the life of a student during the years of Secondary education both within and outside school. It validates and documents all learning, in order to give a holistic picture of the individual student and shows the development taking place over the years. The profiling of the student covers five years (as against the single form 5 of the former School Leaving Certificate) and incorporates attendance, formal education, personal qualities, non-formal education and informal learning. Among other things, improvement in the SSC&P has seen the removal of marks given to certain sectors. Informative meetings for staff and SMTs were held in all state Colleges as well as in Church and Independent Schools in order to explain the rationale behind the SSC&P. In June 2013 the first cohort of form 5 students (over 4000 students) were assigned their SSC&P. 87% of state schools students obtained a SSC&P with no level and, as a reaction, the scholastic year 2013-14 was dedicated to informing parents in all colleges. The Directorate held meetings in all colleges starting from early October and ending in early December. Attendance was very satisfactory. During the meeting parents were informed of the rationale of the SSC&P and the feedback obtained was a very positive one. More meetings were aimed at informing parents of primary year 6 students. As a further improvement in the SSC&P, Informal learning is not mandatory any more. This came about after a thorough study on the feedback sent to The Curriculum management department by stakeholders. The cohort of students leaving the secondary cycle in 2014 will have their conditions changed towards much more just ones. Formal learning has now been allotted a 55% weighting, non-formal learning, 30% and informal learning 15%. Through this change, informal learning will no longer determine whether a NCFHE level is accredited to the SSC&P or not, since, globally, a student needs just 50% to reach Level 1 and 75% to reach level 2. If a student does well in formal learning s/he will obtain a level without the need to have informal learning. However, informal learning still has its importance since 155 allotted to it can help any student achieve a level. What is now mandatory (formal and non-formal learning) is under the complete
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