News • 29 December 2002

Teachers of Maltese continue to cast doubt over demotion of A-level for Laws

Prospective law students should have specific course in Maltese

San Gwann – Following MaltaToday’s reports on the demotion of the A-level, teachers of Maltese have decided to voice their opinions on the state of the language as the A-level requirement for entry into Laws was demoted to a bottom-scraping Intermediate with grade ‘E’ or better

MaltaToday’s first probe into the matter started last October when GF Abela Junior College principal Godfrey Muscat called the demotion "a devaluation of the language." Mr Muscat had said that when the entry into Laws required A-levels in Maltese, English and Italian and the Matriculation system changed to two A-levels and three Intermediates, Italian was removed and the outcome was a depreciation of the language itself.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Education Minister Louis Galea had said that by law, the matter had to be dealt with by the University Senate, but he reiterated his public disagreement with the changes and would continue to insist for their reconsideration.

Ulterior motives

University sources had originally told MaltaToday that the increase in paying foreigners and students with different qualifications wanting to study law was seen as good enough a reason to remove the Maltese A-level requirement.

Teachers of Maltese however suspect that the radical demotion from A-level to grade ‘E’ Intermediate had indeed been a suspicious amendment.

Prof Albert Borg from the University of Malta’s Institute of Linguistics said that there had been rumours that Maltese had been removed for students who were the children of prominent people in the political scene.

"I don’t agree with this demotion because ultimately, the Maltese lawyer’s clients will need a lawyer to explain intimate legal matters in a language they understand. On the other hand, foreigners at university are paying a lot of money for their law course and have to be accommodated."

Mark Vella, a Sixth Form teacher of Maltese at St Aloysius College said: "It is rumoured that this demotion of Maltese was done to accommodate someone related to a very powerful figure in Maltese politics. It is also rumoured that this student has now left the Law course."

Mr Vella called the demotion a "dumbing-down of the law course an insult to the University of Malta.

"I had two classes last year of around 40 to 50 A-level students altogether. Today we have only around 20 to 25 students taking Maltese at A-level, and consequently a surge in Intermediate level Maltese students. If it wasn’t for the St Aloysius administration, I risked being made redundant. There’s no valid reason for this demotion. This could have had serious consequences and created a series of redundancies."

GF Abela Junior College Head of Department Saviour Seisun also called the demotion an insult to identity and to the language.

"It is clear that such an essential part of Maltese identity has been given a blow. It is also disappointing that as teachers of Maltese, we were not consulted on the change. It has to be noted that many clients would appreciate being explained the workings of the law in a language they understand. It is ironic that this sort of demotion has happened when the EU has recognised Maltese as an official EU language.

"Here at Junior College, the demotion also resulted into a massive shift to larger, Intermediate classes."

De La Salle Head of Department Mr Godwin Degabriele also said the demotion was a blow to the Maltese language and to the Faculty of Maltese.

"The fact that prospective law students no longer need Maltese at A-level certainly affects the language in some way. There were rumours and suspicions that there had been ulterior motives for the demotion of the requirement for entry into Laws."

Rehash of Maltese for Laws

Despite complaints about the radical demotions, other teachers of the language believe that the answer lies in providing prospective law students with a specific course in Maltese language.

Ghaqda Ghalliema tal-Malti President Gorg Mifsud Chircop said the Maltese A-level exam did not in fact cater for prospective law students, since the exam is based on both language and literature.

"Such a requirement needs to have a linguistic base which can be applied for the practice of law. What is needed is a proper exam that is more positive and proactive in respect to prospective law students. This should also apply for the English A-level requirement."

Likewise, Prof Albert Borg said law students should have a course in Maltese designed specifically for their needs: "The Institute of Linguistics had prepared a course in Maltese suited for law students, both for terminology and in dealing with Maltese clients. The offer was made to the Faculty of Laws, but there has been no answer till now."

Prof Arnold Cassola from the University’s Department of Maltese said that the compulsory study of Maltese left the country in a very sorry state.

"Maltese is the mother tongue of our people. Does this happen to the Norwegian, French, Zulus, Latvians, Serbs, or Indonesians? Of course not. Nobody discusses the use of their mother tongue. This just comes naturally.

"One should try and discover the reasons why a substantial part of the Maltese population feel alienated from their language. Causes have to be identified and remedies taken if we do not want people to continue alienating themselves from the Maltese language."