Students enrolled in post-secondary education up 4% in three years, study finds

The number of students choosing to continue their studies after finishing secondary school has increased by 4% between 2012 and 2015, increasing from 85% to 89% of the total student population, the ministry of education said this morning.

Citing the “Tracer Study”, which collects data from all schools in Malta administered by the National School Support Services (NSSS), on student’s academic choices after completing secondary education.

“Nine out of every ten students that finish obligatory education continue to study in one of the educational programmes offered in our country,” said the ministry in a statement this morning.

The report also found 91% of girls moved onto post-secondary education, with boys trailing behind with an 87% progression rate. The ministry said boys were “more likely to start working when compared to female students”.

It also pointed to the fact that the ministry had started offering “accredited alternative programmes of a high quality, like the Alternative Learning Programme and Garanzija ghaz-Zghazagh (Youths’ Guarantee), for youths wishing to undertake a different type of learning to be given this sort of opportunity”.

“This improvement in the numbers is one of the reasons for these increases,” it said, adding that the strengthening of psychosocial services structures was vital in increasing the number of workers in this “new sector”. 

Students enrolled in post-secondary education up 4% in three years, study finds

Girls were more likely to continue studying after the age of 16 than boys