Imparting fundamental values to young people

Active citizenship is one of the main aims of education in Malta. Education for Democracy is our response to the challenges that our society has been facing in recent years – this by ensuring that our pluralistic society’s views for humanistic and civic values are safeguarded and passed on to future generations.

The primary purpose of education is not only to develop knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes but it is there to embed fundamental values and to help our youngsters become active, responsible, open-minded members of society.

In our policy document for 2014-2024, we envisage learning outcomes for students in the development and employment of citizen skills. Students will be taught to acquire positive attitudes and a respect for human rights and they will learn to adopt sustainable lifestyles and develop a sense of belonging within their locality, their country and the international community.

Personal, Social and Career Development (PSCD), which forms part of both the primary and secondary schools’ curriculum, incorporates components of Citizen Education. Furthermore, one of the government agencies, Agenzija Zghazagh, has a number of programmes and initiatives that support and promote active citizenship among young people.

Ethics education is being piloted in schools during the current scholastic year. We are committed towards providing a full educational entitlement to all pupils, regardless of beliefs or ethnic backgrounds. A number of seminars and symposiums have been organised in collaboration with international bodies, including the Council of Europe and the League of Arab States on the promotion of active citizenship and the participation of young people in the South Mediterranean region.

Recently, heads of European human rights institutions have expressed their concerns that values are being threatened by hate speech. In a joint statement on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, it was stated that “the most effective way to counter hate speech, is to reinforce the values of democracy and human rights”.

Hate speech needs to be confronted and condemned directly by counter-speech that shows its destructive and unacceptable character. Education has a key role to play in undermining the misconceptions and misinformation that form the basis of hate speech. 

When hate speech publicly incites violence, criminal action is important but this alone is not enough to eradicate it. This is why raising public awareness of the importance of respecting pluralism, is vital. National authorities and non-governmental organisations must work together to reduce marginalisation and fight radicalisation.

We aim to promote citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education. Together with our colleagues on the European Council, we have pledged to reinforce the teachings and acceptance of these common fundamental values by laying the foundations for more inclusive societies through education – starting from an early age.

Children and young people represent our future and they must have the opportunity to shape that future. We must ensure that inclusive education combats discrimination in all forms and that our students are taught to accept differences of opinion, of conviction, of belief and of lifestyle. We must build on young people’s sense of initiative and the positive contribution they can make through participation.