Economic growth may have reduced incentive to study, as male early school-leavers increase

The strong economic growth experienced by Malta in the past years may have had an unforeseen effect, contributing to the country’s failure to reach an EU target to keep more teenagers in post-secondary education, after leaving school.

Over the past decade, the share of early school-leavers in Malta has been almost halved, dropping from 21% in 2010 to 13% in 2020. Yet Malta still failed to reach the 10% national target set by the EU.

And between 2018 and 2020, the percentage of male early school-leavers slightly increased… reversing the trend of the past decade.

So far, 15 out of 27 EU countries have reached their national targets. But Malta’s sharp decrease in unemployment, falling to a historical low, may have contributed to Malta’s relatively high percentage of school leavers.

“In such circumstances, the incentive to invest in one’s education may have declined in the short run, in part explaining why the rate of early school leavers has remained high in Malta,” a report in the Central Bank’s quarterly review by Tiziana M. Gauci finds.

Even when leaving school with a basic level of education, most early school-leavers in Malta still managed to find a job. In fact, almost 70% of early school-leavers were employed in 2020, the highest rate across the EU, where in contrast less than half of early school-leavers were employed. “This suggests that despite the lack of official qualifications, early school-leavers in Malta may still possess skills that are relevant for the labour market,” Gauci said.

But this may still pose long term problems because a lack of basic qualifications compromises employability later in life, which could also mean a fall in income for those with lower education.

Despite failing to reach its 10% target, Malta managed to significantly reduce the percentage of early school-leavers, something also witnessed through a reduction in secondary school absenteeism – down from 30% in 2013 to around 22% in 2017.

Malta even reached its national target of having 33% of those aged 30-34 achieve a tertiary level of education. But then statistics reveal a considerable gender gap: while 46% of women aged 30-34 had a university degree in 2020, the rate fell to 34% for men. Overall, the share of Maltese aged 30-34 with tertiary level of education stood at 40%, close to the EU average of 41%.

Malta now mirrors the EU average with its 25-34 demographic being the most highly-educated, with 40% of this cohort having a tertiary level of education in 2020. This happened over the course of a decade in which Malta reduced a 10-percentage point gap with the EU’s average in 2010, down to just two points.

But the older generations have a lower level of educational attainment, with over 65% of those aged 55-64 having only basic level of education. This falls to 15% for those aged 20-24. But Gauci reports that low levels of education persisted among a segment of youths who are “children belonging to parents with low education [and] face bigger obstacles to transition to a higher level of education.”

While Malta saw the share of persons aged 15-64 leaving school with just a basic level of education falling from 60% in 2010 to 37% in 2020, Malta still retains the fourth highest share of low-skilled persons within the EU, where the average stands at 25%.

And apart from a widening educational gap between generations, Malta is also witnessing a widening gap between males and females: in 2020, 33% of women aged 25-64 had a university degree, compared to 29% for men.