Aggressive and dark teen world exposed in Maltese exam essay

The report refers to a high incidence of "very negative experiences" some of which described as "dark", which students related when writing a composition on the unforeseen consequences of a prank they committed ('Ma kinitx cajta li mort naghmel').

The theme was the most popular of four options given to students sitting for their Maltese 'O' level.

The report notes that a number of compositions depicted  "a very aggressive world which reflects the mental state of young people today".

Many students related tasteless pranks like phoning their parents to falsely inform them that they had been injured in a traffic accident.

In another essay, a student related a prank involving robbing, handcuffing and throwing a friend in a van before he and his friends were apprehended by the police.

Another wrote that a parent had a traffic incident upon being misinformed that a younger brother or sister was in hospital or that their house was on fire.

Another candidate's prank involved telling people that they were going to have a baby, and describing how the rumour would spread.

On the other hand the report refers to a few examples of originality shown by students who opted for the topic: the seasons.

One candidate was inspired by Vivaldi's four seasons while another took Greek mythology as a starting point.

Others focused on the scientific reasons leading to the change in seasons.

The examiner's report also refers to problems related to orthography and grammar. 

"It is astonishing that after 10 years of compulsory schooling certain mistakes are made."

These included the use of colloquial Maltese like naqa instead of naqra, habba instead of minhabba and qas instead of anqas.

A number of candidates sitting for the Matsec 'O' level exam in Maltese cannot write a letter properly.

"It is unbelievable that many candidates sitting for the exam after so many years of schooling do not have an idea of how to write a letter."

This emerged from one of the exercises in the May 2011 Maltese exam in which candidates were asked to write a letter to the editor about a project in a particular local council.

Despite being clearly instructed to write a letter to a newspaper editor, a number of candidates addressed the letter to the locality's mayor. 

Others omitted writing the date of the letter or one of the two addresses or did not know where to place them.

A number of candidates were not aware of the style required in a formal letter going as far as inviting the editor to lunch to discuss the issue. 

The report concludes that a large number of candidates write Maltese without really thinking. 

The report also expressed concern about the fact that students make very little distinction between spoken and written Maltese.

When answering questions on Maltese literature many students failed to refer to authors by their names and many failed to write in the 'historic' present.

The report shows that only 2.3% of students passed the exam with a Grade 1.  The largest amount of candidates obtained a grade 4 (18.6%) or grade 5 (17.3%). Thirty per cent failed the exam while 10% obtained a low pass mark of 6 or 7 which is not valid for entry to University.

Concern about deteriorating standards of Maltese was also expressed in an examiner's report on the Advanced Level exam.

The report shows concern about "the persistence of a large number of orthographic mistakes" in the replies of many candidates. 

It also referred to the frequent use of informal and 'vulgar' words like, 'iċ-ċuċati' and 'ċwieċ', and the invention of non-existent words like 'signifiċi' and 'mifniqa'.

The examiners also notes that the expressive skills of candidates have declined from previous years and that many essays contained stereotypical ideas.