Growth in pupils choosing ethics over religious studies

All primary school teachers are now trained to teach ethics as demand for subject outstrips teachers’ supply

Ethics is presently offered to students whose parents or guardians have opted out of religious education. It is offered in six independent schools and in just 20 state primary and 19 state secondary schools
Ethics is presently offered to students whose parents or guardians have opted out of religious education. It is offered in six independent schools and in just 20 state primary and 19 state secondary schools

Over half of secondary-level students who attend private independent schools are no longer opting for religious studies, and instead are taught ethics.

And in Maltese state schools, the number of students opting for ethics has also increased from 1,943 in 2017 to 2,762 in 2018 – and yet, there are still not enough teachers to ensure that all schools can teach this subject.

In fact in 2018 the parents or guardians of 3,422 students attending state schools requested that their children are exempted from religious classes, up from 2,500 in the previous year.

Ethics is presently offered to students whose parents or guardians have opted out of religious education. It is offered in six independent schools and in just 20 state primary and 19 state secondary schools – which means that not all students in public schooling can opt for ethics, because there are just 39 teachers available to teach the subject.

But as from this year all students training to become teachers in primary schools will be trained in the teaching of ethics to ensure that “all graduate primary teachers will be able to teach this subject”, a spokesperson told MaltaToday.

Teachers who currently teach ethics have undergone a one-year specialised training course provided by the Faculty of Education, within the University of Malta.

Official statistics show that in independent schools, the actual number of students opting for ethics decreased from 1,566 in 2017 to 1,269 in 2018. The subject is not offered as an option in Church schools.

As from May 2018 students could also sit for a SEC exam in ethics – only 38 students sat for this exam last year in contrast with 2,856 who sat for the religion exam.

In state secondary schools where the subject is offered in most schools, the percentage of students opting for ethics has increased from 9% in 2017 to 13% in 2018. In primary schools where the subject is offered in only 20 schools, the percentage increased from 6% to 8% opt for ethics in the same time-frame.

67% hail from northern regions

The subject appears to be mostly popular in the state secondaries Maria Regina College catchment (which includes St Paul’s Bay, Naxxar and Mellieha) and St Clare College (which includes Sliema, Gzira and Pembroke). These two educational colleges which include localities with the highest percentage of foreigners account for two-thirds (67%) of all students attending state schools who are choosing ethics.

Presently, 548 primary school children and 561 secondary school children attending the Maria Regina College are opting for ethics instead of religion. In St Clare College, 398 primary school students and 337 secondary school children are opting for ethics.
In stark contrast only 28 primary school students and 82 secondary school students attending state schools in Gozo chose ethics instead of religion.

But these statistics also reflect the unavailability of ethics in a number of southern localities especially at primary level.

Ethics is presently not offered to primary students attending the St Thomas More College which includes Zejtun and Marsaskala, the San Gorg Preca College which includes Hamrun and Paola, and the St Nicholas College which includes Attard and Dingli.

Additionally, not enough teachers are available to teach it. The training of all primary state teachers in ethics is expected to increase the number of schools where this subject is offered.

A spokesperson for the education ministry said the experience of ethics education during the past years had been a positive one, giving students “an opportunity to learn about moral education.”

“In this way students are being thought to think and deal reflectively with moral matters, to understand the moral issues they will encounter in their daily lives as adult members of Maltese society and of the global community.”

Students are also being taught to understand other cultures, lifestyles, outlooks, and life choices different from their own and “to offer solidarity to those in their community and elsewhere who suffer injustice, to commit themselves to the peaceful resolution of moral conflict where this occurs, and to respect and support human rights, social justice, and democratic practice.”

What they teach in Ethics

Year 1 students are introduced to ethics with discussions focusing on their personal identities, and getting them to understand that people are complex beings. Children are then taught the notions of privacy, responsibility and family values, as well as the significance of owning a pet and the concept of animal cruelty.

In Year 2, children enter into discussion about friendship, classmates and communities, and about whether they should step in to help friendless children at their school.

In Year 3, children get to discuss whether they should care about strangers in the school, about other people’s property, their neighbourhoods and the natural environment.

In Year 4, children start learning about basic values, and to question discrimination against disabled people and other social groups. Stories include that of Anne Frank to promote the value of courage as a middle ground between rashness and cowardice.

Discussion on values and virtues proceeds in Year 5, with the teacher introducing concepts such as ‘good and evil’ and free will.
Students are also introduced to the concept of diversity, with the teacher promoting tolerance, solidarity and open-mindedness towards people from other communities.

It is only in Year 6 that students start learning about religion, specifically Christianity, Islam and Judaism, with the teacher making sure to focus on the similarities between them, and later also about secular humanism.

The ethics programme in Form 1 focuses on the modern idea of rights, including that they are never absolute and that they always come attached with duties and responsibilities, and about whether some rights should also be extended to animals.

In Form 2, students discuss the limitations on human freedom and whether they should be morally obliged to obey harmful commands from authoritative figures.

In Form 3, discussion revolves around respect for self and others – Issues like child pornography, cyber-bullying, censorship, addictions and self-harm are addressed.

They are also introduced to moral dilemmas – such as whether they would choose to save a friend or three complete strangers from a burning house.

Love and sex are the key focal points of discussion in Form 4, with students instructed in topics such as the difference between love and sexual attraction, responsible sex, sexual consent, and the sexual abuse of minors.

In Form 5 ethics students engage in discussion about life and death issues – such as war, torture, terrorism, capital punishment, euthanasia, suicide, contraception and abortion, with the teacher obliged to keep an open discussion and not advocating any particular stance.