Maybe someone has already brought up the (tongue in cheek) analogy with Joyce and his brilliant but boring novel, in which case I present my apologies…

[Daphne – No, no one has. And yes, it’s called ‘stream of consciousness’.]

And the PN government emerges unscathed again under the judgement of Caruana Galizia. Mind you, when it comes to education, there is no adage that holds truer than charity begins at home, but that doesn’t mean that the government shouldn’t do its utmost to level the playing field or to prevent students from jumping through unnecessary hoops. What’s more, you shouldn’t base your opinion on a subject matter solely on your own experiences or of those around you. What worked for you doesn’t necessarily work for others, given the different contexts each one of us is faced with. This goes well beyond intelligence and/or determination.

[Daphne – How can you blame the government when children come out of the same school with completely different results? The school is the common factor. It is the HOME which is the differentiating factor here. I would have been exactly the same had I gone to a different school, because I am the product of my parents, my personality and my genetic make-up – certainly not of my school. The same can be said for all of us. We are the product of our school only if we board from the age of seven, returning home at Christmas, Easter and in the summer – and even then, the home and parents have a massive influence. I went to school in the 1970s and early 1980s. Does that make me a product of the Labour government’s educational policies? If anything, it makes me a victim of them because I couldn’t get a university education, but it sure as hell wasn’t Agatha Barbara who taught me what I know.]

Mine are, primarily, statistical figures about literacy and exam passes across a said period of time.

I seriously hope you did not mean that all accountability should be put on the shoulders of parents and adults in general.

[Daphne – Yes, I did mean precisely that. The fact is that schools can do nothing in the face of a home environment that is not congenial to a child’s intellectual development. The children who do succeed in developing intellectually despite a negative environment at home are exceptional. They either have exceptional determination or an exceptional level of intelligence, and generally, they have both. The problem is that they are not the ones who need help because they are perfectly capable of helping themselves. Schools are not – or at least, should not be – about studying. I never studied and I don’t recall any of my sons studying while at school, either. We all did well. Education is about broadening the mind and awakening a child’s curiosity – then once the mind is open, learning is easy. How can teachers break down the mental defences put up by a child whose mind has been closed by his upbringing? Or fight against the prejudices and the ignorance of his parents without telling him, in so many words, that his parents are ignorant and prejudiced? Children at independent schools do very well in examinations and in life not because independent schools are necessarily better than others, but because the children who go there have parents who prioritise education and make financial sacrifices to pay large amounts for it. They also tend to live in homes where there is proper conversation, where events are discussed, where real newspapers are read, and where there is a bit of an international perspective.]

Keith, is that a threat?

In this case, it will be the “ish hej” class.

Daphne, you went to a Dickensian school, but some of those commenting here give the impression that they went to a school for dicks.

That “ish” must be some sort of fetish.

Parents do have their fair share of responsibility surely, that’s a given. But I was always taught that in any organisational hierarchy it is the people at the helm who are ultimately responsible.

[Daphne – The ‘I was only following orders’ mentality, you mean? Lovely.]

That’s why they are paid more than the people at the bottom. Imagine for a moment that you were a shareholder of a poorly performing company in which you invest a minimum 2/12 of your monthly income every year (other taxes aside, that is how much an average person pays in taxes every year).

Who would you be pissed off the most at? If every tax payer shared your line of thought, the life of a minister would be as easy as pie.

[Daphne – You can’t compare a company to life, in which every individual is responsible for his or her actions after the age of 18, and even before that – otherwise people under 18 wouldn’t be prosecuted.]

Who’s to blame for the horrid state of literacy in Malta, now I wonder? Tricky…… got it, it’s Sant by halfing the University stipends. He’s guilty as sin, that one.

[Daphne – The parents, Lejborist. And that’s obvious. Parents are make or break when it comes to these things. I went to a hopeless school – totally Dickensian. It didn’t stop me.]