LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (MNA/ITALPRESS) – According to Eurostar, Malta has one of the European Union’s highest shares of people with a low level of education, despite the spending in education is very high.
According to the EU statistics agency, 40.8% of the Maltese population has less than upper secondary education attainment. The only other EU member states with similar education statistics are Portugal, Italy, and Spain with 46.2%, 41.7% and 40.1% of their respective populations having low levels of education.
The Eurostat data shows that 31.1% of the Maltese population obtained medium education, which comprises upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education.
In nearly every country, there are more people with medium-level credentials with a vocational orientation rather than a general orientation. This was not the case in Malta. “The extent to which such qualifications prevail in a country reflects both national education systems and labour markets,” Eurostat noted.
According to Eurostat’s data, 28.1% of Maltese are highly educated, which includes people who attended universities and other tertiary education institutions.
The data also notes that Malta, along with Denmark and Luxembourg, stands out due to the difference of education levels between men and women, where the difference stands higher than 7% in favour of women.
A 2023 European Commission report on Maltese education and training notes the discrepancy between Malta’s expenditure on education and its outcome.
The report notes that Malta’s spend on education and training in 2021 totalled 12.7% of total public expenditure, making it the third highest in the EU. The Commission noted that this shows, “the relative importance and weight of the education sector compared to other areas of public spending.” Despite this, the same report highlights that Malta’s education outcomes are “still below the EU average.”
(ITALPRESS).
Foto: Agenzia Fotogramma
