A history of education in Malta

Joseph A. Xerri presented a copy of his publication L-Iżvilupp talEdukazzjoni f’Malta: 1430-1924 to the Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat. This highly researched volume traces the significant policies that make up the development of education in Malta, which include the beginning of formal education by religious orders and the changes Napoleon tried to implement (including the possibility for Maltese students to study in France). Various colonial governors also tried to introduce various reforms.

Mr Scerri shows empathy towards the plight of the working class. This chimes in with the attitude of the early 20th century writers. Authors such as P.P. Saydon, John F. Marks, Guze Bonnici and others adamantly promoted the need for the systematic education of all Maltese.

Among the themes Scerri’s book deals with are cultural capital, exclusion and meritocracy, education for liberation and social change, Catholic education, the Collegium Melitense of the precursor to tertiary education, the monasteries’ contribution, the establishment of the Na- tional Library, the press in Malta, the British Services’ schools as well as the role played by Ecclesiastical Orders such as the Augustinians, Franciscans, Carmelites, Salesians and others.

Scerri’s book is a unique historical document that will surely find its place on the bookshelves of readers who are intrigued by the nature of the Maltese consciousness and its resistance to colonial rule. With his years of experience in the education sector Mr Scerri objectively sets out the social background in the conflictual thinking that set one class against another as typified in educational policies.

Scerri’s book is an illustrated 600-page book in which he examines the authority of the culturally and economically dominant class during the colonial period and the political conflicts between the two main political factions, the pro-Italian one and the Anglophiles. This narrative, strung together with political tension, has had longlasting repercussions we are still grappling with today. The book is selling at €20 from leading bookstores.

Joseph A. Xerri presenting a copy of his book to the Prime Minister