A case study in state-funding in education : administrative aspects

Abstract

The pioneering role of the Church in the educational field in Malta dates back to the middle ages and expanded significantly during the nineteenth and the twentieth century. The Church has greatly served Maltese society by providing education, especially where the State left a vacuum. The Socialist reforms of the seventies met with popular suspicion who found refuge in the Church sector. This dynamic led to the Church schools issue in 1983-1984 when the Socialist Government requested that Church schools be free of charge. Many interpreted this move as a political move to close down Church schools and gain monopoly over education in Malta. People massively resisted the Government's will who reached an interim agreement with the Church in April 1985. A mixed Commission, known as the Parethetic Commission, led to the first Church-State Agreement on Education that was signed in November 1991 under a new administration. At the lapse of a decade from the date that the Agreement came into force, this study proposes to analyse the implementation of this Agreement. The project is constructed by a series of interviews with people directly involved in the administration of this Agreement. The qualitative approach was necessary to record first hand experiences. The content analysis yielded a number of themes that run through the data giving it a coherent meaning. The themes are: autonomy; admissions criteria; free tuition; financing; parity; articles in limbo; interpretation; and the advantages and the disadvantages for State and Church. These themes relate to the principles enshrined in the Agreement; to the implementation of the principles; and to the experience of a decade of implementation. A list of advantages and of disadvantages for both State and Church concludes this study, together with a number of recommendations to improve upon the present situation.