Does Malta Even Care About Writing? Three Things We Can Do To Encourage Young Maltese Writers
Is talent enough for you to improve in your chosen career path? Or is exposure and experience a requirement to grow your innate potential?
This may seem like an absurd question, however, it is one I often ask myself.
And as a young person with a passion for writing, I’d like to pose a new question:
How is it possible for me to improve my writing abilities and eventually make a career out of them if there is an utter absence of opportunities in Malta?
In light of the above, I’d like to propose three changes Malta can implement to support our under-appreciated youths and nurture their fondness for writing.
1. We need to overhaul the entire composition section of MATSEC’s O’ Level syllabus
Currently, the Maltese and English syllabus for O’ Level in Malta does next to nothing to nurture creativity in kids.
By telling students exactly what to write and how to write it, with a fixed structure, style, and voice, we are telling young kids not to express themselves and essentially taking the joy out of writing.
The writing portion of the syllabus is very much centred on clear-cut, boring titles that leave no room for personal points of view.
Each writing style, such as narratives, biographies, letters and reports, are taught in a matter of fact manner with a predetermined number of paragraphs and a maximum word count of 350.
This goes to show that the aim of the syllabus is not to nurture the pupils’ writing skills or help them to express their emotions, but rather to cultivate a throng of copy and pasters, always thinking inside the box – producing the same piece of writing using slightly different words.
If we want to change the way writing is viewed among youths we must first change the way it is taught at school.
2. Malta needs more writing competitions/events with a wider range of ages
As mentioned, there is a severe lack of opportunities, with those that exist only allowing entries from youths aged 16 and over.
Writing has been proven to help children express and cope with their emotions as they make sense of the world around them. Therefore, I’d advise anyone opening up a writing competition or any sort of initiative directed towards youths and writing, to take into consideration the need for exposure to writing at a young age, and to lower their age limit to at least 10 or 11.
Understandably, by lowering the age limit, older participants gain an unfair advantage, which is why I’d suggest opening up separate sections for the younger kids.
3. The government/school system needs to show it actually cares about this rare talent
Another area in which Malta seems to be behind other countries such as the UK, is when it comes to encouragement from schools and the government – they should actively encourage any local opportunities as well as remain on the lookout for international competitions and initiatives, which are often overlooked in Malta.
By being aware of the said opportunities, schools can push their students to apply, and ultimately further their knowledge and exposure to writing competitively.
Do you think more needs to be done in Malta to support young creative writers?
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