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In both Malta and Gozo, students attending Form Five prefer languages in their SEC level choice. The most popular subjects are English Language, Maltese and Italian. Whilst the ratio of Gozitan students sitting for Science subjects at SEC level is slightly higher in Gozo than in Malta, with 33.1% against 27.9%, the ratio of Maltese students registering for English Literature is double that of their Gozitan counterparts. The proportion of male Gozitan students who register for computer studies is double that of Gozitan female students.

Subjects studied at Advanced Level in Gozo possibly reflect Gozitan Sixth Formers’ University ambitions. There was an increase of 121 students or 7% who studied Science subjects during 2003-4 as compared to 2001-2, with the student population at the Sir Mikelan? Refalo Centre for Further Studies totalling 1080 students (2003-4) as opposed to 959 (2001-2). Science subjects were being followed by 43% with the other 57% covering non-science subjects, amongst which languages (23%).

At Sixth Form level, Maltese was chosen by 8.1% of students while 6.7% chose to study English Language. Pure Maths and Biology resulted as the most chosen subjects at Advanced Level at Sixth Form, at 11.5% and 10.6% respectively.

During academic year 2004-2005, 671 Gozitans students were following a course at University with the majority of them being females. Most popular faculties and institutes among Gozitan students were the Faculty of Education (22%), the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy (20%), and the Institute of Health Care (13%) with the two most chosen courses being those of B.Educ (Hons) with more than 100 students, and B. Commerce with more than 70 students.

At University level, female students predominantly chose to follow education and caring-related courses with males opting for IT, Engineering, Science and Architecture. In percentage terms, more than 70% of students were following a first degree while most of the remaining students followed Diploma or Master Courses. 17% of the male students were pursuing a post-graduate course in comparison to 12% of female students.

Educational and occupational aspirations of students were categorised according to three main variables, namely, gender, school and parents’ level of education. 77.6% of students showed their intention to further their studies while 17.8% were still undecided. Female students were more inclined to continue with their studies, at 83.4% compared to 68.9% for males, while students attending Form Five Junior Lyceums represented the highest percentage of those who showed their willingness to pursue higher education at 90.8%.

Virtually no Sixth Form students were interested at certificate level while only a low 6% of Form Five Area Secondary students aspired to get a Bachelor degree. However 67% of these students aim to pursue a Diploma course while another 27% intend to continue their studies at a Certificate level. 82% of MCAST students at the time were most interested in pursuing a Diploma course.

Most students showed their preference to follow a course leading to a Bachelor degree (71%) while teaching, computing and health care emerged as the most popular fields of study.

Gender differences in career aspirations were evident, with females opting for teaching and caring professions and males going for science-related professions such as computing and engineering.

Parents’ level of education did not significantly affect employment aspirations of their children however females studying at Sixth Form whose parents had a postsecondary or tertiary level of education tended to have the highest educational aspirations.

Most students stated that their interest in a particular occupation stemmed from a desire to achieve job satisfaction (28.5%) with money being the second most important motivator (at 24.1%).

Most of the students said that they preferred to work in Gozo however they also considered working in Malta (56%). Only a minority (11%), mostly males, said that they were only willing to work in Gozo.

With tourism being an important economic activity on the island, only a few of the respondents showed their inclination to pursue a career in tourism although 4.8% of male students were inclined to take up careers as Chefs.

According to the study, should the surveyed students manage to reach their career aspirations it would seem that the number of low skilled workers in Gozo would decrease. The Gozitan business sector identifies the areas of problem management, innovation, marketing, communication, mathematics and science as those that require more trained, educated and responsible employees. The traditional issue regarding regional mobility also seemed to be rather small thus implying that it had already become easier for Gozitans to get higher education, whilst the existence of post-secondary institutions in Gozo had also started to facilitate lifelong learning through an increased diversified range of education and training opportunities.

The number of Gozitans pursuing further studies beyond compulsory education has increased. The University of Malta Gozo Centre (UGC) has pioneered a number of courses making it possible for Gozitan adults to get a tertiary level of education. The opening of MCAST in Gozo has also proved beneficial for more students to continue with their studies.

Recommendations for the education system in Gozo to comply with the Lisbon Agenda include:

Modernisation of the career guidance system in order to anticipate skill needs and labour market shortages, and to provide a more personal dimension of career guidance.

The PSD curriculum should be more career-oriented, fostering more awareness of potential employment opportunities and giving more importance to the hospitality industry.

The existing career services on the island should be enhanced to upgrade information among students and teachers alike.