NCFHE
has conducted a research on student engagement among former students of Sixth
Forms. The project sought to identify the reasons for students being engaged or
disengaged in their learning. This information is important to improve Further
Education in Malta and encourage more young people to continue their education.
The
research focused on former students, who completed or dropped out of Sixth Form
during the academic year 2012/2013 or 2013/2014. This focus was chosen to
identify whether or not they continued their studies and to what extent their
engagement in school may have influenced their decision. Besides that, it also
addressed teachers and the administrative staff of these institutions to better
understand how they perceive and support student engagement.
The
research was based both on data collected through online surveys from former
students, teachers and administrative staff and in-depth interviews with these
three groups. The interviews allowed the NCFHE to get a more complete and rich
perspective of the experiences, forms and conditions for student engagement.
The
data collection for this project took place between April and October 2015. The
findings were launched on 15 November 2017.