I would like to thank my friend and colleague Professor Peter Mayo for his usual critical comments and engagement with my work. I also wish to thank the two anonymous referees whose extensive and very helpful comments have helped me clarify many points. The usual disclaimers apply.
Mary Darmanin is an Associate Professor, Department of Education Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Malta. Her doctoral research was the first ethnographic study of Maltese schools. Darmanin has researched class pedagogies in schools, gender in education, education policy mak- ing and markets in higher education. Following participation in the REMC project, papers on religious identites, religious education and Muslim children in Malta have been presented at the BSA, ECER and other conferences. She has recently worked as a Ethics Reviewer for the EU’s FP 7 research proposals.
Notes
1 This study was co-funded by the EU and the University of Malta. “Religious education in a multicultural society: School and home in comparative context”. [REMC] Topic SSH- 2007 - 3.3 .1 Cultural interactions and multiculturalisms in Euro- pean societies.
2 Teachers, parents and children in five primary schools in the state, independent and state-dependent church school sec- tor were interviewed in 2008-09. In addition, some ethnographic observation was carried out in each of the schools. Key policy-makers were interviewed in 2009.
3 Two school principals from the independent sector, including a Muslim faith school, and one from the state-dependent church school were also interviewed, but the resulting data are not reported here.
4 Transliteration from Maltese into English is my own. 5 Barring 18 months in 1996-98, in government since 1987. 6 From 1802 to Independence in 1964.
7 The 1989 Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta for the Best Organisation of Roman Catholic Re- ligious Instruction and Education in State Schools and the Modes of Regulation on Catholic Religious Instruction and Education in State Schools were the first in a series initiated by the Nationalist Party in government. In 2003 an Additional Protocol reasserted the rights of the Episcopal Conference to regulate RE in state and in other schools wherever Roman Catholic pupils are present.
8 Where Italy has a density of 19.2 and the UK 244.3 per square km.
9 Currently, no data are available from the 2010 Census. No questions on religious belonging were included in this latest Census, although questions on country of birth and citizenship were included.
10 Legal Notice 259 of 2002 as amended by LN 358 of 2002, “Migrant Workers (Child Education) Regulations”, http://www. justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lom&itemid=9902&l=1
11 Refugee Act XX of 2000, http://www.mjha.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_chapt420.pdf 12 These are the latest available official statistics.
13 Pupils from pre-primary to secondary education (NSO, 2011).
14 Calculated at €20 million “Church schools reform as a result of expansion project”, The Times of Malta online, 22 January 2010; “Church school expansion sets off alarm bells in private sector”, Maltatoday, 20 January 2010
15 The Imam El Sadi, in an interview with Lousia Bartolo, “Leap of faith”, Sunday Circle, October 2011. 16 From figures provided to the NSO by Police General Headquarters.
17 The majority are from Somalia.
18 “Malta’s migration burden biggest in EU – study”, The Times, 4 March 2010; “Too early to sound alarm on migration”, The Times, 13 June 2012
19 Reported on the EC website “Special meeting to tackle Malta’s migration resettlement issues”, Retrieved 10 June 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/malta/news/malta_migration_resettlemtnt_issues_en.htm
20 “Denmark is still resisting sharing the burden of Malta’s migration problem”, The Times, 4 January 2012
21 In an attributable interview with Ms Sina Bugeja, NCPE, March 2009. She has since moved to take on the CE post in an- other agency.
22 Interviewed in October 2008, the name is a pseudonym 23 The two official languages of instruction
24 This can be found at http://www.um.edu.mt/_data/assets/pdf-file/0014/143033/Curriculum_Review_Meeting_-lat- est_21_December_no.2_2011.pdf
25 Referred to in endnote 6
26 Parliamentary Question 11995 of 2009.
27 This interview was held in Maltese. I have not translated ‘Alla’ to ‘God’ to keep the meaning of the use of the common Semitic name for both Maltese Christians and Muslims.
28 Interviewed in 2009
29 “Patri” means “Monk” or “Reverend” as in the name of a monk. 30 In Maltese “int mishut”
31 Dr Adrian Gellel, interviewed 26 February 2009. He has recently resigned the post. 32 Professor Valerie Sollars, still in her post.
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