Apart from the disruptions it is causing world-wide, why does the Iran war come across as a very strange kind of conflict?
It might be because more than ever before, news arriving about different developments taking place are reaching us almost instantaneously. Supposedly on such a basis, one can follow better in real time, the ups and downs of warfare or diplomacy. However this holds if the ongoing action is not subject to sharp and fast discontinuities and if it is being explained in clear terms or close to that by the main actors involved. However, mostly on the US side, tactical – and sometimes strategic – changes are carried out so fast and without any apparent relationship to what has been attempted previously, that it is difficult to understand them, as well as the subsequent reactions of the opposing Iranian forces. The latter could have been responding not to the most recent US move but to the one which came just before.
To complicate matters, all sides involved have been trying in the most blatant way, to hide, lie about and deny essential aspects of what they’re enduring or aiming for.
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EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
A friend who has been following educatonal affairs for a long time, said: A problem in Europe, including Malta, is that the standards set for tertiary and advanced courses have been levelled down. This happened almost automatically because of programmes that aimed to increase as much as possible the intake of young people and adults in tertiary and advanced education. That this effort succeeded is admirable. But to make such a project attractive, is it a good idea to for instance, cut down on the detail (let’s call it that) by which subjects are being taught? Already with an increase in the number of students, the challenge was to prevent the quality of teaching from declining.
To be sure, I cannot personally judge whether this friend of mine is correct, though I have heard others voice similar comments. On the other hand, according to other reports, a substantial number of new graduates are finding jobs that require less skills and abilities than what they possess or have been taught.
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DEVELOPMENT
It is such a good thing that perspectives and plans are being laid out about the future development of the island’s economy. They are necessary, especially when linked to a serious assessment of what has been achieved, up to the present, including the hows and the whys. There is now a general effort to provide them, refer to them and insist on their importance.
Leading the pack in giving much attention to this effort is the government with its institutions, which is natural. Rightly over the years, it has become customary when drafting texts about future prospects, to draw into consultatons about them the general public as well as representatives of relevant sectors. Whether what they suggest is given credence is another matter.
In the same way, the Opposition in office has begun to also present its perspectives. So have commercial institutions, sector by sector, Gozo included. It’s an immensely valuable process.
Only one problem remains. In practically all cases, the explanations given of the perspectives that are drawn up remain quite vague. We get next to no concrete indications about how targets are meant to be reached.
