Education Minister Louis Galea yesterday spoke about government assistance to private education when inaugurating the St Martin’s College Sixth Form, which started operating this academic year.
“We strongly believe that private schooling has an important role in our society and provides a high level of education to the hundreds of students in their care. Apart from the substantial help provided to Church schools as a result of the agreement between the Maltese government and the Holy See, the government also assists parents of students attending kindergarten, primary and secondary schools through tax exemptions.
“The government also helps students who further their education in private sixth forms through the Maintenance Grants Scheme and the Smart Card system. This year the government also introduced a scholarship scheme for 150 students who take undergraduate courses with private institutions, apart from the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme for Postgraduate studies, which is now in its second year,” he said.
St Martin’s College has worked with consultants, teachers, parents and students for over two years to put together a two-year programme of studies, which will offer students a balanced curriculum that should translate into excellent results at Advanced and Intermediate levels. 57 students will be taking up an array of courses at the Sixth Form from this year. The newly-refurbished Sixth Form area has been well received by parents, staff and students. Small class sizes and the establishment of an exciting learning community have also attracted students to St Martin’s College.
Dr Galea said the government had created a number of schemes which helped parents and students to continue their education, and to help parents and students who attend private schools. In the budget for 2002 the government introduced tax credits for parents who sent their children to private schools at primary and secondary levels. In 2006 these were extended from Lm200 (EUR465) to Lm400 (EUR931) in primary, and from Lm300 (EUR698) to Lm600 (EUR1,397) in secondary level, while extending the scheme to kindergarten level also.
Dr Galea said that St Martin’s Sixth Form students would also be benefiting from the Student Maintenance Grants Scheme and the Smart Cart System, which will give them a substantial amount of money that they can use to support themselves and to buy educational material. This year over 15,000 students will be benefiting from these grants with an outlay of Lm8.2m (EUR19.1m).
Dr Galea augured St. Martin’s College every success in its endeavour to educate Maltese and international students, while contributing to the success in the field of education that Malta had now become known for.