The budget estimates for Education, Youth and Employment were yesterday voted through parliament after a debate characterised by the government highlighting achievements in the field, with the opposition claiming a lot of them as their own.

The measures were passed with 27 votes in favour and 23 votes against.

First to speak during the debate was opposition spokesman for education Carmelo Abela. Mr Abela said that the PN government had a history of pomp and fanfare when it came to announcing fund votes to education, but never showed the results to the public. He also said that PN ministers and the Prime Minister always made it a point to pose in whatever photo they needed to with children and at schools to gain political mileage. Mr Abela said that when the MLP tried to organise an event, without media attention, in which it was going to hand over various items to a school, the minister concerned told the head of school to call off the event.

“The Malta Labour Party has a plan for the regeneration of our education system that is, quite frankly, not faring very well. We have a plan where we will spend funds where they are most needed,” he said.

He spoke of the various educational institutions and said that the budget vote towards them was too little, too late. Starting with the university, he asked why the library had, yet again, not been given a budget vote. “The various faculties within the university do not have enough funds to carry out their most basic of functions. They need more funding and the evidence is there for all to see,” he said.

He also made reference to the set up of the ICT faculty, pointing out that the Malta Labour Party had made the suggestion in its vision statement for the education system. “I will also have to mention what we deem to be dubious promotions which have been given out at the University of Malta which seem tailor made for some and demoralising on others,” he said. He also highlighted the problems of lack of space at the university coupled with an acute parking problem. He said that the government had no long term plan for development of the education system and that in its proposals, the MLP had put forward the idea of distance and online learning. Mr Abela also said that the Junior College had a sever shortfall in its income which was therefore sucking funds away from the university itself. He also questioned where the extension of the Junior College is planned for and how it is going to be paid for.

Mr Abela also referred to the ITS and questioned its future as well as the fact that a lot of students were being left behind as they could not enroll in the MCAST. “We must also ask what is going on with the supposed long term education plan compiled by the Foundation for Tomorrow’s schools, it has been promised for years, but has never materialised,” asked Mr Abela. He said that while he felt that the budget vote to education was substantial, the PN should stop blowing it out of proportion and should tell people the truth about what it is planning, proposing, implementing and funding. He closed by saying that the PN government was taking ownership of plans that had already been put forward by the Malta Labour Party.

Next to speak was MP Karl Chircop. He began his speech by referring to the substantial amount of people whose only income is from part-time work. “There are 6,000 of these people and this situation needs to be addressed. There is a lot of abuse of these people and the authorities should see to it that it is stopped,” he said.

He also made reference to an MLP proposal in its vision statement to allow a one-year moratorium on loan repayments for people who are made redundant while paying off the said loan. Dr Chircop said that there needed to be more help for Maltese students who wanted to carry on studying after school leaving age, adding that there was not enough options open to them. Opposition MP Joe Abela also made a short 10-minute speech about the role of co-operatives in the country.

First to speak for the government bench was MP Jason Azzopardi. Dr Azzopardi based his speech on the fact that students have got an all round better deal under PN administration than under the MLP. He said: “The MLP closed doors to students, but the PN had always opened doors of opportunity. Under each PN government, going back in the years, the student was what was believed in. The MLP on the other hand only ever shut doors in the face of students,” he said. Dr Azzopardi said that this was the main difference between the parties, pointing out that European Union membership had done ample good in furthering career prospects for students through the various schemes that are on offer.

He also mentioned the government’s vision of having Malta as an IT centre of excellence, tying it in with the set up of the ICT faculty at the University of Malta. He also expressed surprise at the MLP’s affection towards trade schools, saying that these were more than adequately replaced by the MCAST. “It is a huge leap forward, the courses on offer there provide for a much better future than what was on offer at the various trade schools,” said Dr Azzopardi. He said that in addition, the MCAST created a good synergy between students and the world of work, allowing for a smoother transition to the latter. He also spoke about the government’s determination to continue to invest in state schools and said that the sums being injected into the system were always on the increase. PN MP David Agius also spoke during the debate and highlighted a number of initiatives undertaken by the government which had led to improvement in the education field.

In characteristic fashion and on good form, Education Minister Louis Galea thanked all those who contributed to the debate saying that he listened to all those concerned. “And it is indeed pleasing to see that both parties are so competitive about trying to secure the best possible future for their offspring,” he said. Dr Galea also said that from what he had garnered from listening to the opposition speakers was that they felt that there was still more to do to further the quality of education for Maltese students. “We know that, we are the first to admit it, you can never stop working in the field of education,” he said.

He also said that the MLP needed to realise that there was a lot of work involved in changing from a “chalk and talk” mentality to one that is based around the advancement in IT, something the government is taking very seriously, so much so that it was aiming to have wi-fi capability in every school in Malta and Gozo.

He pointed towards statistics and said that those people applying to take ordinary and advanced examinations were increasing substantially, far cry from figures recorded during socialist administrations.

He also said that Malta was one of the largest contributors in the world when it comes to the education of disabled children, especially when it came to mental impairments. “I also would like to highlight that Maltese students, thanks to the PN have the opportunity of experiencing studying abroad thanks to the various schemes offered by the European Union,” adding that he was not going to mention them all as there were far too many to get through.

He also spoke about illiteracy and said that the PN did not simply look at it as knowing how to read and write, but to have the basic skills at ones disposal to be able to live a normal fruitful life. Dr Galea said that the MLP used to quote statistics showing a 12 per cent illiteracy rate. “In the last census it stood at 7.2 per cent and the large bulk of it was from people who went through the learning period during the years of socialist administration. The younger generation is performing very well,” he said.

Dr Galea said some 18,000 people were benefiting from lifelong learning schemes and launched into an off the cuff long list, but not complete, of schools that had either seen extensive refurbishment, extension, modernisation or complete construction from the ground up.

He also asked where the Lm16 million allocated by Labour in one of their education budgets went to. “Everywhere you look, you can see evidence of PN governments’ investment, but nowhere can you see the MLP’s,” he said.

In a parting shot before the voting began, Dr Galea told the MLP bench that most, if not almost all their proposals, which they so often quote, have either already been implemented, are currently being implemented or are in the pipeline.