In its memorandum to political parties, the Malta Employers’ Association called for a more proactive government that pushes forward the country’s economy and described the Labour Party’s idea of a reception class as being “too generic.”
In a press conference, MEA president Pierre Fava yesterday explained that the memorandum is based on three main principles: sustainability, competitiveness and pro-activity.
The document states that the idea of a reception class “is too generic and treats all students as a homogenous mass irrespective of ability and social background,” and suggested that it might be better to extend school hours and “offer facilities and added tuition to students who acquire special attention.”
Mr Fava admitted that there is a problem of illiteracy that needs to be tackled but stated that it is important to be specific in the solution.
The MEA has presented the memorandum to the Nationalist Party so far and will be meeting the other parties this week.
Mr Fava called on the government to implement more policies that push forward the mentality of training in the workplace.
“The labour market is changing and ongoing training is very important,” he said.
He went on to say that the financial sector is constantly changing and pointed out that one potential market is Islamic banking.
“This is an opportunity that should be looked into – obviously the legislation will have to be modified but there is a lot of interest, especially because of the SmartCity project,” said Mr Fava.
It also calls for less red tape and improving efficiency – especially in government-run departments.
The MEA also suggested reducing the percentage of employees in public employment to around 27 per cent.
Mr Fava said that the MEA knows what is going on in the economy and which issues need to be pushed forward.
He pointed out that Malta made many sacrifices to help the economy and pointed out that it is important that not to fall behind.
He said it was very positive that unemployment figures decreased but added that it is very important that measures are taken to keep the country competitive.
The document presents a number of proposals, among which it says that the MEA is against the idea of reversing the public holidays falling on weekends.
Mr Fava said that it considered the government’s tax break for working mothers as very positive.
He pointed out that family friendly measures are not taken up and added that it is important to tackle this.