Four months ago, the Opposition presented a motion in Parliament to try and stop the Minister of Education from arrogating the power to access any information he deems fit about our children.

This power-grab was the essence of the infamous Legal Notice 76 (LN76).  It’s a strong reminder of Labour’s instinct to centralise and accumulate the power of ministers. Knowledge being power, too, our Big Brother wants to know the last detail about us.

It is invasive and it is dangerous.

Of course, that’s not how Minister Evarist Bartolo justified it. He claimed he really needed this law in order to create jobs.

Oh really? So why did the law give him the power to collect information about children in childcare and pre-primary schools?

Think I’m exaggerating? The Legal Notice specifically states that the Minister has the right to request information from "educational institutions". It goes on to specify that this “means any childcare, school or other institution or entity offering education, whether at a pre-primary, primary, secondary, post-secondary or tertiary level and also includes further and higher educational institutions and institutions offering formal and non-formal learning and vocational education.”

The justification clearly did not match the powers being claimed. The Opposition spoke up. Simon Busuttil led the charge. The heartfelt reasoned speeches were many.

Did the Government attempt to reason with us in turn? No, it attempted to ridicule us. Obviously, Muscat called us negative. The Government’s majority saw to it that LN76 was approved.

It did not stop there. We did not give up. Over the past four months, Joe Cassar, Paula Mifsud Bonnici and myself continued to seek guidance from experts in this field. We even met the Data Commissioner and his team to explain our position as well as to see what solutions can be found to mitigate such and invasive and dangerous law.

Many parents vividly remember the good old Labour ways from the time when they themselves were students. Some thought it best to collect signatures and put pressure on the Data Commissioner, and on the Minister himself, to show how truly wrong they believe this legal notice to be.

This week we heard that, finally, Minister Bartolo has seen the light. Or maybe it was shown to him.

After four months of hard-headed, obstinate arguments, he has come to the conclusion that we, the PN, the Opposition and the many parents and professionals in this field are, after all, right. This legal notice is wrong and drastic measures have to be taken.

It does not end here. There still are questions that need answering. What information did the Minister manage to collect about us and our children in the past four months?

The legal notice was never repealed. We were told that it was suspended, but no law is suspended. It either is in effect or it is not. And since it was in existence, then the Minister had every right to request any information about our children, their condition (physical, behavioural or intellectual) and consequently about us, all of us who have children in any educational institution from childcare to tertiary education and vocational training.

So much you can do in four months, isn’t there?

 

Candles and birthdays

 

Today, Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco turns 65. Which means he can retire from the Bench with full honours despite facing impeachment charges. He has managed this thanks to Joseph Muscat and the Justice Minister, Owen Bonnici, who ignored the authoritative opinion of the likes of Judge Vanni Bonello, that Parliament could proceed with the debate whatever else was taking place in the Courts.

While Farrugia Sacco blows his birthday candles with glee, those who had to light candles during the national blackout have heard about the €25 that some households will receive.

At first we heard that it was compensation calculated according to the cost of the weekly shopping bill. Then we heard it was not compensation (which has legal implications) but a token discount of 10 days of electricity consumption.

Apart from the usual apologists, no one seems to think this is an adequate response to the outstanding questions about competence and responsibility.

Meanwhile, the electricity has come back on. But the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister have somehow managed to remain in the shadows.

 

Claudette Buttigieg PN MP – [email protected], twitter: @ButClaudette