Six Maltese Language institutions and associations said they are happy that the new amendments, unanimously approved by Parliament, were arrived at following a long meeting organised by the Minister for Education over the Christmas holidays.

"We are convinced that the amendments as approved will strengthen the National Council for the Maltese Language because they ensure that there will be more representation, wider consultation and more effective implementation," the associations said in a statement. "We also appreciate Minister Bartolo’s readiness to strengthen the position of academics in the National Council.

Following the new amendments, National Council membership will grow from eleven to fifteen. In addition to the changes announced in Parliament in the past months, there will now be a representative of the Civil Service, of the teachers in Church schools and in independent schools, as well as a representative from the Faculty of Education and another of EU translators.

It is a source of great satisfaction for us that the amendments proposed by Government have been agreed to by the Opposition, which seconded them. We are gratified to learn of the Opposition’s appreciation of the useful work carried out by the National Council: this augurs well for the new Council in its endeavours to continue building up the resources for Maltese, including a spellchecker, as well as in its efforts to give Maltese more visibility in the public sphere.