Students will benefit from an increase in stipends in relation to the cost of living, whilst MATSEC and SEC exam fees will be completely removed, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna announced.
Students will be compensated for the increased cost of living pro-rata resulting in an increment in their stipends. As from next year, the increase in the cost of living will be of €2.33 per week.
Payment for MATSEC and SEC exams will be completely removed, as from next year. Over the past year, following the announcement during last year's budget, fees for exams were halved. Scicluna noted that "as a result in two years of this legislature, we have carried out this important pledge."
All students at a secondary level of education attending government, church or private schools will be entitled to visit, along with two adults, all Heritage Malta sites and museums for free. This will apply all year round, without any limits.
Mid-yearly exams will gradually be removed and in their stead, a continuous system of assessment will be introduced. This is being carried out to minimise stress on students and invest in their well-being.
A bigger tax rebate will also be given to parents whose children are in private schooling. Generally, parents will enjoy a tax deduction increase of €300 per child.
As of next year, government will increase the tax reduction to €1,600 if the children attend a private kindergarten, €1,900 if the children are in primary school and €2,600 if the children are in secondary school.
Classification of courses offered by the University of Malta, MCAST and other licensed education institutes shall be revised. With the revision, students will be incentivised to choose courses that the industry requires.
The current five per cent VAT rate that applies on books and other similar printed items, as well as those found on CD, DVD, SD card and USB will be removed. This rate shall also be eliminated for books, newspapers and publication that are provided electronically.
Government will also be introducing a new plan entitled "My Voyage - Arriving from Different Roads" whereby students will have the opportunity to choose learning programmes that are more relevant to them, their future and that of the country, according to their abilities.
New courses and methods will be introduced for teachers, both new and those employed, to strengthen the pedagogy and to keep updated with new methods of teaching such as online courses.
The Institute of Education will also be developing courses to give supply teachers with different levels the opportunity to be eligible to become standard teachers, after completing the necessary courses successfully.
The teaching of different languages will also be improved so as more students can obtain better skills in other languages apart from Maltese and English.
Science, technology and mathematics are also on the agenda for this budget with Scicluna noting that the government will be working on more students choosing these subjects.
Stronger relationships will be built between secondary education and post-secondary institutes like MCAST, Junior College, sixth forms and ITS so as more youths continue with their education beyond the age of 16.
Following the vote 16, where the vote was lowered to 16 years, government is going to strengthen the Youth Parliament by encouraging more youths to participate and to help them attain the necessary skills to make responsible decisions and to understand their importance in society.
A 'youthwork' service will be provided regionally to provide informal educational projects in schools, after formal learning time.