It takes a determined and confident government to introduce reforms to what has become a sacred cow for post-secondary and tertiary-level students. Undoubtedly, the original aim behind the stipends system was to encourage a greater number of young people to further their studies. The system worked perfectly well and thousands of students benefited from the scheme.

Today, Maltese students enjoy free education at sixth form and at university, and they are also given a decent monthly allowance. TMID will not debate here whether or not students should continue to receive a stipend. However, there are a number of facts that cannot be denied.

Are reforms necessary? The answer is yes. Even the University Students Council (KSU) grudgingly admits that reforms are inevitable. The government has introduced changes not because it has anything against the student population – which has grown exponentially over the past few years – but because circumstances demand a revision of the system.

Successive administrations have increased the amount of money allocated to education in nearly every budget. Yet there is a limit to how much the government can give to students. It has made it clear that the existing grants system will remain for the foreseeable future, but it has also stressed that further reforms are inevitable.

Education Minister Louis Galea, and the two commissions set up to revise the grants system, have had to strike a balance between what funds the government can allocate for student grants and, at the same time, students’ demands for a better library, for better quality education and so on.

Students think they can have their cake and eat it. Unfortunately, life does not work like that. It’s a give-and-take situation and, this time round, the government has introduced a very fair revision of the system.

The rationale behind the cuts in the one-off payment to freshers is perfectly reasonable, and Lm400 is still a decent sum of money for someone starting university life. A 33 per cent reduction in the monthly allowance is quite hefty for some students, but the government has made sure that students needing financial assistance will not suffer. And increasing the allowance for Gozitan students also makes sense.

The introduction of a means test in certain cases is another good idea and it should be used more widely in future. As is the case with the children’s allowance, students whose parents earn more than an established level of income, should either not receive a stipend or they should receive the monthly allowance but not the one-time payment at the beginning of each academic year.

The idea behind this – before we are hauled over the coals by the KSU, Pulse and the other student organisations – is that the money saved in this exercise will go towards a student fund that will invest in the university – in the purchase of new books or journal subscriptions, and in other areas. Just as there are students who really need the stipend, there are others who can get by with a reduced allowance.

The government’s decision to allocate a higher allowance to those following courses in science and information technology is another good move. Numerous studies have identified the sciences and IT to be of socio-economic importance. There is a growing need for graduates in these fields and the government has taken the right step to incentivise students to follow this educational path.

Our only criticism is that the government’s timing is ill-advised and unfair on many students. The changes to the system should have been announced earlier in summer to give students the opportunity to see whether a science course suits them and, at the same time, benefit from the financial incentive.

The reaction from student organisations has been mixed, but every student must understand that socio-economic pressures affect all of society. The changes to the stipend system have been long in coming and, surprisingly, they are not as drastic as one may have expected.

Maltese students are lucky and they are better off than their counterparts in many countries. For one thing, they are paid to study and do not have to pay for their course. Food for thought!