Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea, yesterday told university students on campus that the number of students pursuing their studies at university or post-secondary levels, has doubled from 11,000 in 1997 to 22,000 in 2007.

Speaking on the occasion of Freshers’ Week, Dr Galea said that the government this year would be offering stipends to more than 15,000 students, to the tune of Lm8.2 million (EURO 19.1 million). The government was also offering other incentives to increase the number of students following certain courses, while investing in diverse scholarship schemes for undergraduate courses in private institutions, and Masters and PhD courses.

Dr Galea said that one of the university’s aims was to increase the number of 1,000 foreign students to 5,000 by 2015. To reach this goal, the government was seeking suitable land and financial resources, to build a number of specialized centres of international levels in selected sectors. This would also be a means to cater for those students who have to go abroad to follow courses which are not on offer in Malta.

He added that a University Trust Fund was also being considered, to encourage the private sector and public entities to invest in the university, to increase its efforts in higher levels of studies, research and innovation.