With reference to Janice Chetcuti’s letter “The MLP and education” (TMID, 11 October) let me reiterate how insensible the Nationalist Party has become towards the concerns of the Maltese families.
No surprise why the Maltese voted Labour in office time and time again during the last European Parliament election and four consecutive local council elections.
They were not opinion polls. They were elections and the Labour Party won them hands-down. The statements put forward by Janice Chetcuti confirm how hollowed out and disconnected from working people the Nationalist Party has become, if any further proof was ever needed.
Ms Chetcuti is not concerned that Malta is at the bottom of the class in the education sector. She is not alarmed that Malta failed all targets that the European Union has set. Let me remind her that these objectives refer in the main to literacy levels, age of school-leavers as well as getting more of our young ones to go for science subjects, among many others.
Unlike Ms Chetcuti, parents are extremely concerned as they strongly deem that such targets are achievable and because they discern the fact that our children’s aspirations and potentials are in danger and that our country can perform much better.
Improving the quality of the public education system is a major challenge for Malta. Every child who leaves primary school illiterate and every young person who leaves secondary school without being in possession of the basic skills of life is an indictment to our society and its lacking in social justice. In present time and age, parents cannot fathom why there is an ever increasing number of young illiterate school-leavers after having spent so many years in the education system.
I learned that the Labour Party wants the Maltese public education system to be of the highest standard so that it will ensure quality education for all; where each and every student is at the centre of the educational system in our country. Labour’s plan for education insists on putting children at the heart of the education system. Not pour statements and promises but concrete objectives that can be attainable.
Ms Chetcuti finds consolation in writing about the past. The Maltese citizens want to focus on the present and perceive a radiant future for their country. The Nationalist Party was the future once; but now it’s over. Nowadays we have an analogue government in a digital age.
Josef Cachia
Hamrun