I read with great interest what Bernard Cassar wrote last Sunday in a full-page opinion about education, and the results achieved by Malta in acquiring the Lisbon Education targets by 2010.

As shadow minister for education I very often speak about the issues raised by Mr Cassar. I can also say that the leadership of the Malta Labour Party also speaks on these issues and for doing so it is criticised that it preaches gloom and doom, which of course is not the case since it speaks about facts.

Eurostat, the European Agency responsible for statistics, published these facts not the Labour Party.

As a party we did not just stop at criticising. We also worked on and approved a plan for education with the main aim being to achieve quality education for all. There are a number of initiatives we put forward for discussion after a long consultation process prior to publishing the first draft.

I would like to mention that first and foremost we are giving a lot of importance to the early and primary level. This is the foundation level on which to build a sound education system.

Students acquiring basic literacy for today’s needs at the end of their primary education is a priority for the Labour Party, as this will give them a good opportunity to successfully continue their secondary education with the aim of furthering their studies both academically and vocationally.

Returning to vocational education, we want to introduce technical and vocational training at secondary level. This will also increase the number of students that continue their studies after the age of 16 since after choosing technical and vocational education at secondary level they will continue their studies at MCAST.

There are other proposals in Labour’s plan for education, which I do not have the space to mention here. I invite everyone to take a close look at these proposals and give us their feedback. We want to improve this document and will continue to consider every suggestion presented to us.

Finally, I will be very glad to meet with Mr Cassar who seems very interested in education, and rightly so, to discuss with him proposals that are spelled out in the Labour Party Plan for Education. Of course this invitation is open to all those who are interested.

Carmelo Abela

Shadow Minister for Education, Youth & Culture