Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday a Nationalist government would continue to improve the facilities and quality in education, and post-secondary, vocational and tertiary education because they wanted more students and better quality.

He was speaking during a visit to Giovanni Curmi higher secondary school in Naxxar which has seen improvements in sports facilities which now include a 7-a-side artificial turf ground, a basketball court and other facilities.

The school will have a new campus and will be able to accept more students in its sixth form. In Victoria, work is now in hand to develop a new secondary and post secondary campus, added the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Education Minister Louis Galea and education officials.

Dr Gonzi said that 10 years ago, there were 11,000 students following post secondary and tertiary courses. The latest figures show that the number today was double.

The government had opened the doors wide to post secondary and tertiary education, and those who had benefited most were the workers’ children and women.

They had expanded the university and the MCAST, which today were populated by 10,000 and 4,000 students respectively. Millions had been spent each year on education and students were helped through stipends, Dr Gonzi said. Today over 15,000 students were receiving assistance worth e19 million each year.

There had been an explosion in the number of students continuing post secondary education and fewer students were leaving school before turning 18. Seven out of every 10 young people aged 17 were today continuing their studies and training after ending their obligatory period of education.

At MCAST there had been a revolution in the post secondary and vocational sector. The college had been instrumental in attracting investment, such as by Lufthansa Teknik.

The government, the Prime Minister said, would continue building on this success by investing e116 million in a new campus for MCAST.