This week around 50,000 students took to the streets of London in protest against the government’s plans for what they consider to be a massive hike in their university fees. As part of its reforms in higher education, the UK government plans to remove the present teaching grant and consequently triple the capping of university fees for students from the present £3,290 to £9,000 per year as from 2012. Students would then be expected to pay back government-funded loans once they are earning £21,000 per annum.

The protest turned violent. The London headquarters of the Conservative Party were stormed and damaged. People, including police, were injured and arrests were made. The students’ president has distanced himself from the “despicable” behaviour of the violent group that hijacked the protest, while, as reported by the BBC, a group of London lecturers opined that “the real violence in this situation relates not to a smashed window but to the destructive impact of the cuts”.

Of course, Downing Street was of a completely different opinion and has condemned both the violent protesters and the university lecturers who supported the demonstrators, dubbing them as “irresponsible”. Protest or not, Prime Minister David Cameron seems determined to go ahead with the reforms. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had to publicly admit that his party is “not able to deliver the policy that we held in opposition” due to the financial situation. However, he added that he has “worked to make the system more progressive”. He reminded the public that Labour had also opposed tuition fees in 1997 only to introduce them once in government. In politics as in life, there are times when you cannot do what you want to, he said.

The London protests join other large-scale protests in other European countries, namely France and Greece. These protests, even if seemingly based on different issues, are all somehow related to governments’ reactions to global economic trends. I do not intend to discuss whether the measures taken by any of these governments are indeed the best option for their respective countries or not. That is up to them to decide, even if I am more than certain they are doing their very best to handle the crisis we are all facing. However, one plain evident truth can be derived out of this. Reality bites and, when it hits you, reform is essential, no matter how hard it is. This is more so in times of economic crisis. Like other European countries, we had to bite the bullet. The higher energy bills that we are paying speak loudly. However, this is all a matter of choice. We chose to subsidise neither consumption nor moribund industry. On the other hand, we are investing heavily in education, health and employment.

News about last Wednesday’s storming of the Conservatives’ Millbank offices in London reached me just as our parliament in Valletta finished discussing the financial estimates for the Ministry of the Family, Education & Employment. It was somewhat ironic. The Maltese government had just pledged €330m for education: resolute as it is to keep opening child-care centres, building a new state-of-the-art school every year and investing heavily in higher education. Some 13,000 are attending one of the state’s lifelong learning centres, while around 4,000 others have attended one of the courses provided by the Employment and Training Corporation. Twelve million euros have been invested in 1,100 scholarships, 430 of which have been awarded during the current year. The university population is now hovering around the 11,000 figure, as a record 3,300 new students enrolled this year alone. The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) is now offering 140 courses to 5,430 full time students, which is four times what we had in 2001, when it opened its doors for the first time. Another 9,217 are following a part-time course. And, as a further incentive in addition to free education, the government shall be investing €22m to provide for stipends to 18,000 students in higher education. Of course, as the Leader of the Opposition Joseph Muscat reminds us, the new €50m MCAST campus is not ready yet.

We have chosen this route because we are convinced that investment in education will pay dividends, as highly qualified youngsters will help to attract investment that creates more and better jobs. In a country with no natural resources, investment in education carries even greater significance. And, despite the global economic difficulties, we continue to attract both local and foreign investment. We are the fourth most successful EU economy at reducing the number of our unemployed. This success is also reflected in youth unemployment statistics, where Malta’s youth unemployment has been brought back to pre-crisis levels. It is far below that of other EU countries such as Spain and Italy and is around half that of Portugal and Cyprus.

Admittedly we still have a long way to go. However, when things are put into perspective, some of the achievements come to light.

Mr Puli is Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport within the Education Ministry