Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, Rabindranath Tagore is also known for a quote, which I am sharing, “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”
This quote reflects our first 100 days at the Ministry for Education and Employment, and beyond. We took the plunge and started this exciting and energetic journey towards achieving results in these two vast sectors. And we are achieving results, which will only get better in the days, months and years to come.
The Ministry, hand in hand with the relevant departments and all stakeholders, is aiming to achieve.
100 days.
A hundred days, during which I kept in mind that all that we are doing together is the result of the trust placed in us, knowing that what we promise we deliver.
A hundred days, during which I daily reflect that one moment of courage, one moment in taking the right decision, translates into a hundred days of results.
At the beginning of these 100 days, we set our priorities, knowing that every single day our efforts will make a positive difference in the lives of many.
We are at our first hundred days of work in the education and employment sectors. In these first hundred days, we have carried out work that will not end in the first hundred weeks, or in the first thousand days, or during this administration.
In these first hundred days, we focused on tackling the present to shape the future. We are today anticipating, being proactive, to give birth to what we will be living tomorrow.
At the heart of all of this, we have put our children, our students, and our grandchildren, our future generations. We want them to find their second home in our schools, where they learn, delve into the world of education and learning and become the builders of the future, grasping the skills they need in the world of the future, that some of us have not even dreamed of.
We want everyone to be a part of this wonderful experience with no one left out due to situations or reasons beyond their control. We also want adults to continue to learn and open up new horizons.
This can only be achieved thanks to our educators with whom we have been side by side not only for the first hundred days, but we will also continue to be close to them in the weeks and months ahead. We listen. We are making our educators part and parcel of our priorities. Take the 400 grade II LSEs, just as an example. An injustice they suffered was rectified in the shortest time possible.
In the first hundred days, we faced unprecedented challenges, but came up with unprecedented responses and solutions.
We immediately saw that our students’ education continues online so that our children do not miss precious time that otherwise could not have been recovered.
We brought everyone together to see that, as much as possible, our students miss the least of their hundred months of formal education that is part of our children’s lives.
We took the step of introducing free online learning for everyone, from children, to adults, from teachers to parents.
We worked to give the most vulnerable the assistance they need and deserve, and we achieved this way before other larger countries even started to think about this sector.
We turned challenges into opportunity and launched dozens of school maintenance projects. At the same time, we continued with the construction of new schools with an investment of €40 million.
One of the main concerns of our students and their families were the exams, and again here, we assured all with a clear national plan - and proposed a way forward without undue delay, covering all ages from the first years to tertiary education, including the SEC and MATSEC exams. We can boast that our country, one of the smallest states in Europe, was one of the first countries to do so.
In the employment sector, we intervened to support jobs. In this sector, we not only took care of workers in the State and Church schools, but also gave our whole support to the 2,100 employees in the private education sector.
A hundred days of challenges. A hundred days of solutions, brought about by our strong commitment to these sectors.
However, we will not rest on our laurels. We will continue with this energy, we will continue to look for new opportunities, and present them to our students, to our enthusiastic educators.
We gave our one hundred percent - in the first hundred days.
And this is just the beginning.
+++
We care for our children, and this is being reciprocated by our students in many ways.
A simple, yet significant event was held at San Anton Palace this week, during which I presented agricultural produce deriving from agribusiness students as a donation to the Community Chest Fund. The agricultural produce is a result of the work done by students who are studying this subject at the St Ignatius College Ħandaq Secondary School.
In 2014, we introduced agricommerce as a subject in three secondary state schools and one church school, providing facilities for students to study agriculture, aquaculture and animal health. From that year onwards, several new teachers started teaching these subjects and, in all, 130 students chose to study them. 80% of those students sat successfully for their SEC exam in these fields of study.
The products donated constitute a sample of the agribusiness students’ studies and practical work at the Ħandaq Secondary School.
The Ministry for Education wanted to continue helping those in need and presented the produce that was grown by the students as a donation to the Community Chest Fund as a sign of solidarity with those families who truly need it, especially in these times we are all living in.
I thank all who in these hundred days have been working with us with one common goal - to strengthen the education and employment sectors - knowing that together we all are looking forward to continue this journey to the benefit of all.