Opposition leader Bernard Grech announced a set of proposals concerning the education sector of the country, with the aim to strengthen the sector for students and educators alike.

Work conditions for educators will be improved significantly by incentivizing educators as well as promising better pay for teachers.

Healthy food will be provided in schools to tackle the issue of obesity from a young age as well as promote healthy eating amongst children.

The PN will open new specialized secondary schools each year which will offer programs such as digital technology, metaverse, robotics, art and culture, as well as other sectors which make part of the PN’s 10 economic sectors.

Grech said that there will also be a program specialized for apprenticeship to support training in this sector, aside from academia. This will be done in partnership with key operators which have the  proven and recognized technical capabilities. In addition to providing the program at MCAST, the PN, will provide 200% tax credits for investments made by industrial operators in the program, complying with the ESG criteria. The opening of new education centres which focus on culture, music, sports and arts was also proposed.

Parents for children under 18 years of age will be given €300 in support on the costs for their children’s education and costs for extracurricular activities.

The right to a study leave during the examination period for those students who are working full time while studying for a qualification of MQF Level 5 or up was also proposed.

Grech proposed the 25% increase in student’s maintenance grants as well as an additional 25% on stipends for students who do voluntary work.

€500 vouchers will be given to students from the ages of 16 and 21 for travelling and opportunities abroad.

 

“We need a radical change in the financing for the educations sector, and the costs for this sector will increase each year based on the formula of the country’s GDP increase,” Grech said. 

The press conference can be followed below: