While the high sounding bragging of the last budget still echoes in our ears, a national survey has just shown that one out of four Maltese youth quit the educational system completely before the age of sixteen, independent candidate Arnold Cassola said Thursday.

This is a sad situation that partly explains why there is such a strong lack of specialized workforce in our country, who therefore find it hard to compete in a rapidly evolving technologically savvy society, he added.

Quitting school has to do with values , expectations and family support. Higher financial incentives by government for families with children at school till the age of 18 would be of help.

“One would think that, in view of such alarming situation, the government would increase resources in order to make further education more attractive to those youth who are falling through the net. Instead, what does government do? Without informing anyone, the government has decided to close down the website teleskola.mt as from 1st March 2024,” he said. 

“This educational website was an excellent depositary of educational materials for students and staff. But the Ministry for Education has decided to close it down, to the disappointment of those who made use of it. And then we keep on bragging that we are the envy of the EU. Go figure,” Cassola lamented.