This week I attended Freshers Week at the University of Malta and MCAST.

As always, it was a great experience, witnessing so much energy, enthusiasm, and creativity among the thousands of students at the beginning of their new academic year. The same could be said of the other educational institutions, including the ITS, and across church, government, and private schools in Malta and Gozo. T

The beginning of a new academic year brings new opportunities, experiences, and challenges.

Students of different ages and abilities return to their classrooms to learn new things and gain new experiences.

At the university campus and at MCAST, the Housing Authority and the Lands Authority had their own information stands, and they were well attended by students from different faculties and institutes who showed keen interest in a potential career within these state entities.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing these young people considering a career in the public sector. I wish all students and educators the best of luck and a rewarding new scholastic year.

Education is, after all, one of the strongest investments any country can make. It gives young people the tools to build independent lives, find meaningful employment and contribute to the communities around them.

It is also encouraging to see our institutions creating opportunities that go beyond the classroom and giving students a clearer idea of the careers and possibilities available to them.

Not so in France

And as our students celebrate the start of their new scholastic year, their French counterparts are battling riot police as huge student protests are happening in several cities across France, including Paris, Lille, Lens and Toulouse.

The protests, which have now entered their third week, are taking place over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and the poor condition of several schools.

On Monday, hundreds of schools across the country were either completely closed or had their lessons disrupted.

On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy lost his hand during clashes between demonstrators and police in the city of Lens.

According to Education Minister Édouard Geffray, 190 students have been injured since the mobilisation began. More than 5,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, the majority of them minors.

Students are preparing for further nationwide actions as pressure grows on the government to address both their demands and concerns about the way police are controlling the demonstrations.

Whatever one's political persuasion, scenes of young people

protesting instead of attending lessons are deeply concerning.

Students should be thinking about their future, their studies and the opportunities ahead of them, rather than whether their school is safe, whether there will be enough teachers or whether their classroom will even be open.

This is a stark reminder that stability should never be taken for granted.

The Mile End speech

Last Sunday, I attended the Labour Party general conference, which ended with an excellent speech by Prime Minister and party leader Robert Abela.

A few weeks before the biggest financial event of the year - the budget, this year to be held on 26 October- the Prime Minister showed confidence and gave a strong dose of optimism, but he was realistic and honest with the people.

The economy is doing well - we have one of the highest employment rates across the European Union.

Energy prices are heavily subsidized, and tax cuts have become a staple in the Labour government's budgets.

But all this comes at a cost, which the government is absorbing, and a very high cost too; notwithstanding, this new Labour government has made it abundantly clear that it shall continue to absorb to protect Maltese families and businesses from having to carry the costs themselves, as families and businesses across the EU are doing.

Robert Abela explained that for this to keep happening, and it will, the government must keep public finances in order, maintain stability, and take the right decisions as it always did.

The message was clear: progress is not something that happens automatically. It requires decisions, investment and, perhaps most importantly, the willingness to put people's interests at the centre of those decisions.

For families, stability means being able to plan ahead, knowing that work is available, that essential costs remain manageable and that the government is there when support is needed.

Sacked by WhatsApp

Whilst the Prime Minister was delivering his speech at the Mile End, in Hamrun, a few metres away, the Nationalist Party lost its communications director. Nathaniel Attard, a lifelong Nationalist Party activist and for many years one of its leading journalists, until he was appointed head of the party's communications office, first under Bernard Grech, which post he kept when Alex Borg became party leader, was unceremoniously sacked. Media reports, which the PN did not deny, said that Attard learned of his dismissal through a text message.

Gonzi did the same thing way back in 2008 when he won the general election with a whisker. Long-time PN cabinet ministers, such as Ninu Zammit and Jesmond Mugliett, learnt that Gonzi would not reappoint them via an SMS. The Alex Borg administration has upped the game, and now it uses WhatsApp to sack long-time party activists and employees. The more things change ...

Malta and the rest

Stability and peace of mind were at the very core of the Prime Minister's speech at the Labour Party conference. The contrast cannot be starker.

In Spain, the government has had to call snap elections following huge challenges relating, amongst others, to the housing sector.

In Malta, in contrast, we keep launching schemes to help firstand second-time buyers buy their home whilst providing more affordable housing.

In Germany, supposedly Europe's economic powerhouse, the far-right political party has made shocking electoral gains, and at the core of this seismic political shift is the difficult economic situation in Berlin and across Germany.

We are different, not because we are lucky, but because we have a resilient workforce and a Labour government that delivers.

To sustain what we have, we must continue to take the right decisions in the best interest of the people - and as Robert Abela clearly demonstrated during his speech at Mile End last Sunday, we will.