While there is massive spending that rewards the wasteful as well as to make up past mistakes, negligence, vote buying and nepotism running into millions of Euros, the government is miserly when it comes to education – both with the educators themselves and for the infrastructure necessary for students to really get the education they deserve. This was the main message by ADPD-The Green Party spokespersons when they addressed a news conference in front of the Ministry of Education in Floriana this morning.

ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci said that when one considers the financial estimates found in the 2024 Budget for there seems to be massive expenditure that rewards those who waste – from electricity to fuel, and the level of spending in areas that reduce dependence on imported energy and pollution is a pittance compared to random handouts to one and sundry. Along with this we are all paying dearly from our taxes for the mistakes, negligence, buying of votes and nepotism in the leadership in Airmalta by the PLPN governments, including €92 million as for its early retirement scheme – also contributing, once again from our taxes, to additional debt also increases.

Gauci stated that while accumulating debt for long-term investment and with favorable conditions may make sense, debt to pay a million Euros a day in polluting fuels does not make sense – money that should have been better spent on cleaner energy, and clean transport systems. Indeed, the Prime Minister almost boasted that fuel is costing us a million euros a day, without indicating any plan or desire to change Malta’s situation. On the contrary, we plough along as if traffic congestion does not exist and accumulating public debt for recurring expenditure is not a problem.

One can compare the retirement scheme of a bankrupt company, Airmalta, with the budgets of MCAST and the University of Malta. MCAST is given half of the spending of the early retirement scheme of Airmalta (€42.5 million), while the University of Malta gets basically the same budget of the scheme, €94 million. The budgets of these entities remained practically the same as last year. Moreover, collective agreements with respect to teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as for MCAST and IfE remain expired or forgotten. The great disparity between the wasteful expenditure and that for the education sector reveals lack of foresight, concluded Sandra Gauci.

ADPD spokesperson and Deputy Secretary General Mario Mallia said that the budget confirmed once again that education is not a priority for this government which cares more about the interests of the few while trying to deceive the people with a few crumbs. The teachers’ unions themselves stressed that the budget is irrelevant for education and that it does not give any comfort to the educators because there is no adequate investment and the working conditions have not improved. A new medical school has been promised since 2019 and the ITS is still in its temporary campus – a result of the haste with which the government facilitated private interests when it evicted the ITS from the St Julian’s/Pembroke campus.

Mallia said that the recent figures released by the NSO show a dire situation in the educational field where 24.4% of students do not continue their studies beyond compulsory education. Even if some progress had been registered in this regard, the situation remains of concern when comparing Malta with other EU countries. The EU rate according to Eurostat figures released in 2021 show that 94.7% were continuing some form of post-secondary education. We can no longer boast of a strong economy when the basis of everything, that is education, is showing us that children are coming out of our schools with very few skills and that they are ending up at home or competing with exploited workers for jobs that do not offer a pay suitable for decent living.

Mallia insisted that change should commence by restoring the dignity and respect to the profession of educators who over time ended up considered as glorified babysitters to serve economic interests. Wages must rise substantially to attract to the profession the best minds who can offer an education and a sense of community that serves all students.

Schools should have more autonomy regarding what decisions are made in their management, in the curriculum, as well as in the finances of the school. They can no longer depend entirely on the Department of Education for everything. Unfortunately, dependency still remains in spite of the system of colleges. In some aspects dependence has in fact increased.  When things are done seriously and respect is restored it is the students who will ultimately benefit, concluded Mario Mallia.

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Budget xħiħ mal-edukazzjoni

Filwaqt li hemm infiq massiċċ li jippremja lil min jaħli kif ukoll żbalji, t-traskuraġni, xiri ta’ voti u n-nepotiżmu li jlaħħaq miljuni kbar, il-gvern huwa xħiħ mal-edukazzjoni – kemm mal-edukaturi innifishom kif ukoll fl-infrastruttura neċessarju biex l-istudenti verament jieħdu dik l-edukazzjoni li tixirqilhom. Dan sostnewh kelliema tal-ADPD-The Green Party meta indirizzaw konferenza tal-aħbarijiet quddiem il-Ministeru tal-Edukazzjoni fil-Furjana dalgħodu.

Iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD Sandra Gauci qalet li meta tara l-estimi dwar l-infiq li se jsir fil-Budget għas-sena 2024 tinnota li jidher li hemm infiq massiċċ li jippremja lil min jaħli – minn elettriku sa fuel, u l-livell ta’ nfiq f’oqsma li jnaqqsu d-dipendenza fuq enerġija importata u t-tniġġis lanqas biss jibda ħdejn l-għotjiet bl-addoċċ lil kulħadd.  Flimkien ma dan qed naraw li għall-iżbalji, t-traskuraġni, xiri ta’ voti u n-nepotiżmu fit-tmexxija fl-Air Malta mill-Gvernijiet PLPN se nħallsu għalihom aħna lkoll mit-taxxi tagħna, fosthom €92 miljun bħala skema għall-irtirar kmieni. Ma din is-somma kbira jiżdied  ukoll d-dejn tal-Air Malta – ovvjament mit-taxxi tagħna.

Sandra Gauci sostniet li filwaqt li dejn għal investiment fit-tul u b’kundizzjonijiet favorevoli jista’ jagħmel sens, dejn biex jitħallas miljun Ewro kuljum fi fuels li jniġġsu ma’ jagħmilx sens – bil-miljun kuljum kieku ilna li qbadna t-triq lejn enerġija aktar nadifa, u sistemi ta’ trasport nodfa. Il-Prim Ministru filwaqt li kważi kważi ftaħar li l-fuel qed jiswina miljun euro kuljum, ma tana l-ebda  pjan u lanqas wera ħeġġa li jbiddel is-sitwazzjoni ta’ Malta. Anzi nkomplu għaddejjin qisu t-traffiku ma jeżistix u d-dejn pubbliku għal spejjeż rikurrenti qisu mhux problema.

Wieħed jista’ jqabbel l-iskema tal-irtirar ta’ kumpanija falluta, l-Air Malta mal-budgets tal-MCAST u l-Università ta’ Malta. L-MCAST tingħata n-nofs tal-infiq fl-iskema tal-irtirar kmieni tal-Air Malta li fallewha gvern wara l-iehor, iġifieri €42.5 miljun. Filwaqt li l-Università ta’ Malta bażikament l-istess budget tal-iskema ta’ rtirar, iġifieri, €94 miljun. Il-budgets ta’ dawn l-entitajiet baqgħu prattikament l-istess bħal ta’ dis-sena. Għandek ukoll il-fatt li l-għalliema fl-iskejjel primarji u sekondarji, kif ukoll tal-MCAST u tal-IfE għadhom bi ftehim kollettiv skadut u fuq l-ixkaffa. Meta wieħed jikkuntrasta l-infiq li ma jħarisx fit-tul mal-infiq fis-settur tal-edukazzjoni insibu xeħħa kbira, temmet tgħid Sandra Gauci.

Mario Mallia, kelliem tal-ADPD u Deputat Segretarju Ġenerali qal li il-budget reġa’ kkonferma kemm l-edukazzjoni ma hix prijorita. Qal li dan il-gvern aktar ħsiebu fl-interessi tal-ftit u li jipprova jagħma lin-nies bil-frak . Il-Unions tal-għalliema stess saħqu li l-budget huwa irrelevanti għall-edukazzjoni u li ma jagħti l-ebda konfort lill-edukaturi għaliex m’ hemmx investiment adegwat u l-kundizjonijiet tax-xogħol ma tjiebux. Skola medika ġdida ilha mwegħda mill-2019, u l-ITS għadhom fil-kampus temporanju, riżultat tal-għaġġla li biha l-gvern aġevola l-interessi privati meta keċċa l-ITS mill-kampus ta’ San Ġiljan/Pembroke.

Mallia qal li ċ-cifri riċenti li ħarġu mill-NSO juru sitwazzjoni mwehra fil-qasam edukattiv fejn 24.4% tal-istudenti mhux ikomplu fl-istudji tagħhom wara li jieqfu mill-fażi tal-edukazzjoni obbligatorja tagħhom. Anke jekk progress sar, din tibqa’ sitwazzjoni ta’ tħassib speċjalment meta tqabbel lil Malta ma pajjiżi oħra tal-UE. Ir-rata tal-UE skont ċifri tal –Eurostat maħruġa fl-2021 juru li  94.7% kienu qed ikomplu xi forma ta’ kors postsekondarju meta mqabbel ma’ rata ta’ 75.6% f’Malta.

Ma nistgħux nibqgħu niftaħru b’ekonomija b’saħħitha meta l-bażi ta’ kollox li hi l-edukazzjoni qed turina li qed joħorġu tfal mill-iskejjel tagħna bi ftit li xejn ħiliet u li qed jispiċċaw id-dar jew jikkompetu ma ħaddiema sfruttati  għal xogħolijiet li jħallsu ftit wisq għal għajxien diċenti.

Mario Mallia insista li l-bidla tibda billi tagħti lura d-dinjità u r-rispett lejn il-professjoni tal-edukaturi li maż-żmien spiċċaw ikkunsidrati bħala glorified babysitters biex jaqdu ħtiġijiet ekonomiċi. Il-pagi jridu jogħlew b’ mod sostanzjali biex niġbdu lejn il-professjoni l-aqwa mħuħ li jistgħu joffru edukazzjoni u anke sens ta’ komunità biex kulħadd jiżviluppa l-ħiliet tagħhom aħjar.

L-iskejjel għandhom ikollhom aktar awtonomija dwar x’deċiżjonijiet jittieħdu fit-tmexxija tal-iskola, fil-kurrikulum, kif ukoll fil-finanzi tal-iskola. Ma jistgħux jibqgħu jiddependu kompletament mid-dipartiment għal kull ħaġa. F’dan is-sens bis-sistema ta’ kulleġġi b’kollox id-dipendenza baqgħet hemm u f’ċertu aspetti anzi żdiedet. Hemm bżonn serjetà, u rispett – għax b’hekk fl-aħħar mill-aħħar igawdu l-istudenti, temm jgħid Mallia.