Another U-Turn: Minister Announces Mandatory Maltese For Carers Despite Abela Calling Proposal ‘Scaremongering’
The government has just committed a major U-turn after Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela pledged to introduce mandatory Maltese language courses for foreign elderly care home workers.
After the Nationalist Party issued a similar proposal late last year, Prime Minister Robert Abela accused PN leader Bernard Grech of scaring carers.
“The Opposition Leader is frightening carers of our elderly that he will kick them out of Malta unless they pass a Maltese test,” Robert Abela said back then.
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However, Minister for Active Ageing Jo Etienne Abela has now told Times of Malta that foreign elderly care home carers will indeed need to learn “basic Maltese” as part of an upcoming reform.
He said foreign carers will need to obtain a “skills card”, the requirements for which will include an English test and basic Maltese phrases.
“It is important not to reinvent the wheel – we will emulate the system that everyone seems to be agreeing on. The measures we implement this year will not be draconian,” he said.
However, his announcement risks leaving the Prime Minister with egg on his face after he had come out so strongly against such a proposal only two months ago.
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The PN reacted to this U-turn with the following statement.
“The government has announced that carers who work in elderly care homes will have to learn Maltese to better communicate with our elderly. When the PN leader issued this proposal two months ago, Robert Abela said it was a bad proposal that scared carers. Now, one of his own ministers has announced the same proposal.”
“This means that either Minister Jo Etienne Abela introduced this proposal behind Robert Abela’s back, which would serve as more evidence that the Prime Minister has lost control over his own government, or that we have a partial government which criticises the PN’s proposals despite agreeing with them.”
“This decision shows that even PL ministers agree with Bernard Grech more than they agree with Robert Abela.”
What do you make of this U-turn?
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