More Grants Needed For Students To Study Abroad And Bring Back Skills, PN Candidate Says
The Nationalist Party will be providing students with a grant to leave Malta to pursue their education and return to the country as well-experienced professionals.
Justin Schembri, a PN candidate in the 1st district, revealed the detail during a political activity in the district earlier this evening.
According to an EY survey published in October, almost 70% of young people want to leave Malta for good, raising alarm bells across the country.
The initiative, the PN hopes, will provide young people with the opportunity to study abroad, while ensuring that the skills they acquire are used effectively in the country.
Schembri was speaking at an activity with a host of other candidates who discussed a wide myriad of crucial issues including the rising cost of living, social care and good governance.
Candidates on the first district, which covers Floriana, Marsa, Pieta, Santa Venera, Hamrun and Valletta, include Mario de Marco, Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Darren Carabott, James Aaron Ellul, Christian Micallef and Josianne Cardona Gatt.
Darren Carabott: “Now is the moment that we need to rise and make our voices heard. To make a change.”
Carabott’s decision to walk the electoral road came about one year ago. His appeal began with an emphatic tribute to Claudio Grech, whose most recent decision to step back cleared the path for younger candidates to take up the mantle.
“Claudio will undoubtedly go down as one of those whose name is etched in honour in the name of the party,” he began.
Carabott addressed challenges which many within the district are beginning to face: the increasing rate of crime in the district, including the lack of safety in the general way of life, addressing the issue of Miriam Pace, whose death was a result of the ‘Government’s failure to protect its people’.
The objectives he conveyed would be tied to an increase in safety, such as by way of increasing police presence. However he also stated that having more green areas was on his agenda.
Relaying the concerns of many others who spoke of the challenges of an increased cost of living, particularly within the district, Carabott vowed to make this
Josianne Caruana Gatt: “Thank you for giving me the space to represent you. I am here to serve you.”
Caruana Gatt made a return to the fold after being away from the party for some years, her having her candidature approved last night.
“I came here for one reason and one reason alone. I will be a part of the party whose goal is to propel us forward, as they have historically done.”
She paid tribute to European Parliamentary President Roberta Metsola, praising her as having achieved the greatest honour a Maltese could ever hope for.
Mario De Marco: “I am with you, for Malta.”
Acknowledging that the road ahead is one paved with its challenges, MP Mario de Marco’s appeal was of one of hope.
“We have an uphill journey which we must walk it together. The party is our road, and on that from that road, we have always made it to the front.”
De Marco appealed for change, and lamented on the the values which the Labour party have lost over the years.
“Who was right, I ask? The [Joseph] Muscat who was elected? Or the Joseph Muscat who was made to resign?”
The principle topics of his address targeted the districts ageing population, alluding to an electoral agenda which would see pensioners who are currently forced to continue working as a result of the increasing cost of living.
On the manifesto, one could expect to see proposals which would have reductions in tax and costs for services tied to caring professions (like home carers) to assist the elderly.
James Aaron Ellul: “Our tangible proposals came as a result of listening to you.”
As a journalist, Ellul has six years of experience in the field of politics. His ideas harboured on the side of the country’s regeneration.
“I always appealed to the country’s regeneration, particularly in this district. We see that the average age is increasing. I see families, particularly in valletta. This district is unique to them.”
“In our work we are seeing a continuous progression that together we are creating a politics of balance, which has been forgotten in this district.”
“My politics is the politics of the PN, and is based on the increasing costs of quality of life and environmental challenges.”
Christian Micallef: “I will continue to work with my friends to give an identity to this district.”
This electoral campaign is a first for Micallef, having accepted the call by Bernard Grech.
“Its about seeing what we can give back,” he began, appealing to the audience as a man born, raised and working in the district.
Micallef addressed the issue of housing, hinting that the PN’s electoral manifest will be addressing the issue at the forefront.
“We have a lot of buildings which were taken from places, which are being used by the government, that could be used as social housing for us to be able to regenerate our localities”
Paula Mifsud Bonnici: “We want to continue convincing people that PN is the choice of the people. The party that would ensure the delivery of our proposals.”
Paula’s goals delved on the lines of sustaining families struggling to keep up with the rates of inflation, the increasing costs of living driving elderly into situations where basic living is challenging.
“I speak to families who simply cannot keep up with their medicinals, if not only water and electricity bills.”
In an ageing population, this was a double whammy, she added.
Justin Schembri: “I feel proud to be moulding our future generations.”
An teacher by profession, Schembri took the stage to address issues tied to opportunities of limited education in Malta, conveying the voices of teachers and students alike.
Without unveiling the long awaited electoral proposals, Schembri alluded to a possible grant being issued to persons willing to study abroad, and return to practice their craft.
“We will incentivise educators and students to travel abroad, learn and come back and practice their craft. Planting the seeds to bear tomorrow’s fruit.”
What do you make of the PN’s ides for this district?