Malta’s Early School Leavers Problem Will Be Addressed, Prime Minister Says
Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela has pledged to address the ever-present issue of early school leavers in the country.
Speaking in an interview on One, Abela said that education is one of the main pillars of his government’s economic strategy, explaining that it was crucial to promote the concept of lifelong learning.
Malta has recorded some of the highest rates of early school leavers in the EU, despite providing free education all the way up to university.
The government had pledged to bring the rate of early school leavers down to 10% in a strategy launched in 2014. Progress has been made, but indications are that the government is still far off that target.
The most recent figures show that around 16.3% of students are early school leavers, which are those students who leave compulsory school and do not have at least five O-levels and are not in education.
Abela said that the government has invested €2 million in the sector over the last two years, insisting that investment in ensuring students get workplace education will yield positive results.
He also made reference to several government proposals, describing a reduction in social security contribution as a “game-changer”.
Prime Minister Abela also made reference to Malta’s construction sector, insisting that the country should have a holistic approach to development – calling out issues with loopholes in planning policy. However, he made no commitment to when local plans will be changed.
The issue surrounding potential greylisting by FATF was a feature of the interview, with the Prime Minister choosing to launch an attack against Opposition leader Bernard Grech.
Abela claimed that Grech “indirectly” called for Malta’s grey-listing in a letter sent to FATF. He insisted that the government was working towards further legislative changes to beef up enforcement and regulations in the fight against money laundering.
“I was shocked and disappointed by the letter,” he said.
Grech, who was speaking on Net FM at the same time, dismissed any suggestions that the letter was harmful to Malta – calling out the Prime Minister for failing to have constructive dialogue with the Opposition over the crucial issue.
“We were not invited to do anything tangible, I had to write a letter to FATF to make it clear that Malta cannot afford to be greylisted, we have important sectors that a lot of people rely on,” Grech said.
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