Use Maltese Language More Often, Government Heads Instructed In Official Circular
Civil service head Tony Sultana has formally instructed government department heads to use the Maltese language more often within the public administration.
Sultana was acting on the instructions of Prime Minister Robert Abela, who was reacting to public criticism at KM Malta Airlines’ decision, which has since been reversed, to scrap knowledge of the Maltese language as a requirement for cabin crew.
“Maltese has long been recognised as the official language of public administration and we should therefore ensure we keep on strengthening it,” Sultana wrote.
“The use of our language within the public administration was, is and will remain a priority, and we should therefore be the first to set an example.”
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He said the Maltese language should be used more often when it comes to public signage, internal and external communication, digital forms, official documents and publications, titles of initiatives and projects, conference themes, websites, social media content, adverts, and all other visual, printed and electronic content.
“This doesn’t mean that we should sideline English, our second official language and, where possible, we should ensure that official documents are published in both languages,” Sultana clarified.
“The fact that we use both languages gives us an advantage, and opens new horizons where we can extend our services.”
“In recent months, the Centre of the Maltese Language was set up to serve as a reference point and we also launched digital tools to incentivise the correct usage of Maltese, including the traduzzjoni.mt website. We will create new tools in the near future.”
“The Maltese language belongs to the people, let’s work together to keep it alive and strengthen it.”
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