Education Minister Louis Galea yesterday launched a new system of grants applicable to students joining post-secondary and tertiary institutions this October.
Dr Galea told a press conference the government was putting off the possibility of introducing tuition fees for undergraduate courses for the time being, adding that the new grant schemes would be revised in five years' time.
According to the new system, students in all post-secondary institutions and those following vocational courses, including Giovanni Curmi higher secondary, the sixth forms, Junior College and MCAST, will continue receiving Lm40 a month and a yearly grant of Lm100. However, those students who satisfy a means test will be eligible to Lm60 a month.
University students starting their second year will benefit from the existing system of a Lm60 monthly stipend and a yearly grant of Lm200. These students have also received a Lm400 one-time grant at the beginning of their course last year. Students from low income families who satisfy established criteria after undergoing a means test will be eligibly to Lm120 a month instead.
Students joining the university for the first time will enter the new scheme that distinguishes between standard grants and special grants, Dr Galea said.
Students entitled to a normal grant would receive a monthly stipend of Lm40 - Lm20 below the amount students receive under the old stipends regime. The Lm200 yearly grant would remain but the one-time grant at the beginning of the course will be cut from Lm400 to Lm200.
Students from families that satisfy a means test would qualify for a Lm120 stipend instead of Lm40. Moreover, the yearly grant and the one-time grant at the beginning of their course would be Lm250 instead of Lm200.
Dr Galea said the government had identified a number of academic areas it wanted to encourage for the country's socio-economic benefit.
Thus, students who choose to read for a Bachelor of Science in business and computing, information technology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, statistics and operations research, computer science, informatics, a Bachelor of Engineering or a Bachelor of Education in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer would be eligible to a Lm70 monthly stipend. The one-time grant applicable to these students would rise to Lm300 from Lm200 as in the case of other courses. Students who subscribe for the courses mentioned above would also receive a Lm300 yearly grant.
Dr Galea said the list of courses would be revised from year to year.
Students who subscribe to these courses but can prove they come from a family with modest means would receive a stipend of Lm120 instead of Lm70.
Students from low income families who subscribe for medicine, dentistry and architecture will receive Lm300 at the beginning of their course and Lm300 at the beginning of each academic year.
Students following diploma courses would be eligible for Lm40 a month and a Lm200 yearly grant.
Dr Galea said the government was setting up a fund for special cases to assist students where the normal grants would not be adequate.
The minister said he knew of a student who had lost both parents in a short span of time and had found himself in a very difficult situation. Students would be eligible for such funds after applying to the Maintenance Grants Board.
Gozitan students, who until now received Lm15 a month as a travel and accommodation grant, will from now on get Lm50 while studying at the University of Malta provided they followed their secondary and post-secondary studies in Gozo.
Dr Galea said the government was also setting up a scholarship fund to encourage students to pursue MA, MSc, and PhD degrees in areas deemed important for the country's development.
The national expense on student grants, which this year amounts to about Lm8.5 million, could increase to Lm13 million in five years' time assuming that the number of students in post-secondary and tertiary institutions rises to 16,000.
Reacting to the new grant schemes, the University Students' Council (KSU) noted the "more positive elements" within the scheme but said the government should not have introduced the new scheme four days before university started."First year students are in for an unpleasant surprise in this sense," KSU president Anthony Camilleri said.
KSU said student life had become more expensive by at least 50 per cent when compared to 1998, given the spiralling cost of books due to the introduction of an 18 per cent VAT rate.