Minister explains why Labour 'can't be trusted' with children's education

Louis Galea said yesterday that in his role as Education Minister he felt it was his duty to make it clear to parents on the eve of an election that Labour could not be trusted with their children's education.

"This is not a partisan attack but a statement of fact and, as Minister for Education, I say this with full responsibility," he said, addressing a press conference at Robert Sammut Hall, Floriana.

Dr Galea felt there were too many fabrications and rumours making the rounds on children's education and he "sincerely" felt now was the time to give parents a factual analysis to facilitate their choice.

"I appeal to the public, especially parents, to understand that Labour's record in no way offers peace of mind that their children's education will be in competent hands if the MLP is elected," he said.

He was basing his judgment on a number of facts, among them that Labour had turned down the government's invitation to give its contribution in the drawing up and implementation of educational reform.

Instead, Labour had been completely disengaged and never presented any form of constructive criticism, except an attitude of denigration towards all the proposals.

He also gave an account of Labour's "mistakes" in education during its Administration.

"Labour's confusion and amateur experimentation emerges clearly from its famous proposal to introduce a reception class between kindergarten and primary," Dr Galea said.

When this was raised in Parliament in October, he had remained without a reply to his questions on the proposal and the Malta Union of Teachers had never been consulted.

Dr Galea insisted that Labour was trying to fool the people into believing that the UK had already implemented this system. What Labour failed to say was that, in Malta, this reception class was already in operation through Kinder 2.

Malta, contrary to the UK, had two years of kindergarten classes, where children were prepared for formal education before setting foot into primary school.

"If we introduce an extra year on top of this, we'll end up with one year where no students will enter sixth form, the University, Mcast or the Institute of Tourism Studies. This is a weak plan without any strategy," he said, giving an extensive account of his party's vision.

He rubbished the claim that the government was planning to shift Matsec's resits in September to November and December, which would put students waiting to start their scholastic year in October at a disadvantage.

"Three years ago the government received proposals from an independent board on this but they were never accepted," he insisted.

He dismissed Labour's allegation that the government was planning to close Junior Lyceums, adding that he wanted to see all students reach this level of education.

With regard to the Junior Lyceum examinations, he said the criticism here was that too much importance was being attached to this exam, which did not reflect the capabilities of students.

"We want to reduce the tension on students and create a continuous assessment to ensure children's capabilities are developed. We are also aiming to have an 11+ examination for all students - including those in Church and private schools - to establish a national benchmark," he said. It was pointed out that many parents, especially mothers, were finding it hard to hold a part-time job when most schools in Malta finished so early. Was a Nationalist government planning to extend school hours?

"We have no intention of changing the present school hours. However, we plan to create an after-school programme for children to take part in drama, sports, dance and art," he said, adding that a pilot project in Cottonera had already proved successful. Dr Galea said that initially this after-school programme would be on a voluntary basis and eventually he wanted it to be extended to all schools, because during school hours there was not enough time to focus on developing the child's character.

"The choice of a Nationalist government is a guarantee that together we can implement a vision built on a record of achievements," he said.