Policies that are young at heart

There ought to be minimal disagreement, if any, on the central role played by that upcoming and young population – youth – in the future of any nation. The draft national youth policy undertaken by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth and Sport, recently up for public consultation, seeks the setting of a youth vision for a good quality of life.

Its goals are at par with those of the EU strategy for youth, adopted recently by the European Commission, namely the creation of more opportunities for youth in education and employment, the increase of youth participation in society and the fostering of solidarity – a central value of the EU itself. As such, the draft national youth policy addresses today’s realities, particularly the challenges brought about through our membership of the EU.

The need for reform is quintessential if one is to remain at the forefront of any challenge and securing for oneself a future that is brighter than the present. The present may be judged as fairly positive but, unquestionably, we are compelled to achieve further than what we have.

Credit is also due to the youth policy adopted to date and upon which any future successful youth policy should to be based.

In his recent contribution entitled Issues Of Interest To The Young (September 18), Albert Gauci Cunningham commends the report drawn up by the Labour Youth Forum in reaction to the draft national youth policy. Among the issues raised in the report, it is truly positive to note that the Forum “reiterates its belief that education should be free and accessible to all” while it also encourages the “strengthening of the maintenance grant system”.

Successive Nationalist governments have held this belief for years on end. The continuous and heavy investment directed towards our educational system, both in its physical structure as well as its complementary institutional building, is a sign of this untarnished political will.

The removal of the numerus clausus made the free-for-all education policy achievable. The University of Malta today boasts an ever-increasing student population, with a growth rate of eight per cent in the period between 2000 and 2006 and reaching the 9,500 mark in 2008.

The social inclusion aspect of this political direction has also catered for those who feel more apt to undertake vocational careers. The successful introduction of the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology, better known as Mcast, has filled a void otherwise left abandoned, maximising on the potential and human resource offered by our country. As far as the maintenance grant is concerned, past attempts to reduce or remove financing directed for this purpose have proved to be unsuccessful. Public expenditure aimed at providing financial assistance to higher education and tertiary students has been sustained with €21 million being distributed this year in maintenance grants. This is true education, free and for all!

In his recent address at the mass meeting held to mark Independence Day, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi reiterated his government’s commitment towards sustaining the education sector, especially in view of the fact that the human resource is our country’s major and only resource. With respect to education, it is clear that there will be no meddling with or shrinking of the financial contributions made. With respect to education, no fiddling of any kind is permissible.

Moving on to another subject, the job market sector, one notes that the fair but continuous foreign direct investment attracted throughout 2008 and 2009 is a direct result of our country’s credibility with foreign investors, which literally translates into credibility in the direction being taken at the decision-making level.

Aware of the fact that I have omitted other matters of interest to youth, such as environmental protection, leisure and sports, education and employment remain perhaps the two major pillars upon which any good quality of youth life is dependent. These two pillars, intentionally listed as the first two in the draft national youth policy, are also perhaps the two most difficult to achieve.

Much has been done and more has yet to be done. The Nationalist Party Youth Movement (MŻPN), in its reaction to the draft national youth policy, calls for, among educational issues, an increase of informal and health education in the academic curriculum, more flexibility in higher education courses in areas of national interest and, particularly, the seven pillars sustaining the government’s Vision 2015. With regard to the environment, the MŻPN calls for compulsory youth participation, as opposed to a mere contribution, in the preservation and protection of the environment.

Nonetheless, the government, as the major player in a multi-player game, has certainly shouldered responsibility as evidenced earlier. In doing so, the future of this country promises to be brighter. The national youth policy reform rests on these criteria, which are a necessary ingredient to a meaningful youth policy, applicable to today’s realities. Youth policy should not be susceptible to ulterior motives. It is, after all, the path to our future.

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