A renewed call to restrict stipends only for those in need was yesterday met with resistance from students and the government.
Central Bank Governor Michael Bonello on Friday night complained that the government’s drive to encourage tertiary education was not having the desired results. Although Malta spent more on education when compared with the EU average, the rate of students entering tertiary education was well below that of most EU countries.
His comments were met with immediate resistance and “concern” from student organisations of both sides of the political divide: social-democrats Pulse and Christian-democrats SDM.
SDM said stipends were a “great help” to Maltese students and their families and should be viewed as an issue of welfare, solidarity and social justice. It added that financial aid to students did not impede or conflict with increasing efficiency in the education system.
Meanwhile, Pulse said stipends were an investment in students and society and should not be sacrificed to cut costs. Pulse said the authorities should instead finally set up the University Trust Fund and give incentives for companies to invest in it. It also suggested the setting up of a “special task force” to address these important issues “which so far have only been tackled by random warnings and threats to reduce stipends”.
Meanwhile, University Student Council president Carl Grech said that at €84 a month, the stipend was “so stripped down” that it only recovered a small part of students’ living expenses.
However, Mr Grech pointed out that the University should diversify its sources of income in light of increased numbers – claiming that simply removing stipends would be a “stop-gap solution” where problems would soon resurface. While the issue of the future of higher education should be tackled, all stakeholders must be consulted and the priority should be students’ well-being rather than financial issues.
When contacted, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech pointed out that the governor had been making this argument for a long time but “the government’s position is completely different”. He said the stipend system was intended to ensure more people joined tertiary education.
“We do not believe we are wasting resources,” he said, adding that stipends have now even been extended for adults on minimum wage who accept to attend training.
Meanwhile, many people who reacted to Mr Bonello’s comments online agreed that the system should be rethought but some pointed out that no party would risk taking on the governor’s advice on such a sensitive issue.
However, students were not unanimous in their rejection of the proposal and various students discussing the issue on Facebook pointed out that stipends were not needed by everyone and doing away with them could help improve quality at University.