A few days ago, Lawrence Gonzi boasted about his government’s successes in education saying that today there are 18,600 students receiving a stipend. However, he never mentioned that his government just only a few weeks ago cut €7.6 million from the education budget. May I also remind him that he was the last Prime Minister to largely reduce the stipends by 25 per cent in 2005. Since then stipends have continued to depreciate in value because of the cost of living increases. Although stipends continue to be essential for students to further their studies at University level, having remained at the same amount as they were back in 2005 they are today becoming less effective and obsolete.

As a University student, I don’t feel that the present government really appreciates the importance of higher education, other than as a means of getting more votes. Our only resource on this island is the human resource. Stipends are only one way of making university life more affordable for students so that the country will gain after they graduate and put their knowledge into practice.

The government also needs to take care of the new graduates in ensuring they can find a suitable job in which they can offer their best services, an area towards which the present government seems to adopt a nonchalant attitude, boasting only about the number of graduates increasing each year.

If we want the best for the country, then this government really needs to stop plying for votes and grab the bull by its horns in the education system.