Try as it might, the Nationalist Party simply cannot come up with valid arguments to persuade young people not to vote Labour. Instead of focusing on the present and future, it prefers to dig up past events that have little to do with the challenges the younger generations are facing today.

I refer specifically to how our educational institutions are preparing our youth for new challenges in the job market. Would anyone claim that our current educational system will give our youth the necessary means to be competitive in the European job market? Indeed, are our youth even equipped to find a decent job in their own country, seeing that we have the highest proportion of early school leavers in Europe, according to the Eurostat Yearbook 2012?

While the present Administration is busy patting itself on the back for its perceived successes in this field, the potential of our youth is being squandered. How can we tackle this serious issue when our government is not even prepared to acknowledge its existence?

When has the laissez-faire attitude exhibited by our government towards education benefited a society? Common sense dictates that if society as a whole is facing new challenges and opportunities then it is only natural that the system that is shaping its citizens needs to evolve in a way that allows them to meet these challenges head-on and with a good chance of success.

Instead, it is only the Labour Party that is acknowledging this major shortcoming. The youth strategy envisioned by Joseph Muscat is perfectly in line with the proposals being made at a European level such as the European Youth Guarantee and Youth Opportunities Initiative. Such programmes, when implemented, would try to reduce youth unemployment by ensuring that young people get the education and training they need to find jobs that earn them a good wage and a sense of fulfilment.

It is clear that only the Labour Party has concrete proposals to tackle the challenges our youth are facing in education and employment.