Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo this morning lamented the low response registered so far to the Youth Guarantee Scheme, while he welcomed the high turnout for free SEC revision classes.

Mr Bartolo said while touring the classes at Mcast in Paola that the attendance for the SEC programme was of 68 per cent. He said those who did not attend may be completely demotivated to study.

In total  1,337 students had applied for these classes, which represent some 60 per cent of those who had failed in their SEC O level exams. Some of them   applied in more than one subject, bring the total applications to 2,348. The highest number of applicants were for maths lessons with 773 followed by English with 692.

The education minister spoke about efforts to motivate those aged between 18 and 24 who are neither working nor on the unemployment register. He said that some 7,000 were invited to join the Youth Guarantee Scheme (including some who are studying) but the response was very disappointing with only about 400 giving feedback.

Mr Bartolo expressed himself disappointed with this number, and remarked that the greatest challenge is not youth unemployment but the number of youths without basic skills.

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