The government is planning a relationship and parenting policy that will include pre-wedding courses, currently only offered by the Church.

Family Minister Michael Farrugia said at the moment there were no preparation programmes for civil marriages or civil unions, and he felt “this was important”.

“Most of the time, we realise there is a problem when it’s too late and the relationship is over. Ideally, we manage to tackle problems at an early stage,” he said, adding that the idea was to nourish more stable relationships.

Marriage preparation courses are only in place for Catholic couples, who have to attend a compulsory Cana Movement course before getting married in church. But Dr Farrugia said the government courses would be “very different” from the ones offered by Cana.

Although he would not elaborate on the content, he said the courses would deal with a couple’s behaviour and identify problems.

“One of the areas we will certainly focus on is to train couples how to nip a problem in the bud and not let things get worse,” he said.

More in Times of Malta.