The tragic death of a 15-year-old girl at Dingli Cliffs last month highlighted the difficulties facing young people, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said.
Addressing students from 11 schools, Mr Bartolo said youngsters were living in a much more dangerous world than the one their parents once faced.
“It is definitely much more difficult for young people nowadays. You are all facing very tough challenges and a much more dangerous world. We owe it to you to give you support, after all you are living in a world we created,” he said.
Mr Bartolo was reacting to the death of Lisa Marie Zahra whose body was found at the foot of the cliffs. Her 23-year-old drama teacher, Erin Tanti, who was airlifted from the spot, is expected to be arraigned in the coming days.
Addressing the students as a “nannu” (grandfather) and not a minister, Mr Bartolo said the girl’s tragic death reminded him of the tough decisions he had to make when his two daughters were growing up.
“The biggest challenges I ever faced were as a father and I am aware of the responsibility we all have to support you. The recent events have reminded us all of this,” he said.
The students were gathered at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, for a youth debate on the introduction of co-ed classes and the raising of the school-leaving age.
Organised by the Malta Union of Teachers and Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the event saw more than 100 middle school students explode into applause when asked to vote against raising the school-leaving age to 18.
However, on mixed gender schools, the majority of students voted in favour.
A panel – made up of students from Ħandaq Girls’ Secondary School, St Elias School and St Jeanne Antide School – argued for and against the motion of raising school-leaving age. The students in the audience, however, complained the move would impinge on their freedom.
One student insisted that raising the age would not lead to more graduates.
“Lawyers made it to their profession but higher education wasn’t forced on them. They had the choice and they chose what they wanted,” the 12-year-old said, grasping the microphone with both hands.
Other arguments against the compulsory raising of school age were the higher expenses incurred by the State due to more students receiving stipends.
On co-ed schools, students insisted these would counter sexism and also add value to the educational experience.
Mr Bartolo said that in the coming years, Parliament would debate the school-leaving age issue. “You have to remember that the school-leaving age was 10 before it was raised,” he said.