Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said today that the government is planning to spend €15 million on the maintenance of state schools.

Speaking at a press conference to mark the first 100 days of the new government, he said this funding did not preclude the building of new schools, with Malta needing between four and five new schools in the coming five years.

He did not identify the areas where the new schools will be built but said that St Paul's Bay has a growing population and it did not make sense to further extend the school there.

Mr Bartolo said the government was proposing changes to the eligibility criteria for scholarships for masters courses in that applicants would not need a degree to qualify. The proposal would be subject to the approval of the university concerned.

He said there had been a 77 per cent increase in applications for scholarships for masters and Phd courses from last year. In all 1,070 applications were filed.

Mr Bartolo recalled that other important initiatives by the ministry in the past few weeks included the new literacy strategy and easier access for benchmarking exams for people with learning difficulties.

Mr Bartolo, who is also responsible for jobs, also pointed out how his ministry had adopted the Jobs Plus initiative, first proposed by the UHM.