The Labour Party was in favour of the enforcement of intellectual property rights but it did not think that downloading an idea and sharing it with other people was of any harm, opposition spokesman for culture Owen Bonnici said.
Speaking during the adjournment, Dr Bonnici said that last October, eight countries signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) and last month, the EU and 22 member states, including Malta, did likewise.
The issue was of great concern to people who use the internet, he said, as it may stop them from downloading, file sharing, posting on Facebook and partaking in similar activities. Internet service providers were worried about having to invade the privacy of individuals due to the obligations this agreement put on them.
The Ministry of Finance had issued a statement which said that the treaty was being sent to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for discussion. Dr Bonnici said this agreement should never have been signed before it was discussed in Parliament.
Dr Bonnici encouraged all those who make use of the internet to read about the consequences of Acta, form an opinion and participate in a protest march in Valletta next week. He said it was not true that people should not worry, as was being advocated by the government.
Evarist Bartolo, who also spoke in the adjournment, asked how the Prime Minister had come up with a figure of 76 per cent of youngsters who were continuing their studies after the age of 16. He said11 per cent of students were giving up after one year.
Malta was now participating in an international survey which indicated Maltese students’ performances at school: TIMSS was a study that analysed the scientific and mathematical capabilities in both the primary and secondary levels, while PISA was a study which analysed the linguistic capabilities of the children.
According to the TIMSS study, Malta was placed 30 out of 49 countries. Mr Bartolo said that this would lead to problems in the tertiary level.
He noted that 52 per cent of the Maltese students were in the low benchmarks or below. Maltese children who did very well, on the other hand, added up to five per cent, with the median of all countries being three per cent.
Mr Bartolo said an important decision to identify which language should be used for teaching in schools should be taken. It should have been taken in the year 2000 but, although various conferences had been held, this was never decided.
Mr Bartolo believed that both Maltese and English should be used in schools as they were both very important to strengthen the level of education.
Youngsters who were weak in either Maltese or English could face both educational and social difficulties in future.
Maltese was important for each individual’s identity and when it came to communication between one another. English was a great asset to the investment attracted to the Maltese islands.
Mr Bartolo said he agreed with the politics of multilingualism of the European Union where children at an early age would be exposed to three languages.