Students who take a gap year to undertake voluntary work in Malta and abroad will now be able to benefit from a stipend.

Government committed to support voluntary work

The Government is allocating €600,000 for students aged up to 25 years or who, up to three years after graduating with a tertiary degree, want to spend a year doing voluntary work either here or overseas.

Young people were taking an active part in voluntary work – both locally and abroad – and the Government wanted to support it, Finance Minister Tonio Borg said in his Budget speech. Not only did it want to encourage students but support them financially. Each person could only benefit from the scheme once.

Employees who receive less than €300 a week and decide to undergo training will be given an extra €25 per week.

The Youth Inc. scheme for young people aged between 16 and 21 who are not in an educational institution or working, will be extended for those aged up to 24 as long as they follow training.

The stipend for apprentices will increase to €95 from €86 and the Government will continue to pay duties.

The system of supplementary stipends for students who need added financial support will increase by €300 in the academic year. It is estimated that about 1,400 post-secondary and tertiary students will benefit from this scheme. The Government is allocating €400,000.

Always a controversial topic, the issue of stipends has always been a constant electoral promise with both political parties pledging not to touch them.

In 2008, there were 15,000 students who received a stipend, amounting to an investment of €19 million and this went up to €23 million spent on about 19,000 students.