The percentage of early school leavers in Malta, at 36 per cent, was double that of the European average, parliamentary secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici told Parliament yesterday.
He said Malta’s target was to bring it down to 29 per cent by 2020, and even then it would still be lagging badly behind.
Introducing the debate in second reading of the Children and Young Persons (Care Orders) (Amendment) Bill, Dr Bonnici said there was an “intimate relationship” between lack of education and the number of young people who appeared before the courts.
The Bill provides a mechanism for review of care orders at the request of the parent or the guardian of the child or young person.
Dr Bonnici said the public had shown a great interest in the amendments being proposed.
One of the most important ones referred to cases where parents would be able to appeal against a care order once their personal circumstances had changed. After some time had passed, a re-assessment would be made to ascertain whether the parents have turned their life around.
Children had to be educated to ensure that as school-leavers they had the necessary skills. Having overcome the issue of access to education, Malta had to face the challenge of having everyone succeed in education.
After being elected to government, Dr Bonnici said, Minister for Social Policy Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Minister for Education Evarist Bartolo deemed that social problems, education and problems in the justice system were interrelated.
Problems in the education sector were normally preceded by social problems and succeeded by problems with justice. The government was looking at what incentives to give to young people to keep them studying.
According to reports by the European Commission, Portugal, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary offered vocational studies even during secondary education.
Recalling that Malta offered vocational training until some years ago, Dr Bonnici criticised the decision of previous governments to bring down the trade schools. He admitted that vocational training should be reformed to reflect the needs of modern society.
Dr Bonnici appealed to doctors who issued false medical certificates to stop doing so. “Do not be accomplices with parents who did not send children to school,” he implored them.
One had to incentivise poor families to send children to school. Dr Bonnici praised Ms Coleiro Preca for the measure giving families €400 in new social assistance so long as they sent their children to school.
Noticing that many parents who did not send their children to school failed to pay the fines, Dr Bonnici said his conscience would not let him order the issuance of warrants of seizures and garnishee orders because one would be taking money away from children in need. It would be better if families did not pay the fines but sent their children to school.
There was a link, he said, between bad upbringing and drugs. The families who faced the most difficulties were those who were affected by drugs.
He asked whether it was time to have a mechanism by which a court, if satisfied that the individual had reformed, would have the option of not sending him to prison. “What would society earn by sending a reformed person to prison?”
It was against drug traffickers, not victims, that the problem of drugs had to be fought.
The government would launch a White Paper in the near future.
Concluding, Dr Bonnici said the Bill would build on existing legislation and serve as a means to view education, social policy and the justice system in a holistic manner.