The Minister for Education and Employment, Evarist Bartolo, yesterday told Parliament that his ministry had relied on the advice of the Data Protection Commissioner during all stages of the drafting of Legal Notice 76 of 2014.

Speaking during the debate on a private member’s motion to annul the legal notice, Mr Bartolo said the impression given that the government had not sought the consent of the commissioner was not true.

The Minister laid on the Table of the House correspondence that passed between his ministry and the office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

He accused certain people of demonising him by depicting him as a spy who would harm students. Had the government had an ulterior motive, it would not have made the issue public. To the contrary, the government had observed all procedures.

Sensitive information would consist of the level of education achieved and what happened when students searched for a job

The government was committed to tackle the issue of graduate underemployment, where some students did not find employment related to their studies.

Sensitive information would consist of the level of education achieved and what happened when students searched for a job. The government would not collect data such as bank-ing information.

Mr Bartolo noted that the EU had already warned Malta that it had the highest number of early school leavers without the necessary basic skills. Knowing only the number of such people was not enough. The government required information to trace them and help them to pursue their studies or find them employment.

Even stakeholders could not understand the criticism levelled at the legal notice. If not in place, Malta would risk losing €2.4 million from EU contributions. The government would have no objection to implementing advice by the Commissioner for Data Protection to address genuine concerns.

Concluding, Mr Bartolo said that the government was committed to eradicating the number of early school levers without the necessary basic skills. Anyone who did not want the legal notice to reach its purposes did not have the interests of students at heart.