Three new government childcare centres will be set up in Żurrieq, Gżira and San Ġwann, along with 30 after-school centres for children aged between three and 16.
A scheme will be rolled out for interpreters and translators, particularly in Arabic, Chinese and Spanish
The centres will allow parents to leave their children in a safe and educational environment while at work.
Overall, the Budget allocated to education for next year will amount to €390.7 million – an increase of €12 million over last year.
The Government invests around €6,000 a year on every child at school – an average of €1.5 million a day.
Over the past few years, a number of services were introduced, while others strengthened, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said.
Since 2008, there has been a 40 per cent increase in learning support assistants in State schools, with a 14 per cent rise among those in Church and private schools.
Since the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools was set up, €130 million has been invested in new schools, others were upgraded or embellished.
Five new schools were opened in this legislature – in Verdala, Pembroke, Mosta, Victoria and Ħandaq. The plan for the coming years is to build secondary schools in Kirkop, Paola, Santa Venera and Pembroke.
The first building of a new campus at the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology is expected to be completed in January and work is underway on the new Pembroke campus for the Institute of Tourism Studies.
Almost €40 million was invested in the University and spent on new faculties such as ICT for research and development, science and technology and energy.
Between 2006 and 2012, more than 2,000 government scholarships were granted on undergraduate, Masters and doctorate levels. Along with these, the Government also handed out scholarships in the arts and sports, amounting to an investment of €19 million.
There will be more scholarships next year and a scheme will be rolled out for interpreters and translators, particularly Arabic, Chinese and Spanish.
Work is under way to develop the 20,600-square-metre site of the former Pace Grasso football ground in Paola. The project will include a car park for 700 cars, a boys’ secondary school, a resource centre for disabled people and a health centre.
The Government plans to keep the highly successful Get Qualified scheme, which helped more than 2,000 students through tax credits amounting to €7.6 million.
Turning to sport, about €500,000 will be allocated over two years to develop a rugby sports facility and the Government has approved the transfer of 30 tumoli of land for the project.
Sports associations will be able to carry out energy audits financed by the Government to establish how their facilities can run on less energy.
The sports tourism scheme, which generated more than 134,000 bed nights over the past three years and left around €7.3 million in the country, will also be extended.
Athletes who want to become army recruits will be able to benefit from the special sport training leave scheme that will be extended to next year, while those who compete abroad can take special leave. For the first time, this will be extended to their coaches whether these work in the public or private sector.
There will also be a new scheme to incentivise families to do more exercise at home.
The Government is offering a 15.25 per cent refund on sports equipment – such as treadmills or gym bikes – for personal use at home.
Over the past two years, the Government has given fiscal incentives to parents who signed up their children for programmes run by the Malta Sports Council, in registered sports academies or in nurseries.
More than 4,000 families saved around €400,000 in tax through this scheme.