Stipends board chairman Tonio Briguglio resigned even before an inquiry board found he had unilaterally and without political clearance decided to stop the grant to students following an O level revision course.
The inquiry was ordered after a letter, later withdrawn, was sent to students following revision courses at the Higher Secondary in Naxxar and the Mikelanġ Refalo School in Gozo at the beginning of the scholastic year informing them that they were no longer entitled to a stipend.
The investigation found that, although Mr Briguglio had not acted in bad faith, he had taken the decision alone and without consulting the Minister of Education, especially when he knew that the Government’s policy on stipends was to strengthen them and not remove them.
The inquiry report was published yesterday, on the insistence of Times of Malta, which also requested a copy.
Although the request was at first refused, the Education Ministry eventually released the report through the Department of Information.
The investigation found that the subsidiary legislation on the matter did not provide for stipends to be paid to students following an O level revision course but Mario Schiavone, chairman of the board under the previous Administration, had made such a concession after seeking political authorisation from the Education Minister of the time.
The report says that Mr Briguglio had erred by not following the advice given to him by other members of the board, urging him to consult the minister before removing the stipends.
It recommended that the subsidiary legislation be changed to address the anomaly.
The report says that the granting of the stipend to the students in question was not “illegal” or “not permissible”, as Mr Briguglio was claiming, because it had been granted by ministerial concession by the previous Administration.
The board, chaired by Paul Bonello, revealed that Mr Briguglio had previously made two similar recommendations to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo for his approval and these were returned with a no-go and instructions that nothing had to change in the present stipend system.
In its conclusions, the inquiry board notes that Mr Briguglio’s decision had not been intended to damage the Government image among students and their parents, though it had “doubts” on how tenable his position was as board chairman.
“The board doubts how tenable his position is not only because he erred but, more so, because it seems he has not yet understood that he erred and is still insisting he acted correctly,” the report says.
Mr Briguglio handed in his resignation on October 2, two days before Mr Bartolo ordered the investigation. In publishing the report yesterday, Mr Bartolo said he had accepted Mr Briguglio’s resignation. His post will be temporarily filled by Diane D’Alessandro, head of the maintenance grant unit.
In a statement, Nationalist Party education spokesman Joe Cassar said Mr Bartolo was politically responsible for the “mess-up”.
Dr Cassar also criticised the composition of the inquiry board which, he said, included two of Mr Bartolo’s consultants and the father of Labour MP Chris Fearne. “Mr Briguglio had been politically appointed by Mr Bartolo, so the minister had to assume political responsibility.”