Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said 459 fifth-formers had not bothered to apply for O-level exams. Photo: Shutterstock

Malta has 6,000 young people between 16 and 24 who are neither studying nor working or training, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told Parliament yesterday.

About 300 of these were people with disability.

Winding up a five-hour debate on the financial estimates of his ministry, Mr Bartolo said some of these youths were already long-term unemployed and it was unacceptable that they were already imbued with a culture of leaning on social benefits.

Mr Bartolo quoted figures to stress the present situation where young people were falling out of the net. He said 459 fifth-formers had not even bothered to apply for O-level examinations and a third of 2,893 state school applicants failed to turn up.

There were 459 students who did not even bother signing up for SEC examinations and 34 per cent of students who sat for the exams failed to obtain a pass from one exam. Moreover, 55 per cent of students failed to achieve the necessary six O-level passes required to join Sixth Form.

Some 33 per cent of eight-year-olds were failing in reading, science and mathematics

Mr Bartolo said it would have been simple for him to flaunt the fact that a record number of students – over 6,000 – had joined Mcast this year.

But this would have defeated the whole purpose of emphasising the issue of linkage between the different levels of education – primary, secondary and tertiary.

A sound evaluation should not be about figures but about what those figures were achieving.

He said primary schools needed to be placed under the spotlight to help the children from the age of eight, some 33 per cent of whom were failing in reading, science and mathematics and need to be bolstered.

This would be done through the child care facilities, which should not just be places where children were parked but places where children’s minds were stimulated.

The government was also committed in ensuring that the prices of school uniforms were reduced.

Turning to employment, Mr Bartolo said that seven per cent of workers in Malta were foreigners.

He said that between 2004 and 2012, the number of new jobs totalled 33,000 but 10,000 of these were occupied by foreigners.

Of these, 4,000 were high-skilled jobs – proof enough that the places were taken up by foreigners because there weren’t Maltese skilled enough to cover the job.

On the other hand, there were 6,000 foreigners who were employed in low-skilled jobs, because the Maltese, for one reason or another, did not want to do these jobs.

Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Buontempo announced that the government will be starting an outreach programme to help youths in Paceville’s places of entertainment. Another programme, Youth Direct, will help youths in Cottonera to better prepare for the work environment.

On the sports sector Dr Buontempo said the problem of obesity, mostly for lack of physical activity, must be seriously addressed even with senior citizens. In 2014 the Government would be spending more than €2.5 million on sports facilities

Labour MP Luciano Busuttil, who is also chairman of the Malta Sports Council, said he had asked the Director of Lands to map all existing sports facilities for better control.

The outgoing council had left losses of €700,000, much of them spent in political propaganda. The Malta Sports Award had cost €122,000, a breakfast for Totó Schillaci €640, and PBS had been paid €107,000 for airtime which it should have been glad to give free.

An application for EU funds had been rejected because the Permanent Secretary had forgotten to sign it.