Almost four months after the Education Ministry’s permanent secretary resigned over the suspension of EU student funds, his role was still being filled temporarily, Labour education spokesman Evarist Bartolo said.

The former permanent secretary, Christopher Bezzina, was one of three people who resigned in June after an inquiry blamed them for causing the suspension of funds by the European Commission for the Lifelong Learning Programme and Youth in Action Programme.

In a statement, Mr Bartolo yesterday questioned how much longer an acting permanent secretary, who was “borrowed from somewhere else”, would remain in the important role.

Mr Bartolo criticised the ministry for focusing on propaganda rather than taking serious decisions.

For every 10 students who started primary school, four would not continue their studies after the obligatory age of 16, he said. These children would remain without the necessary employment skills.

Mr Bartolo said that during this scholastic year, the government had to answer several questions such as why did parents have to face high bills for uniforms and education material, and where was the government planning to build more schools and on what grounds were the colleges chosen.

In a separate statement the ministry said the first day of school, on Monday, had gone smoothly and Mr Bartolo had found nothing to criticise so he repeated things he had been ranting on about.

Mr Bartolo ignored the fact that the government was successfully enacting a policy aimed at ensuring all children obtained basic skills.

The ministry added that more children were carrying on with their studies after reaching 16 through the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology, the University and the Institute for Tourism Studies.

It pointed out that it had already announced that works would start on the new secondary school for girls at Tal-Ħandaq, limits of Qormi.

In his statement, Mr Bartolo had ignored the new collective agreement reached with teachers and the 400 scholarships to be granted to students, among other things, the ministry said.