When my favourite team visited Malta in January, I was appalled to see Carmelo Abela, who of all posts aspires to become the next Minister for Education, with a daft grin boasting that he had abandoned the Epiphany Concert to attend a sport/political programme on One TV.

But, having seen his recent performances on various TV stations and his contributions to this paper in particular when trying to defend the MLP's unilateral, uncreative, shallow and irresponsible educational proposal, I realised that I shouldn't have expected a different behaviour that is more consonant with the realm of education.

Not only is this proposal uncreative, but to me it represents a scandalous return on the investment of public money to pay Mr Abela's wage as a shadow minister for at least the past five years.

Had he conducted more serious research about the reasons why it was introduced in the UK and why it has been long established in all Scandinavian countries, he might have realised that the problems being addressed were principally other and not strictly the level of illiterate school leavers which originally was the mother-of-all-reasons only to be successively joined by last-minute support arguments.

While in the UK the problem was principally related to the irregular age of formal schooling where most children started year one at the age of four, in the Scandinavian countries it is based on a completely different educational philosophy backed by cultural and resource realities that are very different from that of Malta.

The arrogance and insolence put into the crisis management reaction by the MLP spokesmen on this issue is compounded by their irresponsible claims that negatively impinge on the peace of mind of people, such as the parents of children attending private schools.

If Mr Abela finds himself as the next Minister of Education I would be experiencing the closure of a full circle. While in the 1980s as a student whose study career was ruined by the MLP, I was at the forefront of the protests, in the coming months as a parent I would be on the same forefront against this irresponsible proposal. I will not let my children pay for the mediocrity of Mr Abela.