Labour leader Joseph Muscat today raised the possibility of the setting up of a second university in Malta to introduce competition in the higher levels of the education system.
He underlined the importance of competition to bring about efficiency in all sectors when he spoke at a PL conference on industry as the pillar of the economy.
He said that the government was lacking the political will to instill competition that brought about efficiency in the Maltese economy.
Under this government, Malta had had plenty of privatisations, some liberalisation, but hardly any competition.
Referring toGDP figures issued earlier this week, he said that Malta's nominal GDP showed that the sector which contributed most to the improvement was financial intermediary . The picture had also got brighter because the government had reduced its subsidies to Enemalta, a state monopoly. But that had not reduced inefficiencies at Enemalta, it only transferred the costs to the people.
He had no doubt, Dr Muscat said, that Malta and the rest of Europe would emerge from recession. But the reality was that in 2009, profits dropped in manufacturing industry, real estate, retail, tourism and transport, the sectors on which the majority of the people depended. Investment also remained negative.
Salaries last year grew by just 0.3% in nominal terms whereas the cost of living rose by 2.1%, meaning that wages went down in real terms.
Dr Muscat stressed that the public sector needed to be efficient and needed to create the right conditions for industry to flourish.
He said the education system was not of the level required in a European country , despite the professionalism of thousands of teachers.
"Perhaps the time has come, even in higher education, to have more competition. If competition creates efficiency, why should we not have space for a second university, ideally with global links, which would aim for the regional market while also being open for Maltese students," Dr Muscat asked.
All this could be done without in any way affecting the University of Malta, he added. Indeed, this would enhance the autonomy of the existing university and enable it to take more initiatives, such as on research and development, which would in turn help competitiveness.
In all this, Dr Muscat said, the basic concepts of free access to education and the stipends would be preserved.
In his speech Dr Muscat urged the government to counter corruption, curb inflation and instill greater transparency in public procurement.
He said the absence of intelligent incentives to stimulate the economy and a fiscal policy focused on investment reflected a lack of political commitment to industry.
Dr Muscat mentioned careful tax cuts as a way to boost the economy and said labour costs were also an important factor, but Malta would not be able to grow on the basis of cheap labour.