Positive parenting can only be achieved through social and economic measures which ensure that economic growth is fairly distributed to all families, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said this afternoon.
Speaking at a consultation meeting on the draft Positive Parenting Policy, Mr Bartolo said that hard-to-reach parents led to hard-to-reach children.
Socially excluded parents therefore often had socially excluded children.
"The tragedy is that our structures - although created with all good intentions - do everything but reach socially excluded children," he said. The biggest problem, Mr Bartolo continued, was getting different entities to work together through joint governance.
"We're supposed to have a cabinet which constitutes one government but, in reality, we have 10 different governments - an education government, a health government, a family government and so on.
"Inter-ministerial collaboration often ends when a press conference ends." Different ministries had different budgets and different leadership guidelines, he continued. Imagination and courage were needed to take decisions and move forward.
Social Policy Minister Michael Farrugia said that one of the ways of reaching socially excluded families was through outreach programmes and community services. Identified families would then have a family plan drafted up. The ministry together with local councils will also be starting a new project with basic budgeting courses.
The Positive Parenting Policy was launched last year and the public had until December 2014 to give feedback
Positive parenting refers to behaviours by parents who prioritise children's best interests, helping them grow in an environment that is free from violence and conducive to their healthy development, while providing all the necessary guidance and support.
There are a number of indicators which point towards a pressing need for a positive parenting policy. A 2008 study revealed that Maltese parents and children had a strained relationship. A 2011 study also showed that Maltese adolescents found it difficult to confide in their parents while the father-child relationship was weaker in Malta than in other countries.
positiveparentingpolicy@gov.mt