The government’s decision to offer free transport to students attending private schools was just a “vote catching exercise” that was ill-prepared, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said this morning.
“While I commend this measure, it transpires that a number of students who had no problems before have ended up with no transport, and in some cases even parents willing to keep paying are being denied this service,” he said.
Dr Delia criticised the measure during in a short interview over the phone on the Nationalist Party’s radio station Net FM.
His comments were made in the wake of an admission made by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo on Saturday that there were still 829 students from Church and independent schools on the waiting list.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Sunday suggested this could have been a result of parents rushing to register their children at the last minute.
A few days ago Times of Malta reported that many schools were told by service providers they could not guarantee the service like previous years and parents who had paid for private school transport for many years were informed there was no room for their children anymore because vans were already full.
Dr Delia said the government’s ill-preparedness had left hundreds of students and parents with no school transport.
“The is the latest crystal clear example of a government which only cares about schemes and marketing campaigns meant to convey the message that it is achieving results,” he said.
“Government wanted to impress by offering free school transport but the lack of planning exposed the fact that this was just a vote catching exercise,” the PN leader added.
Dr Delia also expressed concern that despite the robust economic growth being registered, vulnerable people like single parents and pensioners were struggling to make ends meet.
He noted that increased consumption did not necessarily translate to a higher standard of living, but was the result of population increase.
“We are increasingly talking of people who cannot afford accommodation and who risk ending up living in the streets and cannot even pay for education, medicine and other basic amenities,” Dr Delia said.
The PN leader also referred to the issue of domestic violence, saying that even though laws have been in place for years, this did not guarantee that society would necessarily change.
Commenting on party matters, he expressed himself satisfied with the recently held Independence day activities mentioning the launch of a training programme aimed at youths wishing to enter politics.
The PN, Dr Delia said, did not want to attract first-time voters by promising to legalise drugs, but through efforts to promote opportunities and acquire the right skills to be future leaders.