Shadow Minister for Education George Pullicino criticized the amount of deadlines the current administration has missed since the beginning of its legislature.
He told Minister for Education Evarist Bartolo that the budget lacks vision and coordination in the field of education and that teachers, educators and department officials are well aware of this.
On Nurture Clubs and Learning zones Pullicino asked whether the government has introduced new guidelines to a program which had begun underneath a nationalist government.
When talking about the issue of abstention, Pullicino criticized measures introduced by the current administration two years ago (which saw parents under a certain income given funds) which he claimed had little to no effect, to back up his claims he quoted the President of MUT who said: ""These measures are not what Malta needs. Malta needs a serious affront to this problem through a multi-level methodology. "
He called for the utilization of support workers who can help children and families to regularly attend school. This was used in Bormla and saw good results the shadow minister claimed.
He praised the government for addressing children within difficult environments but it does not address the issue properly. He pointed towards PN's pre-budget document which called for greater coordination with the ministry and social services to address issues more holistically and allow for effective educational integration and vulnerable families.
On the Learning Outcomes Programme which according to the Minister of Education would being in the scholastic year 2017-2018, shows that the ministry does everything half-heartedly since the minister had already promised that this would be implemented in October 2016.
Talking about the construction of new schools, Pullicino again criticized Bartolo for again missing deadlines. Pointing towards the school in St.Paul's Bay, which has not even, began its first phase according to the shadow minister. In the case of the school in Marsascala, he said that this was in fact meant to begin in 2015.
With regards to the school in Rabat in Gozo he welcomed the introduction of a new primary school but criticized the government for choosing to build it upon a playing field.
In the previous legislature, the administration had built and opened five new schools and had already started work on five others and two resource centers for student with disabilities. However, the current administration has abandoned both projects according to Pullicino.
When talking about the tablets which will be introduced this year, the shadow minister pointed out that this was another deadline government had missed since it was due for September 2015
On status teachers, he expressed his worry that the intake in the masters degrees in teaching and learning was particularly low. He pointed to the low pay teachers receive, and called for an examination on the system in order to attract the best students to become teachers.
Resources provided to teachers need to increase according to Mr.Pullicino who claimed the teachers, LSAs, and KGAs often use their own money to purchase basic materials. He pointed towards an MUT study which said that its members pay €300 to buy these materials. He did admit that this was a long standing problem but questioned why it was yet to be solved.
The biggest problem, he said, was the lack of human resources. He praised the introduction of LSAs but there are a number of large and diverse problems a teacher must deal with. There is a need for more human resources to assist teachers with these issues such as Teaching Assistants.
The institute for education does address gaps in the development of professionals in the field of education, but does need to have greater collaboration and overlapping with the competent entities such as the faculty for education and the council of professors and teachers.
When talking about Child-care he criticized the government for taking three and a half years to open another child care centre in St.Julians and for forgetting that this was in the previous year's budget. "Another ignored deadline" according to Pullicino.
He praised the opening of a child care centre in Haz-Zebbug in December of this year, but asked what the situation regarding the child care centre is in Floriana as the population had not heard anything of it.
He pointed to the previous government's ability to open three centers per year.
He questioned by the government has paid roughly €900,000 to 26 consultants, translating to €35,000 per year for each consultant. Pullicino said that there are lectures at University who get €50,000 more through these consultancies.
Vocational subjects were first started by the previous government but there had not been any progress since 2014 according to Pullicino.
He then questioned why the government hasn't addressed the need to educate children on the necessary skills to tackle future issues like the environment.
On higher secondary, he questioned why the government had removed certain initiatives within the system such as the MC/AIO course which would see students achieve certificates equivalent to a-levels.
He then put forward a question from last year's budget which Pullicino claimed had not been answered yet which was the difference in pay between teachers at Junior College and Higher Secondary.
On MCAST, which he stressed was a nationalist party vision, he questioned why the institution had seen a reduction in the injection of capital in spite of the fact that there had been the construction of four new buildings and more to be built; he also claimed that the canteen is still not in operation.
The agricentre and the institute for creative arts also required more investment.
When speaking about university, Pullicino thanked the new rector, Profs. Alfred Vella for his good work. He then spoke of the PN's pre-budget proposal calling for the increase in university staff specifically in post graduate degrees.
He also called for the increase in research funds for the university which needs to be doubled from the current €500,000.
He then questioned the American University of Malta or has he termed the 'University of Jordan' as to whether or not it was a higher institute for education or university.
He then criticized the current government for ignoring many of PN's pre-budget proposals such as high quality sport facilities, one-time resources grants and assistance to Gozitan students to study in Malta.
He concluded by saying the PN views education as one of the main pillars of society, but when a person examines the current budget one can note that the government has not vision or coordination on the subject, all one can find is bits and pieces of projects with no vision.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2eDHRXJ
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