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The Maltese Herald

Malta doesn’t have “private schools”

—

by

Mark Camilleri
in

The idea that Malta has private schools is preposterous. Malta has several government-funded, for-profit, private-schools that cater for people who can pay significant amount of fees for the education of the children.

Last week, the Ministry of Education announced a €27 million package for private school to cap their fees and sustain their wage increases after the MUT and the Ministry of Education signed a new collective agreement.

This is of course, not the only government funding that private school receive. This year alone, the Ministry of Education subsidised all the Learning Support Assistants in “private schools” with an €8 million grant. Another €1 million was allocated to them for further expenses. Other private schools like the Mariam Albatool School has received a direct €400,000 cash grant. On the other hand, Church schools have received a total of €118 million in public funds for 2024 alone. Most of the so called “private schools” in Malta are actually Church schools.

Basically, the government subsidises the education of those paying for their children’s education, meaning the government subsidies parents who can afford to pay for their children’s tuition fees.

Many teachers working for public schools are very disappointed with this given they experience the lackluster environment of the public school system.

Comments

  1. J debono avatar
    J debono

    Church schools are receiving money as they gave their land to the government

    Reply
    1. xaman02 avatar
      xaman02

      Yes, that little detail seems to have been missed in this article. That property is today worth billions of euros and the 118 million government obligation is a poor return on that investment. However, the Church was more concerned on keeping alive its mission to educate the young than to make a good return on investment.

      Reply
      1. camillerimark avatar
        camillerimark

        I don’t think so.

        https://theshiftnews.com/2023/11/27/government-church-negotiations-on-new-property-deal-kept-under-wraps/

        Reply
  2. Gerard J.Wirth avatar
    Gerard J.Wirth

    Private by ‘name’….without Gov would not be able to.operate…name.only

    Reply
  3. Nicholas Borg avatar
    Nicholas Borg

    What’s your point Mark? That parents who work and make money shouldn’t be given some assistance?
    Hopefully graduates from private schools will get the education we need for future leaders.

    Reply
  4. Pcaruana avatar
    Pcaruana

    Are you saying that graduate will only come out of private schools by any chance and they have to be graduate from private schools to be futur leaders

    Reply
  5. Andy Bar avatar
    Andy Bar

    The point is that there shouldn’t even be a need for these “private” schools! The whole schooling system is absolutely ridiculous. Money for education should be pumped into the public system, building and upgrading facilities, providing good wages for educators, setting a level plating field for all students; supporting those who need support and providing challenges to those who are ahead of the curve. Why does Malta need private schools? Use taxpayer money to make public schools excellent! And for f**s sake: move away from chasing grades, private tutoring and other antiquated schooling methods (e.g. emphasising remembering of knowledge over applying and creating). This obsession with homework and grades is maddening. It’s not about grades but about what children have learned. Following on: don’t make children (because that’s what they still are!) have to choose their career path when they’re 16! How the he** can they even know what they want or are good at?

    Reply
  6. Government ministers should be asked why they prefer sending their children to so-called “private schools” instead of public schools – Mark Camilleri avatar
    Government ministers should be asked why they prefer sending their children to so-called “private schools” instead of public schools – Mark Camilleri

    […] prefer to send their children to private schools instead of public schools. Private schools are heavily subsidised by the state apart from collecting fees from parents. Basically, private schools are well known to be more […]

    Reply
  7. MCAST educators: the second-class educators – Mark Camilleri avatar
    MCAST educators: the second-class educators – Mark Camilleri

    […] The educational staff of the MCAST College and related institutions are still expecting to have a renewed agreement about their salaries despite the government securing the collective agreement with the Malta Union of Teachers and even securing funding for private schools. […]

    Reply

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