The Nationalist Party yesterday said Opposition leader Alfred Sant had not yet explained how he will be removing VAT on goods which are used, among other purposes, on education, accusing Sant on being “vague”.
The PN also said Sant and Labour MPs Evarist Bartolo and Leo Brincat should be regretful of their past decision to make students take out loans, referring to Budget reforms introduced back in 1997.
“The Opposition leader has been vague in coaxing parents into reimbursing them the VAT they pay on goods used by their children for school. But Dr Sant hasn’t explained how this measure will take place in practice. This is no surprise, coming from a politician who as prime minister had increased bills and bad measures for students and their parents,” the party said in a statement.
The PN said it had introduced a smart card for students wih €5.35 million poured into grants in last academic year, one-third of which were spent on books, another one-third on computers, and the rest spent on student services, internet, sportswear, dissertations and other course material.
“Sant’s Labour government on the other hand made students take out loans. It was Alfred Sant, Evarist Bartolo as education minister and Leo Brincat as finance minister who in the 1998 budget had changed stipends into debt, and denigrated them. These politicians are presenting themselves as some new team which have students’ interests at heart.”