Towards the end of the summer holidays, a letter was sent to all parents at St Edward’s College from Kindergarten to Form 5, informing them that fees for this scholastic year have been increased by 10%. A number of concerned parents showed me the letter they got. Every parent except those whose children are in Form 5 received another letter, requesting a loan of €500 which will be paid back one day. Those unable or unwilling to give this loan had to personally inform the chairman of the college board. Education is becoming more expensive in Malta, even for those who do not send their children to private schools like St Edward’s College. In his analysis of inflation and the level of prices in Malta presented at a national seminar last summer, Professor Joseph Falzon concluded that “since October 2008, Malta has registered the highest annual inflation rates in all of the Euro Area countries. This was mainly due to higher price increases in Food, Electricity, Water supply, Health, Education, Communications, and Restaurants and Hotels.”
His analysis shows clearly that the cost of education in Malta contributes to inflation. Prices related to educational services in Malta are rising above those in European Union (EU) countries using the euro as their currency: “Starting from 100 in 2005, the Education index in the Euro Area increased to 116.3 by May 2009, while the index in Malta increased slightly more to 119.4 by May 2009 … Education inflation in Malta started from 0.5% in January 2005 and increased almost continuously in steps to reach 9.3% by December 2008.”
Many parents spend millions of euros every year on private lessons for their children at primary, secondary and post secondary level, while there is a demand for private lessons by a number of students at MCAST and University in certain subjects and in certain courses.
What is also worrying is that items required for schoolwork are also more expensive than in the rest of the EU. When it comes to clothing, Malta’s prices are the second highest in the Eurozone (after Slovakia). They are 150% relatively more expensive than EU average. Footwear in Malta has the highest prices in Eurozone: 164% relatively more expensive than EU average. Consumer electronics in Malta are the second highest in the Eurozone (after Slovakia): 186% relatively more expensive than EU average. Local transport services are the highest in the eurozone: 241% relatively more expensive than EU average.
The high cost of these educational items has to be seen against the background of the high cost of electricity, gas and other fuels: 41% relatively more expensive than EU average. Both working class and middle class families are finding it difficult to make ends meet and they struggle to pay for the educational services of their children.
The price of many of these items shot up after the PN government introduced VAT on them as no derogation was negotiated with the EU in this area. A government website explains: “Malta has no derogation to exempt from VAT any books, school uniforms, shoes and carrying bags for students and other goods related to education. Therefore with regard to these goods, Malta has to impose VAT at the standard rate of 18% with the exception of books and other printed matter on which a reduced rate of 5% can be imposed in terms of item 6 of Annex III of the VAT Directive.”
I am informed by suppliers that a child starting secondary school will have to buy at least €60 worth of basic kit: including school bag, folders, files, pens and pencils. A school bag on its own can cost at least €90.
It is estimated that the market for school uniforms is €12 million, catering for 57,000 boys and girls attending a total of 159 primary and secondary school in the state, church and independent sectors. School heads are making parents buy extra kit for their children apart from uniform: sports clothing, caps and casual wear for school outings. Every parent has to fork out at least €163 for a new kit for every child. The cost rises to at least €250 for every secondary school student. The bill for books and other educational material reaches 600 euro for every student. Throughout last year the price of school transport went up by 15%.
A study published in February this year by the EU directorate-general for finance and the economy stated: “Public spending on education in Malta amounts to around 5.5% of GDP, which is higher than the EU average (5.2%). A closer look at the composition of such expenditure shows that more than 60% of public education expenditure goes to staff wages and salaries, which is slightly higher than the average for the EU. Another one-third is accounted for by ‘other current expenditure’ which is higher than the average of the EU.” We should go beyond simply stating how much money is spent on our education and ask: “what is it spent on?” Other countries more successful than us in education spend more on educational material and resources than we do, and help their teachers make education stimulating and interesting.
We need to get our priorities right in education. We are spending lots of money on the peripherals of education and neglecting the core needs. It is important for children to go clean and tidy to school but there is an unhealthy obsession at the moment, with schools competing among themselves, as if they are in a fashion competition. We need to improve the substance of education, not its wrappings. This is part of the malady of our education sector. We spend a lot of money on education but we do not spend it well. More of our expenditure should go on educational material and equipment to make our educational experience in schools more relevant for the 21st century and more stimulating and enriching for our students, who are suffering in a system which is still geared to drill students for exams and stuffs them with a lot of boring and irrelevant material which kills creativity and the problem-solving skills that our children need for the future.
Rising costs in education are hurting many of our children. 21% of them live in poverty and social exclusion, and another 21% are at the risk of falling into poverty. So 42% of our children at school are already finding it difficult to succeed, as the economic and social deprivation they experience includes educational disadvantage together with low income, poor housing, crime and lack of support at home. Inflation also hurts a large number of the remaining 58% of our children, as their families are going through a fall in the quality of their life, squeezed by dropping disposable incomes and rising prices.
Evarist Bartolo is a Labour MP and spokesperson on education
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In his analysis of inflation and the level of prices in Malta presented at a national seminar last summer, Professor Joseph Falzon concluded that “since October 2008, Malta has registered the highest annual inflation rates in all of the Euro Area countries. This was mainly due to higher price increases in Food, Electricity, Water supply, Health, Education, Communications, and Restaurants and Hotels.”
