Facing a shortfall of 200 nurses at the newly opened Mater Dei hospital, government yesterday announced an increase in university stipends for students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing.
In a new package of investments in education, Education Minister Louis Galea yesterday said over 15,500 students will be receiving government maintenance in 2008 ñ a figure which has doubled since 2000.
The increase in stipends for nursing students is expected to cost Lm40,000 in the first three months of the academic year ñ a total of Lm262,600 over six years.
Last January the government also agreed to award stipends to 216 students of IT who could not be admitted into MCAST and instead had to choose private educational institutions. This measure will cost Lm128,739 this year.
Sixth Form students at St Martinís College will also receive a stipend, which is costed at Lm20,800 for the coming academic year.
The investment will exceed Lm8.2 million a year, and includes supplementary stipends for 655 Gozitan students.
The minister said the increase in students has since occurred due to the revision of the stipends system in the year 2000, and said students are no longer expected to pay any part of what is received from the Government.
He declared his disagreement with earlier statements by Central Bank governor Michael C. Bonello on the need for a means-tested stipends, when asked by MaltaToday yesterday. ìThe Government does not agree with this. The number of students is still on an acceptable level and we feel we are justified in our actions to encourage students to continue studying.î
He said reducing stipends would not occur until there is a satisfactory number of students attending higher educational institutions and are not in need of this financial incentive to continue studying.
This financial incentive originally given by the government during the 2005/2006 year in other science degrees has since produced a substantial 25 per cent increase in students applying for BSc. courses in IT, Science and Engineering.
At least 70 per cent of students are also continuing their post-secondary studies indicating that the number has increased concurrently with the changes made maintenance grant and its availability to more students.
Due to a greater number of students attending post-secondary and tertiary institutions, places available have decreased rapidly in certain areas of study. Because of this issue, many students have to opt for an alternate institution. Louis Galea stated: ìThe choice of institution should not inhibit students from receiving a maintenance grant equal in amount to fellow institutions whether they are private or state schools.î
Galea also said the introduction of the smart card for students, over 350 commercial outlets have accepted the use of smart card purchases. He said by October of this year, 400 outlets located will accept the card.
Following changes made in 2005, Gozitan students also started benefiting from additional funding due to their differing needs such as accommodation away from home and ferries caught back and forth from Gozo.