10% increase for student stipend and strengthening of teaching profession

Oct 11 2021

Addressing the presentation of the 2022 budget, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced that all stipends for students will be increasing by 10%. The stipend will still remain applicable if the student works a maximum of 25 hours per week. Through these two measures, students will be benefitting from a total increase of €5 million.

Apprenticeship will also receive a massive investment which will see the number of students who find placements in private sectors increase. The teaching profession will also receive a strengthening of status, as the Minister announced mentoring programmes for newly graduated educators. Students undertaking their SEC examinations will also be carrying out the exams in the same school they attend.

This will reduce the stress for students and will be done through a €1 million investment. Infrastructure for schools will also take place, along with the building of new schools in Imsida and Rabat, Ghawdex.

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Over €1 million investment to help vulnerable children in state schools

Oct 11 2021

In his first budget as Minister of Finance and Employment, minister Clyde Caruana addressed the 2022 budget with the surrounding theme of building and maintaining a country for future generations. Caruana began his address by shutting down last year’s claim of Malta’s economic downturn, highlighting Malta’s economic success in the past months.

After addressing a number of measures having to do with pensioners, amongst them a considerable increase in their pension, the minister went on to discuss a number of articles having to do with vulnerable individuals. Article 2.24 revealed that the government will be granting around €10,000 per year to each head of state schools from kindergarten to secondary, amounting to €1 million, to aid in social mobility and contribute to the needs of vulnerable children.

The grant may be invested in basic needs such as food and accessibility if needed. The minister stated that this investment highlights the government’s interest in social mobility and that is why the aid required is being given immediately.

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Around 95,000 to benefit from increased pensions

Oct 11 2021

Addressing the presentation of the 2022 Budget, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced an increase of €24 million for pensioners with social security. Around 95,000 pensioners will benefit from an increase of €260 per year or €5 per week. €1.75 will go to address cost of living whilst €3.25 will be additional increase.

The Minister added that along with this, supplementary help will be added to all who will benefit from this addition. This includes pensioners, elderly and all those who can be in employment but do not have kids under the age of 16. Couples whose income in 2022 does not exceed €14,318 will be given an added benefit varying between €3.47 and €6.50 per week according to their income.

Solitary persons, including widows/widowers, whose income in 2022 does not exceed €10,221 will receive a benefit varying from €4.10 and €5.00 per week. This means 29,000 will be benefiting from an expense of €5.6 million per year.

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Schools worldwide send warning letters to parents about Squid Game

Oct 11 2021

Schools have started issuing warnings to parents asking them to prohibit their kids from watching Netflix’s newest hit series Squid Game. The Korean dystopian series is inching to become Netflix’s most viewed series of all time, with even a South Korean broadband company suing Netflix due to such a surge in traffic to watch it. However, the series’ inclusion of children’s games (with a fatal twist) have prompted schools worldwide to issue warnings to parents.

Schools from all over, from Kent to Belgium, have been sending letters to parents, warning them of the show’s violent nature. Some schools even claimed that kids were imitating the series, beating up the players who lose games like ‘Green Light, Red Light.’ Even charity Parentkind issued a warning about the series, saying that parents should be the ones deciding whether the series is watched. Whether this is a legitimate concern or another mania similar to the video game induced violence myth, the series’ impact is undoubtedly massive in scale.

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Photo Source: The Guardian, Collider