14,000 voting documents uncollected as pick-up deadline closes

Mar 25 2022

Close to 14,000 voting documents have not been collected for Saturday’s election date after potential voters failed to collect their documents before the Thursday deadline.

This is a significant increase from the 2017 election, where 8,732 voting documents remained uncollected by deadline day. Last election, the voting population was 13,000 potential voters less that it is today, with the electoral commission to give an official press briefing with election-related figures on Friday.

With the amount of non-voters being taken into consideration paired with the potentially-increased voter apathy, many have been debating the potential election result with recent surveys predicting the voting margin to be around 30,000 votes in favour of the Labour Party.

What do you think the result will be?

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Sick notes not required for absentee students on Monday, despite it being normal school day

Mar 25 2022

While schools will still hold lessons on Monday, a day after election results are out, Times of Malta has revealed that students will not need to present an explanation for their absence.

Sources within the education sector told the local news platform that schools will open normally on Monday, despite many traditionally taking the day off to celebrate electoral results as parents choose to keep their children at home. As such, parents will not have to provide an explanation for their children’s absence.

Students have been required to present a sick note for missing a school day because of COVID-19, with two parents in particular telling ToM that they will not send their children to school in fear of celebrations getting ‘too rowdy’.

What do you make of this?

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Pass in core subjects still required for students to enter University, Teachers’ union calls for suspension

Pass in core subjects still required for students to enter University, UoM clarifies

Mar 25 2022

The University of Malta (UoM) has stated that while pass marks in core subjects Maths, English and Maltese are no longer required for Junior College enrolment, they are still required for University entry.

The academic institution clarified this following recent reports of new entry requirements for the Junior College. The UoM highlighted that towards the beginning of 2022, “the Board of the Junior College unanimously agreed to submit a proposal to the University’s Senate to amend the entry requirements to the Junior College in a bid to provide an even wider opportunity to students to continue their studies at the College.”

The Senate agreed with the proposals on a meeting held on January 20, stating that students in possession of six passes (Grades 1-5) at SEC level, with at least one pass in a core subject (Maths, English or Maltese) will be allowed Junior College entry on a probationary basis.

The students will still require a pass mark in whichever core subjects they did not initially achieve in order to proceed into university, with special classes to be offered for the missing core subjects.

The University stated that such changes shine a light on the University’s commitment to maximising the amount of students within their institutions.

The Malta Union of Teachers has since called for the suspension of the legal notice following an outcry from educators and the public due to lack of consultation with the MUT.

Read more on the official page here.

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COVID-19 tests no longer free in England as from next week

Mar 25 2022

As of coming Monday, COVID-19 tests will no longer remain free in England.

Two years after the country first went into lockdown to prevent further spreading of COVID-19, the English government has decided that English citizens will not be able to receive any more free COVID-19 tests but rather, pay for testing.

This new approach to testing comes as port of the government’s ‘live with Covid’ plan, by which the nation will attempt to move beyond self-isolation and restrictions and towards ‘the new reality’ which politicians have been aiming for in the past months.

By the numbers, an English government website states that “The Test & Trace programme cost £15.7 billion in 2021/22” and with Omicron being the main variant with less severity and the country reaching high immunity, “the value for taxpayers’ money is now less clear.”

Lateral flow tests will remain free for a number of at-risk individuals, who may receive rapid test boxes at not charge, along with PCR tests which will also become paid unless the subject falls into a high-risk category – all while Covid infection rates continue to rise in the UK.

What do you make of this?

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