Malta has the highest rate of early school leaves across EU

Feb 9 2022

Over the past decade, the share of early school-leavers in Malta has been almost cut by half, dropping from 21% in 2010 to 13% in 2020. Despite this, Malta still failed to reach the 10% national target set by the EU. Between 2018 and 2020, the percentage of male early school-leavers slightly increased… reversing the trend of the past 10 years.

15 out of 27 countries in the EU so far have reached their national targets. However, Malta’s sharp unemployment decrease, which fell to a historical low, may have contributed to Malta’s high percentage of school leavers. A report in the Central Bank’s quarterly review by Tiziana M. Gauci finds that in such circumstances, the incentive to invest in one’s eduction may have declined in the short run. Even when leaving school with a basic level of education, most Maltese early school leavers still managed to find a job.

Around 70% of early school leavers in fact were employed in 2020. This is the highest rate across the EU, where in contrast less than half of early school leavers were employed. Despite the lack of official qualifications, early school leavers in Malta may still possess skills relevant for the market. Malta managed to decrease the amount of early school leavers, which is something also witnessed through a reduction in secondary school absenteeism. This went down from 30% in 2013 to around 22% in 2017. The island even reached its national target of having 33% of those aged 30-34 achieve a tertiary level of education.

46% of women aged 30-34 had a university degree in 2020, but it fell to 34% for men. Overall, the share of Maltese aged 30-34 with tertiary level of education stood at 40%, close to the EU average of 41%. Now mirroring the EU average with a 25-34 demographic being the most highly educated, 40% of this cohort have a tertiary level of education in 2020. This occurred over the course of a decade, wherein Malte reduced a 10% point gap with the EU’s average in 2010.

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7 signs that you may have found the right one on Valentine’s Day | by Ed’s Common Sense

Feb 9 2022

Beyond the fancy dinners and soft toys, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and togetherness. While some spend their lives searching for the right one, others may be staring right at them and this week, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Dr. Edward Curmi is here to give us 7 signs that you may have found the right one on Valentine’s Day.

Dr. Edward Curmi is also the author of 2 self-help books titled Ed’s Common Sense.

You are always happy around each other.

Your hunch tells you they are the one.

You feel safe and secure in their presence.

You are not scared of disagreeing as relationships are hard work.

You feel they are your major fan.

You have similar principles and values.

You want to better one another without changing too much each other.

Do these points sound familiar? Or have you yet to meet the one?

Let us know in the comments!

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Changing your diet could increase lifespan by up to 13 years says study

Feb 9 2022

Changing your food diet could add up to 13 years of life says a new study and is especially the case if this is started from a younger age. The study created a model of what might happen to a person’s longevity if they replaced a typical ‘Western diet’, which focuses on red meat and processed foods’, with an optimised diet.

By an optimised diet, the study means the lessening of red and processed meat and an increased amount of fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. If a woman began eating optimally at age 20, she could increase her lifespan by over 10 years. A man eating a healthier diet from the age of 20 could in turn increase their lifespan by 13 years. The study said that by focusing on a healthier diet one could lengthen the lives of older adults.

Starting at the age of 60, a woman could still increase a lifespan by 8 years, whereas men starting at the same age could add nearly nine years to their lives. A plant-based diet could even benefit 80 year olds, with both men and women able to gain 3.5 years of extra life. Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine, said that the notion that improving diet quality would reduce the risk of chronic disease and premature death is long established.

The largest gains in longevity were found from eating more legumes, which include beans, peas and lentils; whole grains, which are the entire seed of a plant; and nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pecans and pistachios. Adding these to one’s diet might seem simple, but statistics show that many people (for this study, Americans) struggle to do so. But nuts, seeds and whole grains contain more than just protein as they include healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

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Malta taken to court over sewage dumping at sea by Brussels

Feb 9 2022

The European Commission revealed in an announcement on Wednesday that it referred Malta to the EU Court of Justice because of the island’s failure to comply with so-called urban waste treatment directives. The directive requires member states to ensure that urban areas properly collect and treat waste water before this is dumped into the sea.

Brussels said in its announcement that the main issue was the performance of the island’s waste water transplants. Despite having a municipal collection system in place and waste water being directed to a treatment plant, the water exiting the plants of Malta’s urban areas does not meet the quality requirements of the EU’s directive. This is particularly the case for the northern part of the island. The commission said that since waste water is being discharged into a sensitive area it should be subject to even more stringent treatment.

The main concern expressed by the EU is linked to the discharge of farm waste (animal manure) into the municipal waste water system, a long standing problem in Malta. According to long reports about the issue by newsroom Times of Malta, Malta is the only country in the EU where all urban settlements do not comply with the urban wast water treatment directive. Furthermore, it is one out of only two countries that did not submit a report it was required to. The commission set a letter of formal notice to Malta in December 2016, followed by a reasoned opinion in October 2017.

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