Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1459407
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 MARCH 2022 OPINION 11 Education for a better future And besides: if we are going to cancel 19th century composers, for no other reason than 'be- cause they're Russian'… why stop at Tchaikovsky, anyway? Mr Martin May has already informed us that "we have no plans to change our sum- mer and autumn programmes which contain pieces by Rach- maninoff, Prokofiev and Rim- sky-Korsakof." But… erm… why not, exactly? They're all Russians too, aren't they? And if Russian pianists can no longer take part in piano-play- ing competitions…. and if Rus- sian orchestra conductors are forced to resign from their posts (again, for no other reason than 'being Russian'); then… why not cancel all Russia's prodi- gious contribution to Western (and European, in particular) culture? Why not remove the works of ALL Russian authors, from the curricula of European universities? Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Leo Tol- stoy. Nikolai Gogol. Alexan- der Pushkin. Mikhail Bulgak- ov. Yevgeni Zamyatin. Or how about Alexander Solzhenitsyn: whose 'One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich' remains argu- ably the single greatest anti-op- pression work of all time? All of them – and many more beside - were Russian. So are we going to be prevented from reading all their works, too? If so, it would be just as shock- ingly short-sighted – and obtuse – and 'cancelling Tchaikovsky'. Because as that composer's bi- ographer John Suchet gently reminded Martin May: ''Tchai- kovsky adored Ukraine.' And as has been pointed out by others: he 'incorporated a lot of Ukrain- ian folk music and stories into his work'. But still… I suppose that – once we've already ruled out any direct military intervention, from the get-go; once we've al- ready rejected Ukraine's pleas for a 'no-fly zone', or for pretty much any other form of military assistance (which might actu- ally force Vladimir Putin into that bunker, so that he can just 'shoot himself', and get it over with…) If, in a nutshell, we have all pre-emptively decided that we are just too fat, too lazy, and far too addicted to our 'Big Macs' and 'Happy Meals', to actually take up arms and FIGHT… (like our forefathers did 80 years ago: with the result that, well, what do you know? Adolf Hitler end- ed up committing suicide in a Berlin bunker, just like that slo- gan said…) … well, what's left for us to ac- tually fight Vladimir Putin with, anyway… if not grand, empty, token (and quite frankly idiotic) gestures of 'cancelling Russian culture'… which won't have any form of impact on Russia's war machine at all? But hey! Like I said at the very beginning: the Woke Warriors are here at last! Surely, it's only a matter of time before victory is ours… THE modern, developed and industrial- ised world is led by education. To sur- vive in the ever-competitive world, we all need education as it is a pivotal role in all of our lives and paves the way for all of us to reach our highest potential. Education plays an important part in our quality of life, as it is a basic need for a society to thrive and is one of the pillars of the new economic vision for our country. Investing in education is a commitment by the Labour Govern- ment leading to an enhanced sector. The budget presented for this year is proof enough, that the Labour government prioritises education, thus confirming its commitment towards students, educators and their families. The measures announced in the budget, together with the proposals be- ing put forward during this election campaign, will surely result in a better quality of life for all. I believe that one of the highlights as dis- cussed with their rep- resentatives is that we are emphasising that educators should play a greater role as pol- icy-makers while we continue to invest in them, to attract more students to the teach- ing profession. We are promising to reduce red tape and administrative work so that educators can fo- cus more on teaching – hand in hand with a strong infrastructure investment in our schools. A new Labour government will better conditions for educators. This means another signifi- cant improvement in educators' wages over the next five years. We recognise the need to attract more students to the teaching profession. In addition to the improvement in wages, teachers will see other improvements in working condi- tions. We will continue to invest in their continuing education with clear path- ways to career advancement. Students studying to become kinder- garten educators or learning support ed- ucators will start receiving payment dur- ing teaching practice as well. While strengthening the dialogue with educators and their representatives, an independent research centre will be set up by a Labour government. This centre will serve as an incubator for education- al innovations with the opportunity to collaborate with international research centres, local research companies and government entities in projects on edu- cation systems and teaching methods for the present and the future. Every change, at every level of our ed- ucation system, must take into account the impact that the pan- demic has had on students and the way teaching is conducted. We are open to the idea of keeping certain practices that worked well during the pan- demic such as parents' day. The discussion that has already be- gun on homework and children's leisure will be launched at national level. Through this year's budget, students are already benefiting from a 10% increase in their stipends. A new Labour government will further increase stipends by 15%. Free laptops will be provid- ed to secondary school students and the one tablet per child scheme will be extended to sec- ondary schools as well. Children will also be able to choose a set of books to build a small library every year, paid for by the govern- ment. A €300 per year tax credit will be provided to families who send their chil- dren to extracurricular activities. More proposals are addressed to stu- dents coming from vulnerable families, including the provision of a uniform per scholastic year. These measures, and all those related to children with the proposed Garanzija għat-Tfal will cost €145 million across the legislature. The Labour government thoroughly believes in our students and educators. Every change, at every level of our education system, must take into account the impact that the pandemic has had on students and the way teaching is conducted Clifton Grima is a Labour candidate on the 9th & 10th districts, and minister of education Clifton Grima