Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/542972
Newspaper post FIMBank p.l.c. is a licensed credit institution regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority and listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. The Bank is a participant in the Depositor Compensation Scheme in Malta. Terms and conditions apply. 2132 2102 helpdesk@easisave.com www.easisave.com 2132 2102 2132 2102 No Hidden Fees or Bank Charges Easy, Flexible and Secure Visit our website, open your online bank account and start beneting from superior interest rates on your savings and xed term deposit accounts. 3 year: 3.00% 2 year: 2.85% 1 year: 2.50% Euro Fixed Term Deposit Minimum Deposit €1,000 Rates of interest are on a gross per annum basis Euro Savings Account Minimum Deposit €50 1.75 % YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday SUNDAY • 19 JULY 2015 • ISSUE 819 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY INTERVIEW PGS 14-15 LEO BRINCAT €1.40 Air Malta to move out of Skyparks in further cost-cutting TIM DIACONO AIR Malta intends to relocate its headquarters to its engineering de- partment in Luqa, so as to save the money it is paying in rent for the SkyParks offices it moved into just three years ago to use as its head of- fices. The national airline rents its head- quarters at the SkyParks Business Centre in Luqa as part of a "holis- tic agreement" with the Malta In- ternational Airport. An Air Malta spokesperson refused to disclose how much rent it pays MIA for the offices, because such information is "commercially sensitive", the spokesperson said. He said that Air Malta has not yet adopted a specific timeline for the relocation, it intends to make the move once its finances improve. The airline only relocated its head- quarters to SkyParks at the end of 2012 under then chief executive Peter Davies. Back then, the airline had described the move as part of a "much wider cultural revolution process aimed at creating a new en- vironment and company culture in which employees can work collabo- ratively and more efficiently to the best of their abilities". Davies had praised the layout of the SkyParks offices as one that would "offer Air Malta employees an open plan environment where they can work in a brand new corporate setting that enhances productivity, teamwork and improve organisa- tional communi- cation". PAGE 4 What are parents really paying for? The cost of private education MATTHEW VELLA & MARTINA BORG A private school is a hefty invest- ment for parents seeking out the benefits of the independent school network, but what about the edu- cational outcome or return on the thousands of euros spent on educat- ing their children? That may well be an unknown quantity, as the Ministry for Educa- tion is resisting publishing com- prehensive data showing how private, public and church school pupils fare in 'O' level exams. The ministry has defini- tively ruled out publish- ing a 'league' standing of each school's success in MATSEC examination results, twice refusing a Freedom of Information request by MaltaToday. But parents who opt for private school educa- tion – on average spend- ing €3,666 every year over a 12-year span for each child – may wish to know whether the overall €40,000 spent over a lifetime is achieving comparable performances by students edu- cated at church and state schools; or whether that money could have been better spent for private univer- sity education abroad, a property acquisition, or a retirement fund instead. The education ministry is claiming that publishing schools' individual MATSEC results is "sensitive infor- mation [that] is not in the interest of the schools, the professional com- munity, students and consequently the localities, since the creation of league tables has a negative impact and labelling on them." The ministry already publishes statistical reports breaking down results according to locality, gender, and accord- ing to school type, but not by school. "Non-disclosure of such detail outweighs the public interest in dis- closing it, and the disclosure of such data may preju- dice the objec- tive of these examinations, that is to gauge students' abil- ities and not to create com- petition," the ministry said. Celebrating their fi rst year at MIA's Skyparks. Former CEO Peter Davies's decision to move AIr Malta into the open plan offi ces is now being reversed to win more savings for the airline. Ministry will not publish school tables Too tame to safeguard the environment? 4,000 MORE CARS? 'NOT A PROBLEM' SAY DESIGNERS OF SLIEMA'S FUTURISTIC SKYLINE • PAGE 11 PRISON IS CREATING HOMELESSNESS PAGE 11 NGO calls for emergency shelters for homeless ex-convicts PGS 6-7