Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/649887
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 MARCH 2016 26 Letters News - 5 March, 2006 MALTA'S teenage mothers increased drastically in 2005, as births by 16-year- olds who became mothers increased by 55 per cent over the average in the past five years. Forty births were registered last year by mothers aged 16. A total number of 54 births were registered to child mums aged 16 or under. It is the highest number of teenage births yet within the last five years. In 2004, there were 49 births to teenage mothers aged 16 or under. Sonia Camilleri, the Commissioner for Children, says "children having children" are a doubly worrying reality. "They often leave the education system and end up without any certificates or training which are vital for them to support themselves. They are therefore at the risk of poverty." Camilleri says that parental support is vital. Many children end up fatherless, and their mothers may not be ready to raise them. "There is the danger of having a vi- cious circle of problems leading to other problems. It is commendable that single mothers are supported financially, how- ever I think that the social security benefits must be linked to commitments to attend further learning and training which will make the girls self-sufficient." The increase in teenage pregnancies in Malta has not gone unnoticed. In 2002, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child suggested that Malta intro- duces reproductive health education and counselling services. The result was the in- troduction of Personal and Social Develop- ment classes in the education curriculum. Additionally, a special unit within the Ed- ucation Division was set up to address the situation of girl mothers. Camilleri says the problem lies with a late start on vital education. She herself has been campaigning for more PSD lessons, as well as media education lessons. The commissioner says the effect of the media on young people is so strong that it under- mines all they might have learnt at home and at school. "Low self-esteem and lack of assertive- ness have been identified as factors lead- ing to teenage pregnancies. Especially in PSD it has recenly been felt that education in these issues starts too late, and more should be done in the primary schools. So far, only few PSD lessons are given here and such basics as values and interprersonal skills, which should precede reproductive health education, should be given from the very start." But Dolores Cristina, the Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity, says the gov- ernment has increased PSD classes, which are offerred in all secondary schools, and have recently also started being offerred in primary schools. She says it is a preventive approach by increasing awareness through formal education. "This is no way way a local phenomenon," Cristina says about the rise in number of teenage pregnancies. "Rather, we are ob- serving an increase in this trend in a wide- spread manner around the world. Malta is not isolated in this new challenge which it faces, which is certainly due to many influ- ential factors, such as changes in lifestyle, cultural patterns, parental–child relation- ships, as well as media, be it television, ad- vertising, cinema, internet." The second approach is a remedial one. The government offers alternative school- ing to pregnant teenagers through the project 'Ghozza', whilst the Foundation for Welfare Services runs 'Benniena' at St Luke's Hospital, a programme for vulner- able mothers and their partners, as well as 'Programm Ulied Darna' and the newly launched Home-Start. Like Sonya Camilleri, Cristina says the phenomenon of teenage mothers requires addressing the issue of absent fathers. "This society cannot afford to ignore this, an ab- sence of particular impact on the children themselves. The social impact of teenage pregnancies is one that cannot be ignored and the ministry is currently involved in as- sessing this, together with the impact of the social services offered." Malta's teenage pregnancies on the rise Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Malta's child mothers Number of pregnancies from mothers Under-16 Aged 16 2000 19 22 2001 16 29 2002 11 26 2003 17 26 2004 21 28 2005 14 40 De La Rue will retain at least 250 employees in Malta As announced in December, UK-based De La Rue is investing around €21 mil- lion to further enhance its capability in its Malta factory (Workers claim De La Rue to dismiss 430 people, MaltaToday, 28 February 2016). De La Rue, the largest commercial supplier of passports in the world, is relocating its current security products capability from Gateshead in the UK to Malta and create a Centre of Excellence for Identity and Security Products. The Centre forms part of De La Rue's review to optimise its global manufacturing footprint and this sum represents around half of the total investment being made by De La Rue globally. This investment in equipment and skills to create the centre of excellence will further enhance the group's iden- tity and security products capability, giving the group a competitive edge to capture the high growth opportunities in these markets globally. As a result of the creation of the centre of excellence, which has been subject to full employee and Union consultation, the current banknote printing in Malta will be phased out by 2018. Most regrettably this will result in around 300 redundancies phased over three years and a formal consulta- tion with the affected employees has now been concluded. As a result of the creation of the centre of excellence, De La Rue will retain at least 250 employ- ees in Malta. Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer of De La Rue, said: "Our plant in Malta has demonstrated its capabili- ties in identity authentication which is why we have selected it as a Centre of Excellence. We are working closely with the team in Malta to grow the business in an increasingly important market. Since making our announce- ment in December, we have welcomed a number of VIP customers to Malta who are excited to be associated with the high levels of skill and expertise demonstrated at the site." Robin Mackenzie, Marketing Director De La Rue plc Right of reply: Paceville incident Our client Gabriel Busuttil, hereby declares with reference to the article by Tim Diacono (26 February, 2016), that he is categorically denying the facts as outlined by Kevin Prine Argelier and as reported by your good selves, which do not in any way conform to the truth as to what actually occurred. Our client refutes the allegation that he punched anyone, let alone the so-called 'Maltese girlfriend' of the 21-year-old foreigner; and the baseless allegations he is making throw a negative light on the honour and repute of our client, who is a committed multicultural idealist, apart from being in the final stages of him becoming a captain in the aviation indus- try, in accordance with international regulations and Maltese laws and rules regulating the aviation industry. Our client insists he never addressed this foreigner's so called 'Maltese girlfriend' (whose name has conveniently not been published) with the phrase: "what on earth is she doing with a black nigger?" He denies having passed any racist comment. Equally it is not true that this 'Maltese girlfriend' ever asked Mr Busuttil for an apology because there was no reason for any apology to be given; for the same reason there was no punching in the face of this 'Maltese girlfriend' whose name you are cordially being requested to publish, as you did in the case of our cli- ent. Your erroneous facts are built on the anonymity of this 'Maltese girlfriend' and Mr Busuttil is not interested as to why this Argelier is in our country or not, as everyone is welcome in our country as long as they abide with Maltese law and EU legislation. He is reserving all rights in accordance with the law. Dr Emmy D. Bezzina, Valletta