The Budget has failed to solve the problems people face in transport and education
They said the Government is so unsure what to do that it is now conducting a survey to ask people what frustrates them about public transport. After the countless studies it has carried out in recent years, the Government is now conducting yet another one without offering any guarantee of a solution.
The PN says that after three and a half hours of speeches by the Government, people are still waiting for solutions in both areas
The Government’s Budget addressed neither the traffic problems people face every day nor their concerns about education.
At a press conference, Ivan Castillo, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Mobility, and Jerome Caruana Cilia, Shadow Minister for Education and Citizenship, said that despite three and a half hours of Government speeches on the Budget, people are still getting stuck in traffic and still have no reassurance that the Government is tackling the problems in education.
The Budget speech did not mention the Malta in Motion plan even once. This indicates that, despite its many pre-election promises, Robert Abela’s Government has no intention of delivering what it promised.
The MPs also criticised the way the Government introduced measures on transport for foreign workers. It is still unclear what the measures are meant to achieve or what studies were carried out before they were announced.
They said the Government is so unsure what to do that it is now conducting a survey to ask people what frustrates them about public transport. After the countless studies it has carried out in recent years, the Government is now conducting yet another one without offering any guarantee of a solution.
The Partit Nazzjonalista MPs said it would be at least five years before construction could begin on the Rapid Transit System the Government spoke about before the election, and even then only if the studies show it is viable. The Government has no alternative plan if it proves unviable.
The Budget also failed to offer solutions in education. The MPs said the Government had still not addressed the chaos at the start of every school year, with children left without books and students without Learning Support Educators. Every year, the start of term seems to take the Government by surprise.
The Government gave no indication of what practical steps it is taking to address Malta’s poor PISA results. In reading and science, Maltese students recorded their lowest scores since Malta began taking part in the assessment.
The Budget also failed to address the finding of the EY study that Malta will need 550 new teachers in the coming years.
Partit Nazzjonalista is proposing a National Conference on Education where everyone involved can have a say in shaping an effective education policy that serves the whole country.
04.11.2026