Funding in education

In Malta, all State educational provision from early childhood education and care up to tertiary level is financed by the Government. This includes early childhood education and care provision (with this phase being completely free to parents who are in employment or in education), Kindergarten education, primary, lower- and upper-secondary (both general and vocational) as well as the tertiary sector. The Government also provides funding to Church Schools as part of an Agreement between Malta and the Holy See. Moreover, the Government also gives tax rebates to parents/guardians whose children attend private schools.

The amount of funds allocated by the Government for education is presented each year during the Financial Estimates Parliamentary debate. The main policy goal of Government funding is to provide a high quality, holistic, inclusive, relevant lifelong education to all Maltese citizens and to make it accessible to everyone irrespective of their age, ability, culture and/or socio-economic status. The ultimate aim is to provide the necessary financial, physical and human resources to facilitate the learning process of each and every individual so that all can develop to their full potential as well as develop into workers with the required skills and competencies necessary for today’s knowledge based society. 

In 2013 general government expenditure on education represented 5.9% of GDP (as against the EU 28 average of 5.3% for the same year). The Malta government expenditure for 2013 represented an increase of 0.3% over the percentage reported for 2010.