1,500 students will benefit from funds generated by foreign direct investment

An agreement of more than €100,000 was signed earlier today between the Community Malta Agency and three different schools. Around 1,500 students, 100 of whom have special needs, will benefit from this investment.

The Community Malta Agency is the governmental agency responsible for administering and processing all Maltese citizenship-related matters. Through this agreement, funds from the previous citizenship by investment programme and the newly set up residency regulations possibly leading to citizenship will be invested in St Paul’s Bay’s Primary School, Naxxar’s Senior School, and the Wardija Resource Centre.

The agreement was signed at the Wardija Resource Centre, which is part of the Maria Regina College offering special education after compulsory school age. With an investment of around €40,000, work will be done on a multisensory room, where skills related to students’ senses will be developed. In collaboration with the University of Malta, a new garden will also be planted for the purpose of creating a habitat for endemic butterflies, all while increasing their reproduction possibilities. Another section is to have an apiary where students can learn and enjoy their free time. A structure at the entrance will also be set up for sheltering students making their way into the school.

At the St Paul’s Bay’s Primary School, the first room dedicated to creativity and innovation will be launched with an investment of €35,000. In this room, teaching will be done in interdisciplinary ways, mixing science, technology, engineering, and the arts, in order to increase the scientific literacy and critical thinking of students.

At Naxxar’s Senior School, an investment of around €30,000 will be utilised for new curtains and a mechanised projector for the school’s stage. This is to encourage students to keep participating in visual and artistic activities, as this will help them learn to think creatively and develop critical thinking which can be applied in all areas of learning.

Minister for Education Justyne Caruana praised the work done by educators within these schools. All the projects that are to materialise through this agreement should set an example for how our children should be educated, with a fresh, innovative approach covering a varied range of subjects beyond traditional ones, to make education not only inclusive and equitable but holistic.

On his part, Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities Alex Muscat said that the citizenship and residency regulations are rendering an immeasurable wealth of investment directed towards the common good. In a time of global pandemic, our country is still able to invest in the education of our children. This did not happen by chance, but because of the continuous work being done to bring foreign direct investment to Malta.

The Chief Executive Officer of Community Malta Agency Jonathan Cardona added that such projects are a perfect representation of the agency’s scope, through the funds obtained from the previous citizenship by investment programme and the newly set up services by direct investment regulations, investment is being injected directly into the communities for the benefit of everyone.