Education policy to be 'absolute priority' for PN under Chris Said

PN leadership candidate Chris Said has pledged to give education “absolute priority” and convene a 4-day “general convention on education” to address issues in the education process at all levels if he is elected.

Said said the convention would involve a number of workshops addressing the different levels of the education process, from early to higher education.

Parents, teachers, educators and students would all be invited to participate and would generate ideas for the PN's electoral manifesto, Said said.

“As leader of the PN I will give great importance to the education of our children. For this reason I will appoint special representatives to assist the shadow minister for education and myself as leader of the PN to outline educational policies for our children and youths.”

Priority would be given to educators whose profession “had not been given the importance it deserved in the last few years.”

“Many teachers tell you that they are not valued and lack the tools they need to train,” added Said. The building of new schools would remain a priority, he said, but more important was what students were being taught. “As leader of the PN, education will be an absolute priority.”

Said also pledged to open an office that would serve as a point of contact for suggestions and complaints from teachers, students and parents as well as a hotline for those who might not be able to visit the office in person.

“As leader of the PN, I will see to it that the PN once again becomes the party of education.”

PN MP endorses Said's leadership bid

Earlier today PN MP David Stellini gave his backing to Chris Said in the upcoming PN Party Leadership race.

Stellini, a newly elected MP who contested the Gozo district, previously served as a press advisor for the EPP in Brussels. Born in Sannat, in Gozo, the 39 year-old has spent the last 10 years as the EPP's leading spokesman on immigration, terrorism and data protection. 

“I know Chris Said. I know he delivers. I know he is a visionary,” Stellini said during an event held at the AZAD offices in Valletta. The new MP said he believed Said would have a unifying effect on the party that would strengthen it.