Stipends and blood diamonds

Every year our government shells out over €23 million in stipends, with monthly payments given out to all students regardless of their socio-economic background. There is no doubt that a good number of the students who receive this financial support truly need it and that removing stipends would impact them negatively - however it is just as clear that there is also a sizeable group of students who are living it up. This is obvious even after a quick walk on campus: the car parks are heaving with cars, some of which are clearly expensive; students chat on their mobiles and can often be seen wearing expensive clothes; while the cafeterias and eateries and heaving with youngsters eating and drinking. It is very clear that many students are being maintained by their parents and that the stipends are being used for luxuries that are unheard of in campuses all over the world.

I have no problem with the above-mentioned scenario per se. Encouraging students to continue their education is a good thing and if bribing young people with cash hand-outs is what it takes, then so be it. What I do have a problem with, however, is the fact that government cannot afford these stipends - or at the very least it cannot afford to give out stipends indiscriminately to all and sundry.

I sometimes think that stipends are like blood diamonds - beautiful to look at but tainted by the human suffering that brought them to light!

Students are undoubtedly happy to receive the money in their bank accounts at the end of the month. However do they ever stop to think about those whose budgets have been slashed in order to leave enough money in the government's kitty for the student hand-outs?

This is what sprang to mind recently when I read that the social welfare budget will be cut by €1.4 million as part of the €40 million reduction of projected expenditure for 2012. The budget cuts will affect Sapport (services for disabled persons and their families), Appogg (services for children encountering problems/abuse and victims of domestic violence) and Sedqa (assistance for people with drug, alcohol and gambling problems and their families).

Readers of this column know that I have often written about the fact that Appogg is overloaded with cases and does not have sufficient resources to keep up with all the desperate pleas for help that it receives every day. So you can imagine my disgust when I found out that this already beleaguered agency is now being hit with a €178,000 budget cut. Children are already falling through the cracks as it is - now they will be falling into the chasms that are going to be opened by this unexpected cut.

It is also distressing to hear that Agenzija Sapport has been hit with an unexpected €407,000 budget cut and that Sedqa has had its funds reduced by €130,000. Just how many disabled people are going to lose out here? How many drug addicts are going to get short shrift when they ask for help?  How many families torn apart by gambling will be denied help?

The Malta Association of Social Workers has been very clear about the impact of this decision.

"The services offered by the Foundation will have to be reduced quite drastically, given that fixed costs (salaries, utilities) will remain unchanged. The agencies (Appogg, Sedqa and Sapport) can only afford to cut down on programmes. The more vulnerable members of society will suffer, while social workers' duties will become even more difficult since they will strive to attain results with a reduced amount of resources."

The PN would have us believe that it has the family at heart. Last year we watched dozens of party stalwarts waltzing from one discussion programme to the next earnestly informing us that divorce was not in our best interest because it makes children suffer. Thousands of euros were spent on billboards depicting unhappy children weeping as their parents fought. Where are these children-loving PN activists now? Are they not concerned about the fact that abused children are going to find it even harder to get help than they ever did before? Where are the parish priests and monsignors now? Are we going to get regaled with fiery sermons and billboards on the Zebbug parvis?

So yes, I find the political parties' stubborn stance regarding stipends offensive. I bet that if some form of means testing were introduced (for example not giving stipends to those students whose parents earn more that €30,000 per annum) the government would save the €1.4 million required to fill in the gaps in the Foundation for Social Services' budget.

If I had to choose between giving a stipend to a student coming from a family with an annual income of over €30K and paying for an abused child to be saved, I would make the decision in one millisecond.

So should Tonio Fenech!