New childcare centre inaugurated

A new childcare centre has been inaugurated today in San Gwann, marking the tenth centre opened during this legislature.

During the inauguration, Education Minister Dolores Cristina said such centres did not only help families but were also a source of work and opportunities for youths.

She said that to complement these facilities, the government also set up Klabb 3-16 where children could be taken care of after school hours.

Cristina said government was also offering incentives to employers who chose to set up a childcare facility at their place of work. The incentive is a reduction of €20,000 on their taxable income.

Moreover, 2,300 parents who send their children to private childcare centres were benefitting from a €1,300 tax incentive.

The minister said the setting up of more childcare centres would also offer job opportunities to the 500 MCAST students studying in this sector. She also said that 8,500 women have joined the workforce - part-time and full-time - in the past five years.

Also present for the inauguration was parliamentary secretary Clyde Puli.