Private schools will cap fee increases at a maximum of 12% annually for the next five years under a deal announced on Tuesday. 

The government will inject €27 million into independent schools between this year and 2029 as part of the agreement, with funds going towards improving their educators’ salaries and working conditions without having to dramatically raise fees for parents.

Education Minister Clifton Grima announced the agreement with the Independent Schools Association (ISA) on Tuesday, a few hours after the financial package was approved in cabinet.

“After we reached a historic deal for state school educators some weeks back, parents of students who attend independent schools reached out to us, explaining they were worried their schools will raise the fees to unaffordable amounts to match those conditions for their educators,” he told a press conference.

“When we looked into it we found fees could truly soar by up to 24 per cent unless we intervened.

"We needed to address the situation immediately because we’re the ministry for these children as well, and we want to offer stability to the sector and peace of mind to parents who should not face abnormally higher bills.”

The news of the financial package was also announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela on social media Tuesday afternoon.

In July this year the government and the teachers’ union shook hands on the educators’ sectoral agreement after a year and a half of negotiations to improve the salaries and working conditions of more than 11,000 educators in state schools.

Malta’s independent schools are not bound with the agreement but they have historically kept the working conditions for their educators more or less at par with public and church schools.

On Tuesday Grima said more than 8,000 students and almost 1,000 educators in independent schools would benefit from the financial package.

The aid will ensure their families will not face fees that are higher than 12 per cent each year, he said.

The aid will be handed out according to projected student populations in each school, good governance and the improvement of working conditions for educators for the next five years.

Among others, the government will have injected €793,000 to cover a one-time, €1,000 allowance for each educator and €4.6 million in arrears by 2029.

“We calculated that independent schools would have been forced to charge parents over €1,000 extra per student this year, just to cover arrears,” Grima said. “And many families cannot afford that. This way, we have given independent schools a vision and stability.”

The schools will inform parents of the new fees in the coming days, he added.

The Labour Party had promised teachers a substantial raise and better conditions before the last general election.