It is unjustifiable to use taxpayer money to subsidize profit-making private schools, Moviment Graffitti said on Wednesday. 

The group heavily criticised the government's plans to provide a €27 million cash injection into independent and private schools in a bid to cap rising tuition fees at 12% a year. 

This will unjustly divert public resources for the exclusive use of private schools they said. 

According to Graffitti, local statistics show that families who send their children to private schools are among those who are in the least need of subsidies. 

"In addition to public resources and tax incentives, the government will also subsidise the fees paid to these schools. Private schools operate as profit-making businesses, and it is unjust for taxpayers to subsidise private profits," they said. 

By investing more in private schools Graffitti said the government is failing to sustain educational shortcomings where they are most needed. 

"According to international exam results - such as PISA - children in these schools already perform much better than those in public schools, for various reasons. We feel that as long as the government fails to address these systemic issues in the educational sector, the Maltese educational system can never be fair and equitable," they said. 

"If even a "socialist" government does not prioritise public services over private ones, who will? Public service should be paramount and accessible to all."

They added that an educational model that categorises children before they step through the school door is discriminatory and the government continues to reinforce it rather than address it.

"We believe that the €26 million earmarked for private education should have been invested in public schools. The government must collaborate with the best entities specialising in education to design an inclusive, fair, and dignified model for a modern society," they said.