How mobile is Gozitan society?

Depending on someone’s personal views, there are many indicators by which we can gauge the extent of maturity of a particular society.

Some might focus on material aspects that can be observed in everyday life, others might rely more on statistical estimates that can give a more internally consistent explanation. However, both are imperfect measurements. Relying exclusively on what can be observed might be misleading because a person is confronted by singular and separated observations of the world in front of him or her. He or she might be ignoring important evidence, and this assuming that his or her world view is a faithful representation of reality. On the other hand, basing an opinion or belief on what is constructed and presented by ‘scientifically’ solid statistics might also be incomplete. Numbers, statistics or estimates – call them what you will – are derived from gathering factual evidence and summarising it to present a snapshot of the world under investigation. Again, various shortcomings and limitations are often put aside both by the user and the compiler. This helps to keep things very little options and was destined to walk down the same path as those of her or his parents. If however, a person was born to a more affluent household, the options available were more marked and a certain degree of control could be exerted over one’s choices. This was very much the composition of Gozitan society until the 1970s.

However, the social revolution initiated in that decade in Malta gave hope and opportunities to many. This wave of increased opportunities reached Gozo, although it was less marked than that in Malta. Consistent with Gozo’s slower pace and higher inertia, the momentum needed more time to reach its critical swing. Change did eventuality take place and social mobility nowadays is almost taken for granted.

During the last 20 to 30 years, the social fabric of Gozo has been very conducive to supporting and encouraging personal sacrifice in order to improve the opportunities of one’s children. Education and hard work were constantly hammered into a child from an early age. Dreams that had not been achieved by the parents were transferred and lived through their children.

I truly believe that the greatest gift we can give our children is a society that promotes values that encourage work and effort, that offers support to all those who want to study and work and that enables its children better prospects than those available to their parents. It is this that identifies a solid and mature society.

The measures that we, as an administration and a Ministry, have taken are all geared towards this aim. The investment in education, health and infrastructure, the drive to make tourism sustainable and Gozo ecofriendly, the work in connection with providing better digital connection and the tapping of new growth segments will all provide a platform for a better future for those who will come after us. It is our way of ensuring that our children are better off – both financially and as people – than we are today.