Everyday Life: Public Services, Health, Education and Employment
This domain tests the practical system a resident actually uses - how health care, schooling, employment services and utilities are organised.
Health
Public health care is tax-funded and free at the point of use for residents entitled through residence and National Insurance. Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, opened in 2007, is the acute general hospital; Gozo General Hospital serves Gozo; cancer care is centralised at the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre; primary care runs through health centres and private family doctors. The emergency number is 112. Visitors rely on the EHIC/GHIC or their own insurance, not the resident entitlement.
Education
Schooling is compulsory from 5 to 16 and free in state schools from kindergarten to tertiary level. The University of Malta (founded 1769), MCAST and the Junior College provide post-secondary and higher education. The Secondary Education Certificate is taken around 16 and the Matriculation certificate at 18.
Employment and public services
Jobsplus is the public employment service. Pay, leave and dismissal are governed by the Employment and Industrial Relations Act and by wage regulation orders that revise the national minimum wage each year; employees on a five-day week have 24 working days of statutory annual leave plus 14 public holidays. Residents use the e-ID, servizz.gov.mt, ARMS for utility billing, and Malta Public Transport buses, free for Tallinja card holders. Local councils handle waste collection and minor works.
Worked example
A third-country national with a job offer asks what authorises the work. The answer is the Single Permit, which combines residence and work permission; the application is filed through Jobsplus, and the residence card is issued by Identità.
Traps
Saying health care is free for tourists; confusing the school-leaving age with the age of majority; assuming the minimum wage is set in Brussels rather than by national wage regulation orders.