Maltese to study interpreting abroad

Eight youngsters are to attend a course in conference interpretation at the University of Westminster and another will train in Brussels with the help of European Parliament funding, Education Minister Louis Galea said yesterday.

At the end of their course, the youngsters will be given a two-year contract to work with European institutions and will be in a position to train other students at the University of Malta from October 2005.

Those attending the nine-month course will receive a sum of €25,000 each from the European Parliament to cover expenses while the government will finance the air travel costs.

The European Commission has also selected another 14 students to do a short course in a European country. The initiative was triggered off after a European Parliament delegation visited Malta last January to look into the shortage of Maltese interpreters. This was followed up with technical discussions between the Education Ministry and the European Commission.

Dr Galea said the EU was providing a multitude of opportunities to those who were skilful in languages and willing to work as interpreters or translators.

He acknowledged that the selection process was not easy - over 110 students had applied for the aptitude test in May.

The University of Malta has also benefited from €111,000 granted under the European Union's Transitional Facility Fund to purchase modern equipment for students willing to work in the interpretation field. Additionally, the EU has provided the university with nearly €250,000 to help build a glossary to ensure consistency among the translators.