ETC sees 'huge' increase in take-up for training programmes

Joe Cutajar, senior manager, Training Services Division, at the Employment and Training Corporation, has lifelong learning very much to heart. He stressed the importance of quality training throughout the working life in this interview with the Sunday Times

Lifelong learning takes priority over all other issues at the Employment and Training Corporation this year. With a huge increase in the number of participants in mainstream courses and the introduction of new programmes that suit new labour market needs and new legislation, the ETC feels it is time to change the perception most Maltese have of the corporation.

Over 6,000 people attended mainstream courses offered by the ETC between October 2003 and last August. More than 800 started in May. Over 500 trainees registered in August. About 500 start courses every month.

Speaking to The Sunday Times last week, Joe Cutajar, senior manager, Training Services Division, said around half the people who use the corporation's training services are already employed. So the ETC not only provides training for people who are registered unemployed, or were looking for a job.

"Our aim is to continue to build knowledge on experience and to encourage people to be more knowledgeable. Courses are ongoing, flexible and accessible," Mr Cutajar said.

The corporation holds a large number of short courses aimed at upgrading and updating the quality of knowledge and skills needed by job seekers and those already in employment.

These courses are short, competence-based training programmes, which can be classified into five categories: basic skills/remedial training, basic and advanced competence-based trade, office (non-trade-) related, programmes in care and basic and advanced IT.

Remedial training programmes include core skills, job motivation, basic functional literacy and numeracy, run in collaboration with NGOs and local councils, and empowerment skills for women, previously delivered at the National Council of Women's Centre, Blata l-Bajda, and the ETC Training Centre, Valletta.

These programmes are primarily aimed to assist the unemployed, the inactive and those in employment to gain new skills and re-integrate or secure their position in the labour market.

The ETC has found that a high proportion of the registered unemployed have low levels of education and limited skills. Education and skills are becoming more important in today's markets, characterised by a rapid change due to globalisation and technological advances.

The job motivation course is a new version of the previous core skills programme and has now become compulsory for people who have been longer than three consecutive months on the unemployment register.

A programme which falls under remedial training is Literacy for employment. "We give a lot of importance to literacy training as we envisage that such a skill is a prerequisite for labour market entry and retention," Mr Cutajar explained.

"Within this context, the corporation continues to provide functional literacy courses to both the registered unemployed and those in employment."

Literacy training has this year been extended to include advanced Maltese and English literacy, besides the basic programme offered.

Parallel to basic skills and remedial training, the corporation organises a number of competence-based trade courses. With the exception of refrigeration and air-conditioning, these programmes were split into two parts - basic and advanced.

The former provide broad concepts of the trade and the advanced going into detail and providing specialised skills of the particular trade. A large number of other programmes are in non-trade areas, referred to as office-related programmes.

The big demand for caring services led the ETC to organise a number of programmes in caring occupations, like child carers' courses, care workers for people with disability and, more recently, care workers with the elderly.

Besides mainstream courses, the Training Services Division has extended its portfolio of training programmes. Some new courses are an advanced version of those offered in previous years, while others are relatively new and delivered ad hoc to make up for immediate skills shortages, identified through the Employment Barometer, and unfilled vacancies.

One programme, designed to overcome particular skills shortages, is the operator training programme for the pharmaceutical sector, organised in collaboration with Malta Enterprise and the University.

Staff shortages in this sector prompted the ETC and ME to collaborate with the Faculty of Chemistry at the University to organise a course. The first course, held between June and September this year, proved successful, with 16 participants who completed the programme and passed exams.

Other new courses initiated recently by the ETC are principles of accounts, junior clerks, a one-day introductory ECDL course, retail assistant training programme, job motivation, basic electronics, principles of mechanical engineering, woodwork (foundation and advanced), coach driver's licence D, VRT tester's licence, dangerous goods driver and dangerous goods safety adviser.

In fact, the corporation this year has also assisted a number of employers through these new training programmes. A request by Malta Freeport led to courses in ECDL (seven modules), together with ECDL testing being organised for 120 Freeport employees, using ETC trainers and the computer training room at the Malta Freeport.

From an employer's perspective, ETC courses help satisfy immediate skills needs. Courses are also organised to fulfil the requirements of current and future legislation that insist on successful completion of training courses as a prerequisite for the issue of licences (local wardens, private guards, food handlers, dangerous goods safety advisers, dangerous goods drivers, taxi/minibus drivers, coach driver's licence D and electrician's licence A). Similarly, courses are also organised to satisfy labour market demand and unfilled vacancies.

Steps were taken to start implementing certain measures to consolidate existing courses and improve their quality by making them certified, accredited and cost-effective.

In an effort to increase the effectiveness of programmes on offer, a number of measures were taken to ensure both effective training delivery and relevance of course content.

To this effect, a number of trainers employed by the division attended a development programme.

Mr Cutajar said a number of training courses were reviewed and additional modules increased to complement existing programmes. New modules included health and safety, and basic numeracy skills.

"We intend to follow up people who, at some point, used our training services. We also want to provide an activation programme for the unemployed. I feel it is a social obligation.

"Our programmes have proved to be an effective tool for the activation of the unemployed," Mr Cutajar said. "However, though a lot of effort has been made to provide the necessary employment skills, the outcome will invariably depend on the participants' attitude and willingness towards training."

The ETC is also adopting a targeted approach that will take into consideration the trainees' aptitude to training and the employers' requirements in terms of knowledge and skills.

For this, improvements are being made to the current evaluation systems to analyse better the requirements and progress throughout the training period.

Positive developments also took place in the Night Institute for Further Technical Education (NIFTE) and in the traineeship schemes with a new programme in insurance studies.

"Quality training can make a sound difference to the employee's peformance and attitude and, as a direct result of training, employees contribute to the organisational effectiveness," Mr Cutajar said.

The corporation has been developing comprehensive industry-specific training programmes for the past six years. The ETC, through NIFTE, strives to provide training solutions to support employers' ever-changing business needs.

NIFTE programmes are evaluated regularly, modified and, subsequently, new ones introduced. New programmes include: building a customer service team, creating customer loyalty, effective business writing, project management, and advanced technical skills course programme (advanced core technologies, computer systems and organisation, electrical theory and application, electronic engineering, materials and metallurgy, programming UNIX and C, and RF and microwave communication).

The advanced technical skills course programmes cover a combination of interrelated subjects aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of technical people in the engineering field. The courses offered were developed by leading experts and are based on advanced engineering subjects.

Training usually focuses on applied theory and is suitable for technical professionals already in the field.

"Improving what we deliver is what we are after. Hopefully, through ongoing training, the concept of lifelong learning will be fully understood by everyone, including the illiterate," Mr Cutajar concluded.