EU fund for training the unemployed

Projects to provide training for the unemployed, at a cost of more than €7.2 million, are to be implemented by the Employment and Training Corporation over the next two years with substantial funding from the EU.

Seventy-five per cent of the cost will be funded by the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, while the remaining 25 per cent will be the government's contribution.

At a seminar held recently, the ETC outlined the action it would take to implement the projects.

The projects provide for the creation of more training schemes for the unemployed and their eventual job placement, ETC chairman Robert Tufigno told employees at the seminar.

The main project is the Training and Employment Exposure Scheme, commonly known as TEES, which aims to integrate the registered unemployed who are over 40 in the labour market. The scheme is planned to cater for 400 participants.

Another project, the Literacy Programme, is aimed at those who are seeking employment, but are illiterate, by providing them with basic literacy skills to improve their employment prospects.

A third project, Supported Employment Scheme, is aimed at assisting persons with disability to find work through on-going support services.

The ETC is also aiming to increase female participation in the labour market. In fact, one of the projects offers a package of incentives to employers to open childcare centres at the place of work, to increase the stock of professional childcare workers and to keep women in the labour market.

Various projects, including training for the hospitality industry, are to be run by the ETC in Gozo.

Through a grant by the European Regional Development Fund, the corporation is also building an extension of its Skills Centre at Hal Far and improving its facilities.