Close to 400 Maltese are expected to benefit from the EU's Leonardo da Vinci mobility programme this year, up from 351 last year, the Leonardo da Vinci National Agency said. Almost 70,000 people across Europe will complete vocational training placements.
This year, the agency has so far approved 26 projects submitted by public and private organisations. The approved undertakings cover a variety of sectors ranging from career-guidance practices, hospitality management, child caring practices and psychological practices to landfill management, software development, placements in medical organisations, management of confectioneries, graphics and multimedia development and agro-business.
These training experiences will take place until May 2007 in other EU countries participating in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. Countries taking part in the programme are the 25 EU member states, the countries in the European Economic Area (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway) and the three associated countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey).
Joseph-Lynn Micallef, project officer at the Leonardo da Vinci National Agency, said: "So far, a total of 179 recipients will be benefiting from these visits abroad, and receiving financial contributions by the Leonardo da Vinci Programme.
"These beneficiaries will benefit from €216,442 that have been distributed among these organisations. Further to Malta's accession into the EU in May 2004, the EU approved a budget which exceeded that of the previous year by 65.5 per cent, that is, from €296,000 to €452,000. For this reason, a second call for proposals was held for the first time on July 4 to allow further organisations to participate and benefit from Leonardo da Vinci funding."
A total of €235,558 was available for all Maltese organisations that are interested in training their employees/members or else to offer study visits to their trainers. This resulted in another 27 applications requesting €286,296 in funds.
A total of 67 applications requesting a total of €723,199 have been submitted under the Leonardo da Vinci National Agency, making this year the most successful for Malta with regard to request of funds from the Mobility Measure.
Across Europe, 3,015 projects have been selected, corresponding to almost 70,000 traineeships and to an average of 23 trainees per project. This mobility scheme, which was allocated a budget of €120 million, has gone from strength to strength, with the number of grant recipients almost doubling in five years.
Malta has been participating in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme since 2000. The number of persons benefiting from the programme and from the funds allocated from the EU to Malta specifically for mobility has been on a constant rise. To date, over 1,100 individuals have benefited from Leonardo da Vinci Mobility funding.
The programme makes it possible for people in vocational training to obtain a grant for completing a traineeship in another European country. The target groups cover all types of vocational training, such as initial vocational training, students looking for traineeships, recent graduates and young workers.
Mr Micallef explained: "There are two kinds of actions under the Mobility Measure - placements and exchanges. A placement is a period of vocational training and/or work experience undertaken by a beneficiary in a partner organisation in another participating country, while an exchange covers the transfer of competencies and/or of innovative methods and practices in the field of vocational training. Beneficiaries vary between both.
"Compared to other countries Malta has fared quite positively with regards to the Mobility Measure," Mr Micallef said. "When one compares our population size to that of other countries, Malta had more beneficiaries benefiting from the Leonardo da Vinci Mobility Measure than Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Cyprus and Iceland.
"The mobility measure lies within the framework of the three general objectives of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme:
¤ to improve the skills and competencies of people, especially young people, in initial vocational training at all levels; this objective may be achieved inter alia through work-linked training and apprenticeship with a view to facilitating their integration and reintegration;
¤ improve the quality of, and access to, continuing vocational training and the lifelong acquisition of skills and competencies, with a view to increasing and developing adaptability, particularly in order to consolidate technological and organisational change;
¤ and to promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational training to the process of innovation, with a view to improving competitiveness and entrepreneurship, also in view of new employment opportunities; special attention will be paid in this respect to fostering co-operation between vocational training institutions, including universities, and undertakings, particularly SMEs.
"In general, organisations submit projects with the intention of enhancing their employees/members vocational training or else in order to provide their people responsible for vocational training with an exchange of knowledge regarding best practices," Mr Micallef said.
Ján Figel, the member of the European Commission responsible for Education and Training, stressed that by supporting the mobility of people in vocational training, the Leonardo da Vinci programme is contributing actively to the emergence of a genuine European labour market in which the qualifications obtained in another country may be recognised at European level, while benefiting European citizenship.
The Leonardo da Vinci mobility projects are managed on a decentralised basis by 33 national agencies in the countries participating in the programme. They are responsible for evaluating and selecting proposals, managing the projects selected and providing information on the options available under the programme in their own countries.
Malta's national agency is at the European Union Programmes Unit in Valletta.