New directorate responsible for policy implementation

A new responsibility - the implementation of policies - has been assigned to the directorate for policy development within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment that was set up earlier this month.

Earlier this month, the ministry also appointed three new directors - Micheline Sciberras as director of the Policy Development and Programme Implementation Directorate, Mario Buttigieg as director of EU Affairs and International Relations and Leonard Sacco as Director of Corporate Services.

These developments are aimed at strengthening the structure within the Ministry of Education Youth and Employment with the aim of further improving the services provided.

Director Micheline Sciberras, who has been actively involved in the publication of various policies within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, including governance and autonomy in schools, inclusive and special education, higher education, and school attendance, said that the need to have, within the Ministry structure, a directorate focusing on this area had been strongly felt. This new development, which is aimed to give more stability, importance and focus to the area of policy making, will continue to set out the government's policies for the Ministry's portfolio.

Ms Sciberras explained that "policy development involves identifying issues that are either problematic or need to be developed and, with the help of research and statistics, propose different models that can be put into practice to improve the quality of service delivered.

"This method of operation is being actively engaged upon in the reviews on crucial educational issues, such as in the case of absenteeism, school governance and autonomy and career guidance. Once a policy decision is taken then a strategy is laid out in order to tackle the issue effectively and efficiently. The main and central aim has been and will always remain to offer quality service to the public in a manner that is efficient and effective," she said.

Ms Sciberras emphasised the importance of another area for which the directorate will be responsible - the evaluation and implementation of policies, not solely the development aspect. "This process will ensure that after a decision from the government is taken with regards to which policy recommendations will be followed, it is the directorate's responsibility to facilitate the processes for the policies to be actually implemented. This process will also trigger a cycle of implementation, evaluation and updating, because periodically, policies would need to be revisited and reviewed, such as the policies published a number of years ago with regard to child abuse, bullying and substance abuse."

The integration of this directorate under the ministry cap also implies that the Policy Directorate is not only responsible for policy development in the education sector, but also the other entities that fall within the Ministry's portfolio, such as employment, youth, sport, occupational health and safety, libraries, archives, industrial relations, cooperatives, as well as various other entities. Each of the sectors develop and evaluate their own policies, however, it is important that the new directorate offers support in the coordination between entities when it comes to policy development.

"The directorate's challenge is to strengthen, support and facilitate channels of coordination and communication between all these entities. This is already present, but until now this has been the result of individual initiatives by the different entities. The challenge will be to channel this communication in a structured way to avoid any form of overlap."

"Another of this year's priority areas is the review of the early childhood education sector, which the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport is analysing. A working group including a representative of the Ministry of the Family and Social Solidarity have review the provision in this sector and made a series of recommendations to improve the quality of early childhood education in Malta," Ms Sciberras said.

She said that the aim is to make sure that the child follows a smooth transition from one educational level to another, that is from child care to kindergarten, and from kindergarten to the primary level. The Early Childhood Education document, which will be published shortly will make recommendations that are expected to bring about a quality change in service provision at this level.

"Our ambitious milestone is to provide quality education for all, which includes focusing on the transition between primary and secondary. Following last years publication of For All Children To Succeed, a document that maps out the way ahead for educational reform in Malta, four pilot projects were launched, and that has given rise to the setting up of three colleges and a network of special schools. Feedback so far from stakeholders indicates positive results of this experience," Ms Sciberras said.

She explained that heads of schools and teachers are working in collaboration, exchanging good practices, experiences and resources so that the maximum benefit can be given to every child in every class in Malta and Gozo.

"For example, early identification of difficulties is being focused upon and educational programmes provided to various levels of ability. In the colleges, we are seeing initial stages of closing the gap between Junior Lyceum and Secondary school classes. She said the pilot projects will be reviewed after the end of the current scholastic year and further planning will be made on extending the model to include other schools."

Ms Sciberras also explained that other policies are being implemented, such as the Spiteri Report on inclusive and special education, or reviewed, such as the policy on discipline. Ms Sciberras also said that two new policies on career guidance and on adult basic skills will be published later on this year.

"It is imperative, and our duty, that the services, programmes and initiatives, we develop in any sector, be it education, employment, youth, sport or any other that falls within this Ministry's remit, address one central objective; the improvement in the quality and efficiency of what we deliver so as to enable and support citizens in their holistic development throughout their life," concluded Ms Sciberras.

The developments within the Education Ministry has have also brought about a change in the structure of the Corporate Services Directorate.

The new director, Leonard Sacco, who was previously assistant director responsible for Recurrent Expenditure in the Budget Office within the Ministry of Finance, said that his directorate has recently undergone a change which is in line with the changes in the civil service is meant to make better use of available resources.

A new branch, The financial and administration directorate, which previously formed part of the Education Division, now falls under has now been incorporated within the Corporate Services Directorate. This means that the human resources, procurement and financial resources sectors will not only serve the education branch, but also the youth and employment sectors Ministry, thus allowing human resources at the ministry to be utilised in sections where a shortage of staff was felt.

Mr Sacco said that the Corporate Services Directorate is often considered to be the backbone of the any ministry, because it provides support services. to a ministry which This is particularly so in the case of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, which employs more than 7,000 employees and which has various entities within its portfolio.

Although most of its the directorate's work is internal, the directorate's its customer care unit, which has often received praise for the service provided, is the Education ministry's front-line service since it is the unit which the public comes into contact with most.

The recent developments also saw the appointment of a third director, Mario Buttigieg, who is now responsible for the EU Affairs and International Relations Directorate.

Mr Buttigieg previously served as director administration at Customs. Prior to that, he served as assistant director for Human Resources at the Ministry of Education covering the corporate side of the Ministry's administration together with international relations. He also served in Malta's embassies in Brussels, Geneva and Vienna.

Mr Buttigieg said that the directorate's main objective is to follow up on all EU initiatives relating to education and employment, two areas which are at the top of both the EU's agenda and of the Maltese government.

The directorate ensures that the Permanent Representation in Brussels is furnished with Malta's position on a large number of issues under discussion in Brussels. These positions are drawn up with the help of the departments or entities falling under the Minister's portfolio.

A secondary aim is the administration of funds through EU programmes such as Socrates, Comenius and Leondardo which fall under the European Union Programme Unit, and the monitoring of projects undertaken with funding from the European Social Fund and the European Regional and Development Fund.

A third task concerns international relations, which was recently incorporated within the directorate, and which focuses on bi-lateral agreements with over 40 countries in the areas of education, which includes exchange of students and scholarships.