Facilitating admission to IT courses

Hundreds of IT students are expected to benefit from a series of measures facilitating admission to the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology's ICT course.

The measures will also assist students following a course and who intend to further their studies, Education Minister Louis Galea and IT Minister Austin Gatt told a news conference yesterday.

The package includes incentives for IT Ministry lecturers, the provision of more Mcast teachers and the strengthening of the partnership with private training institutions.

The initiative was fuelled by the sheer numbers - the college was enticing a larger number of students willing to train in IT every year, Dr Gatt said.

Between 2001 and last year, the number of applicants for courses at Mcast shot up from 390 to 1,000. The number of graduates rose from 82 to 334. The college received a record number of applications last year.

The complement of lecturers was not coping with the number of applicants. Therefore, the government has beefed up their financial package to lure more teachers. There are also five new computer laboratories, Dr Gatt said.

Dr Galea expected the college to cater for over 1,000 ICT students by next year.

He urged students to continue seeking a career in the IT industry since it was offering more and more opportunities.

In order to qualify, students who apply for the foundation course have to pass an aptitude test.

An e-government service was launched during the news conference enabling students to apply online. Applications close on Friday.