STC Open Day focuses on business benefits of IT education

STC Training Ltd held its annual Open Day last Sunday under the theme of 'Private education: a quality investment'. The event focused on how private IT training that is closely aligned with the marketplace can offer students a rewarding career and employers a better rate of return on their investment in IT personnel.

The Pembroke-based training centre, which has some 1,000 students, offers courses from world leaders such as Cisco, NCC Education and Microsoft and from Middlesex University. STC recently added soft skills training to its portfolio of industry-accredited technical courses.

In a presentation to prospective students, Mandy Mifsud, STC business development manager, highlighted the key benefits of STC's training approach: "We have set out to redefine the concept of education by ensuring our students are prepared for employment. Vital though it is, graduating with various diplomas and degrees and with industry-accredited certification is not enough to secure a career these days. Students need to have life and employment skills as well."

STC therefore offers students training modules in areas such as emotional and social intelligence, creative thinking, motivation and assertiveness, confidence building, team-building, business communications, project and time management and leadership.

In addition, STC tutors have close links with the commercial IT sector to ensure students gain up-to-date, relevant industry expertise to complement their academic curricula.

The need for students to have their finger on the pulse of the IT industry, be able to think out of the box and demonstrate inter-personal skills was stressed during a panel debate at the open day launch. The panel was made up of Joseph Woods, from the Fraunhofer Institute; David Alamango, director, 6pm; Vince Cassar, tutor in organisational psychology at Birbeck College, London; and Vanessa Camilleri, lecturer, Middlesex University, UK.

Speakers said further education wasn't there for its own sake, but that it should also provide students with the toolkit to enter the world of work competently.

"IT is about business and business has a keen eye on its rates of return on investment," said Mr Woods. "Educational courses can take several years to complete, yet industry has to be quick and highly responsive to markets and customers. IT training, which can promote awareness of the exigencies of industry, is of great value to students and employers."

The panel stressed that Maltese students were on a par with the best internationally, but that they would have to compete in a different playing field. Globalisation meant firms can now hire Java programmers, for instance, cheaply from Asia. Maltese IT students should be aware therefore that local employers, whether foreign or Maltese firms, would be seeking personnel to give them an edge in terms of innovation and flexibility.

STC chief executive officer Patrick Pullicino said STC Training had taken a timely step to introduce elements of creative thinking and innovation in its curricula: "We offer an educational approach that balances the rigours of academia with highly practical and relevant learning; the ideal environment in which to nurture the kind of IT professionals the commercial sector now requires."

STC summer school courses in IT for teenagers start in July. For more details, e-mail info@stcmalta.com or visit www.stcmalta.com or call 2145 3200.