The Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) recently launched a new ESF initiative entitled 'Employability programme'.
This initiative will be the corporation's main instrument to achieve some of the major national priorities indicated and set by government in line with the European Employment Strategy - the Integrated Employment Guidelines 2005-2008 and the revised Lisbon strategy.
The programme will contribute towards the need to expand and improve investment in human capital through inclusive education and training policies and take action to significantly facilitate access to initial vocational education. It will also facilitate the alignment of ETC-organised education and training systems to meet new occupational needs, key competences and future skill requirements.
The overall objective of this initiative will be the reintegration of job seekers and inactive workers into the labour market and assistance to those in employment to secure and advance their position. The employability programme will consist of a number of initiatives, including training in basic skills, work orientation and retraining programmes.
Training in basic skills is one of the primary functions of the corporation, as a large percentage of clients are unqualified and have no skills. Through experience, the corporation has come to learn that the need for development in basic skills is becoming a priority for employability.
Though a lot of efforts have been made, there are certain areas in basic skills that the corporation still needs to address. Such skills are vital both for job seekers and those who are in employment. The direct and indirect benefits for clients following participation in this initiative will be certification in key skills, access to information, participation in further learning and better employment prospects.
Besides providing basic skills, the programme will include a variety of work orientation training initiatives and packages and retraining programmes. Such programmes will be work related and labour market-led.
Participants will be provided with knowledge and skills required for particular occupations and obtain certification. Such programmes will also increase employability of individual participants, providing them with marketable skills.
To reach out to those already in employment, the ETC is collaborating with a number of entities - employers willing to support training initiatives taken by ETC. One such entity is Playmobil Malta Ltd. The ETC has teamed up with Playmobil and will be providing training for employees currently occupying operative and setter grades.
The programmes planned to be offered include English and Maltese, Mathematics, Computer Literacy and ECDL. Other programmes in technical areas will also be offered at a later stage. Training will be voluntary and employees can apply for one or more of the courses. So far, the programmes have been well- received, with over 400 applications from 273 employees.
Playmobil has taken full advantage of this initiative. It will provide the training in-house and will schedule training sessions to fit the working pattern of both shift and normal day employees. It has set up a scheme - the We Learn initiative - whereby employees in the lowest two grades are individually approached and offered the possibility to apply for one or more courses. The response has been encouraging.
Playmobil has also improved its training facilities to include two new classrooms besides other training rooms and a fully- equipped computer training centre already used for ECDL training of its employees.