100 free courses for workers, job-seekers launched

The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology is launching over 100 free training courses for local workers and job-seekers following an extensive consultation process involving 10 different industry sectors.

Employers encouraging their staff to take part was much higher than expected

The short courses will provide training for current or future employees in the beverages, financial services, food, furniture, ICT, infrastructure, maritime, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, plastics and printing sectors, which represent almost 30 per cent of the Maltese workforce.

Training will be held twice weekly, in the evening. The first sessions are expected to begin in March and will continue throughout the next two years, explained Ronald Curmi, the project leader and deputy director of theMcast Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

Further information on these new training modules is available at www.mcast.edu.mt.

Prospective learners may apply for more than one module, depending on the skills they need to acquire. Candidates who successfully complete several modules will be awarded customised awards recognising their achievements in each module, and may also qualify for an over-arching award.

These learning opportunities are the second phase of an EU-funded project entitled ‘Linking industrial needs and vocational education and training’, which Mcast is coordinating in collaboration with the Institute of Tourism Studies, the Malta Qualifications Council, and with the support of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry.

The project was originally intended to provide training for only 450 participants. However, this figure is likely to increase significantly as the number of employers expressing interest in encouraging their staff to take part was much higher than expected.

Details on the project were recently presented during a business breakfast at The Palace hotel, Sliema. The first phase of the project involved the setting up of groups of representatives from each industry sector to identify the qualifications and skills that current and future workers require to ensure the continued growth of the sector, and to enhance their employment prospects.

This was complemented by sector-specific surveys among 145 local companies, to learn more on the training needs of workers, explained Amanda Borg, on behalf of E-Cubed Consultants, the company contracted to assist in this study.

Almost 70 per cent of respondents indicated that they actively encourage their employees to take up lifelong learning courses, while 80 per cent consider such continuous training as an important factor for career advancement.

James Calleja, permanent sec­retary at the Education Ministry, announced that in the coming weeks, the government would be presenting in Parliament the necessary legislation to introduce a legal framework for the accreditation of experiential learning, to provide qualifications to those workers who have acquired skills through years of work experience, rather than formal training. This will open up new career advancement and further training opportunities for these workers.

Mcast president Joseph Farrugia highlighted the importance of industry representatives being directly involved in the design of the courses, making sure that they truly provided the skills industry requires and that could make individuals more employable.

“Malta’s ability to survive and grow in the current adverse global economic conditions relies strongly on its ability to adapt to a changing economic environment, which in turn depends on the flexibility and quality of its labour force. Through this project, the country is upgrading the skills of its people and matching them with the requirements of numerous sectors,” Mr Farrugia added.

Philip von Brockdorff, chief executive officer of the Malta Qualifications Council, explained that it was important for Malta to establish the required infrastructure to increase the participation in lifelong learning, because this was an important factor for economic growth.

Joe Tanti, vice-chairman of the ITS, pointed out that in certain industries, such as the food and beverage sector, there were many older workers who had been in the same job for years, and who would find it more difficult to engage in lifelong learning than younger people who were more familiar with today’s teaching technologies, including IT. He said it was therefore important for lifelong learning initiatives to make an extra effort to reach out to these workers as well.

It has now become impossible for employers to ignore lifelong learning, said Ray Muscat, director general of the Malta Chamber. Even trade unions were now giving it importance when they came to negotiate workers’ collective agreements. Investment in lifelong learning would help to increase workers’ flexibility, which in turn made them more employable, he added.

Mcast principal and CEOMaurice Grech said the new courses being announced in the coming days were not Mcast’s only commitment to lifelong learning.

The college had recently embarked on another €7 million EU-funded project to introduce new lifelong learning opportunities through e-learning, accreditation of experiential learning, as learning. This project should lead to even more training opportunities within the next three years.

For more information on the new courses, visit the website www.mcast.edu.mt, e-mail esf2.85@mcast.edu.mt or call 2398 7704.