Appointed director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in October, James Calleja outlines his vision and tells Patrick Cooke why European citizens need to become more employable.

James Calleja’s vision for the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) can be described in one word: employability.

“We aim to create a reference point of excellence on how European policies can feed into national policies and make European citizens employable,” said Mr Calleja.

“A lack of skills relevant to the workplace is one of the main reasons why many Europeans are failing to find a job.”

As former permanent secretary at the Education Ministry and chief executive of the Malta Qualifications Council and the National Commission for Higher Education, Mr Calleja brings a wealth of experience to his European role.

Does he believe the gap between school-leavers’ skills and those required in the workplace require more emphasis on vocational training at school and less focus on the arts, for example?

“The arts offer a humanistic approach to students, which few other subjects can provide. But the question is very pertinent,” he said.

“Ministries of education cannot create permanent jobs. No one can in today’s world. But we can support lifelong learning through modern apprenticeship schemes, work-based and workplace learning, traineeships, scholarships and adult education.”

Youth unemployment in the EU27 (before Croatia’s accession) rose from 15 per cent in 2008 to 23.5 per cent in March 2013, Mr Calleja noted.

A report by one of the largest US consultancy firms speaks about a “disillusioned generation”.

“Investment in education is investment in the biggest asset that Malta possesses – human resources,” the Cedefop director said.

“That’s where our strength lies but also our weakness if, at the end of compulsory education, students find themselves without key competences when expected to access further and higher education, including vocational training.”

According to the latest labour force survey by the Maltese National Statistics Office, the youth unemployment (aged 15-24) rate in the third quarter of 2013 was 14 per cent.

While higher than the national average, this was much lower than the average EU youth unemployment rate of 23.6 per cent and the eurozone average of 24.2 per cent recorded by Eurostat in November. Other southern European states have registered rates as high as 59 per cent.

Mr Calleja feels youth unemployment is relatively low in Malta because “our strong vocational education and training system closed an enormous gap in our educational system”.

“Many young people found in Mcast, the Institute of Tourism Studies and the courses offered by Employment Training Centre the right structure to regenerate their need to re-skill, up-skill and to ensure that they acquire continuous professional development in senior administrative and managerial jobs.”

While acknowledging that Malta’s early school-leaving rate continued to be one of the highest in Europe, Mr Calleja stressed that most Maltese youth were either in employment or in training.

“Adult education also contributed enormously to skilling people for the labour market. With the creation of jobs, simultaneously, education offered a good range of skills for our economy.”

He firmly believes that compulsory education should provide key competences, which can serve as the gateway to the world of work.

“For me, learning to learn is a key skill for competitiveness in the labour market. But certainly languages, mathematics, science, technology and IT are competences that no one can do without in today’s and tomorrow’s labour market.

“Making the market visible as early as possible to students will help young people see themselves in it before it could be too late,” he said.

Mr Calleja feels discussions on jobs and occupations in Malta’s economic sectors could begin during the later stages of primary education.

“With key competences such as reading, writing and IT as well as the capacity to learn on their own, we would make it easier for students to visualise a future job. They must understand their strengths and discover their interests so that they are able to work towards a goal.”

Asked if vocational programmes could lead to exploitation by forcing young people into low-paid placements, Mr Calleja replied that Cedefop fully supports internships, apprenticeships or traineeships that are managed properly.

“We are fully aware of the dangers that exist and we strongly advocate for quality and standards in the provision of such experiences.

Ministries of education cannot create permanent jobs, but we can support lifelong learning

“The relationship between employers and training institutions and regulation by governments are instrumental in preventing abuse.”

It is fairly common for British and Italian graduates to accept low or unpaid internships at the start of their careers. Does Mr Calleja envisage that Maltese graduates will have to do the same?

“Training is moving towards hands-on experiences, which form part of any vocational education programme. So work experience is in itself a ‘paid’ activity even if not as a salary,” he said.

“Rather than resist the offer, youths and adults should grasp the opportunity to learn directly from on-the-job training, make their skills, competences and attitudes visible to employers and seek to understand what will enable them to penetrate the labour market and remain in it, progressively, for as long as possible.”

Hospitality, financial services, manufacturing and IT are the sectors that largely benefit from vocational training today, Mr Calleja said.

The Fernand Braudel economics centre in New York had described the southern Mediterranean region as a “million things at once”.

“By and large, this implies that job sectors can be as many as our training systems can produce.

“Hence the importance of entrepreneurship as a skill in secondary education and apprenticeship schemes that attract learners, which could help many young people carve their own niche in Malta’s economy,” Mr Calleja said.

Cedefop works in three key areas related to vocational education and training (Vet), namely the modernisation of Vet systems, careers and transitions; adult and work-based learning; and analyses of skills and competence needs. Visit www.cedefop.europa.eu for more information.