Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the country needed to be bold and to renew its thinking to search for new sectors that create wealth. He was speaking at the first partners’ conference organised recently by the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology, entitled Fostering Collaboration in the Knowledge Economy.
While cherishing and supporting existing sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, financial services and gaming, Dr Muscat said there was also room for these sectors to be renewed and innovate to create worthwhile jobs and attract new business.
The conference explored the theme of collaboration between business, academia and government to support innovative projects, reduce risks, create partnerships, exchange knowledge and foster innovation through clustering activities thereby promoting economic growth, business development and employment opportunities for students.
The first session, entitled Education and Business Collaboration, focused on ensuring higher levels of convergence between vocational training and industry.
The second session, Sustaining Business Competitiveness through Research and Education, looked into the themes of research and innovation, while the third session dealt with Preparing for Tomorrow’s Workforce Today.
The conference was also addressed by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo who spoke about the major challenge Malta was facing to ensure that its people had the right skills and work ethic.
He said there was need for an ongoing skills audit to see whether students were being prepared with skills relevant to the world of work. He stressed that students needed to learn how to solve problems, work in teams and communicate effectively.
Silvio de Bono, president of the Mcast board of governors, said the college’s strategy was to be more proactive to industry’s needs. He said Mcast was working to make its vocational programmes more flexible and to ensure cross-curricular activities.
He added that the college was promoting entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship as an integral part of the curriculum and was seeking to increase work-based learning activities through different schemes.
During the conference, representatives from various social partners also had the opportunity to hold discussions.