In a recent interview with Times of Malta (February 13), the CEO of Betsson complained about high staff turnover. The leading online gaming company engages locally some 600 employees from 39 countries.

Expatriates account for two out of every three employees and, after a short term, many decide to move on elsewhere. Their jobs, according to the CEO, “could easily be provided from Malta” and his company would be happy to provide Maltese academic institutions with what the industry requires in terms of personnel.

Betsson has been operating in Malta since 2006. What has been done to ensure that the jobs being created are possibly taken up by locals? Have we lost hope that in a micro-society like ours it is still possible to align the education and economic strategies?

Of the 5,300 jobs created locally over the last 10 months, only half were taken up by Maltese nationals. Attracting employees from all over the world may be essential for our country to become a ‘global’ hub, but this should not distract policymakers from ensuring that our children do not fall behind.

While these jobs were being created, the number of those registering for workcontinued to rise, surpassing the 7,000 mark. The unemployed include a significant number of 15- to 24-year-olds. Our society cannot afford to have its own ‘lost generation’. Hopefully, the Guarantee for Youth programme will help address this situation.

Another timely measure is the launching of the framework for the Education Strategy for Malta 2014-2024, which is meant to foster a consultative process among stakeholders.

Education, more than ever before, is the key to the future well-being of Maltese citizens, whether they decide to work in Malta or overseas. Gone are the days when success in business (and in life in general) was not critically dependent on a decent level of schooling. In the ‘knowledge economy’, competencies such as literacy, numeracy and computer skills are a must.

Our society cannot afford to have its own ‘lost generation’

Our education system continues to be characterised by duality. Relatively few of our students go on to study abroad, yet generally they achieve results that honour them and the local education system. The challenge is how to encourage and support more of our students to continue their studies in foreign universities by way of scholarships and other incentives.

Unfortunately, our education system also has a dark side. After at least 12 years of schooling, four in every 10 students are leaving school without any certification or real life skills. Malta’s rate of early school-leavers is nearly double the EU average.

Low education is inherited and, at 73 per cent, the persistence of low education from generation to generation is the highest inthe EU.

Policymakers should reflect upon the effectiveness of our welfare system in alleviating poverty through education. Linking the supplementary children allowance to school attendance is a step in the right direction. Dishing out fines to parents for the absenteeism of their children (which, in any case, are rarely paid) has proved to be no solution.

That all is not well in our education system is confirmed time and again by international benchmarking reports. When the Education Minister said that the education system is in crisis and needs to be made more relevant to contemporary society, he was merely stating the obvious. We have had enough of people who remain in denial just to shroud their nonchalance and failures when they had the opportunity to make a difference.

Improvements in the education system will only come if teachers are committed to the change process. Teaching is a stressful job; the classroom has become a microcosm of the complex world outside. Besides being educators, teachers are now expected to be second-parents, managers and wardens.

Teachers need to be given constant training and support to cope effectively with the emerging social realities. They should embrace technology and should not be straitjacketed by a rigid curriculum that does not allow them to innovate in line with the specific requirements of their classes.

Equally important is the active participation of parents. The need and purpose of an education strategy has to be explained to parents in a clear and simple way. The majority of parents want the best education for their children and feel concerned when changes are announced which they do not fully understand.

As citizens we consistently crave for more rights. This is fine as long as we are prepared to shoulder our obligations, especially towards those that depend on us. The pursuit of personal happiness, or comfort, should not be allowed to result in misery for our children. This calls for the convergence of our social and education policies.

In the future, education will be less about academic knowledge and more about developing the right competencies and skills. Communication, decision-making, flexibility, creativity and entrepreneurship will be needed both for personal development and to find a rewarding job.

It is not a cliché to state that education is the key to a better tomorrow. In a dynamic society, there has to be a holistic approach to education. This requires a change in mindset and a propensity to innovate to ensure that the selected education strategy gives due consideration and dovetails with our broader social and economic goals.

fms18@onvol.net