Three projects worth around €7 million will be undertaken through the European Regional and Development Funds (ERDF), Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg announced today.

The first project – Invest - aims to increase physical infrastructure for the provision of vocational education and training (VET) to secondary school students.

The project involves the conversion of laboratories in various schools in Malta and Gozo into VET Labs. The investment will involve the setting-up 44 VET labs in 11 schools in Malta, and four VET labs in a school in Gozo. The labs will be in the fields of engineering technology, information technology, hospitality, and health and social care.

Dr Borg said €3 million of this €5 million project would come from EU funds. It aims to reduce the rate of early school leavers and is intended to support more than 3,700 students.

The second project is the establishment of assistive technology centres in Malta and Gozo at an investment of €567,706. €496,555 will come from the EU. It aims to facilitate the integration and increase the independence of persons with disabilities.

This includes those who suffer from long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments with the support of assistive technology. This project, Dr Borg said, is estimated to assist around 1,300 persons, and would provide for the establishment of three AT centres which will include assistive technological equipment and software.

The other project is the ‘Centre for the Integration of Vulnerable Persons’, with a total cost of almost €1 million, €846,186.43 of which will come from the EU.

The centre will support the integration of vulnerable persons within the community through public infrastructure, as well as community-based services, intended to alleviate them out of poverty and social exclusion, and to bring target groups closer to the labour market. New infrastructure will be built within the community to further enhance service provision in the area.

It will include a counselling room, recreational facilities, a computer lab, a conference room, a first-aid room, a meeting room, office space, and outdoor facilities.

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