A total of 5,434 people are waiting to take courses offered by the Employment and Training Corporation, under the Enhancing Employability Through Training project co-funded by the European Social Fund.

Mr Bartolo gave the information in Parliament in reply to a question by opposition MP Marthese Portelli.

There are 14 categories of courses, with the most sought-after being health, safety and security courses, for which 1,491 have applied. The second most popular category is ICT, with 1,207 applications.

The minister explained that some of the courses could not have been offered earlier because of a lack of trainers.

On the other hand, even if people applied for a course the corporation could not start it unless there were a minimum of 30 applications. If a course was started and discontinued, it would mean a waste of human and financial resources.