The Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology has launched 100 new courses it designed with industry to address the training needs of the present and future workforce.
The country will not only be upgrading the skills of its people but will also match these skills with the requirements of numerous sectors
The courses were formulated as part of an EU-funded project entitled Linking Industrial Needs and Vocational Education and Training.
The project, part financed by the European Social Fund, originally intended to provide training for about 450 people. But it is now estimated that about 8,000 will do the training over a two-year period.
Project leader Ronald Curmi told a business breakfast on Thursday that the first phase of the project involved setting up various groups representing a number of industry sectors. These will identify the qualifications and skills that their current and future workers require to ensure the continued growth of the sector.
A survey of 500 companies was then carried out to shed light on the training needs of the workforce.
Seventy per cent of the respondents said they actively encouraged their employees to take up lifelong learning courses.
Although no details on the actual training courses were given, Mr Curmi said they were expected to start in March and would be held twice a week between 5.30 and 8.30 p.m.
The short courses are aimed at employees or prospective employees of the following sectors: food and beverages, financial services, furniture, ICT, infrastructure, maritime, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, plastics and printing.
Mr Curmi, who is also deputy director of the Mcast Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, said trends and developments in industry sectors were analysed and skill gaps and emerging trends identified.
Mcast president Joe Farrugia highlighted the fact that the courses were drawn up in collaboration with industry representatives, tailor-made to their requirements.
Mr Farrugia, the director general of the Malta Employers’ Association, said such collaboration ensured that the courses would truly provide the skills required by industry.
“Malta’s ability to survive and grow in the prevailing adverse global economic conditions relies strongly on its ability to adapt to a changing economic environment which, in turn, depends on the flexibility and quality of its labour force,” Mr Farrugia said.
“Through this project, the country will not only be upgrading the skills of its people but will also match these skills with the requirements of numerous sectors.”
Mcast principal and CEO Maurice Grech said the college had recently embarked on a €7 million EU-funded project to introduce new lifelong learning opportunities through e-learning, accreditation of experiential learning and accreditation of prior learning.
This project should lead to even more training opportunities within the next three years, he said.