With our headquarters overlooking St Anne Street in Floriana I enjoyed the cheerful and boisterous busloads of young men and women on the streets.
In an expression of relief and joy on obtaining their degree from university they blew their top like a bottle of fine champagne.
Congratulations to all new graduates. The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin is proud of you.
This side of the story is bright and shines but we all know that human beings are different. We all know that not all human beings will succeed in absorbing the necessary skills and abilities for life and for work for various reasons.
In this regard, particular attention, tailor-made programmes and financial investment to capture the best qualities in each person in our society are a must.
The government will be allocating €500,000 for next year to support a new programme for young men and women who slip despite all efforts throughout the years of compulsory education.
This new tailor-made initiative to assist those who are not attending any educational institution and are not working is commendable.
As is the granting of a stipend to them. This initiative should assist and equip these young citizens with the necessary skills to take on the challenge of life and work.
Malta has one university, one college of arts, science and technology and one institute of tourism all of which contribute to the achievement of higher economic growth.
Higher education is and will be a major source of skills and competencies needed to increase economic competitiveness and sustain our welfare. The economy and employment in Malta are already dependent on higher skills and competencies, and will depend on them even more in the future.
The challenge of a knowledge-based society represents new opportunities for everyone but it is important to ensure that it does not create new forms of social exclusion. Malta must construct a culture of lifelong learning, enabling all citizens to acquire knowledge, skills and qualifications that are needed in order to handle the rapid development of our society and the economy.
The UĦM believes that a new approach is needed, with far-reaching training programmes to satisfy the needs of individuals, society and the economy.
Lifelong learning is a key to achieving the objectives of full employment, enhanced competences, high qualifications and worker mobility, as well as a fairer distribution of income and the balance between work and family life.
The UĦM believes that with the far-reaching reforms in education and vocational training, the needs of individuals, society and the economy should be fulfilled. Access to training must be encouraged for motivated and talented adults who did not have the chance to study in their youth and for those who come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The opening up of higher education institutions to adults is a necessary and important way to upgrade the skills of the work force.
While the UĦM strongly believes that higher education institutions should become major players in competitiveness and promoters of fairness and social cohesion, it also stands for the portion of people in our society who need hand holding and guidance to achieve success.