Malta’s educational system needs to look to the future and create courses that address the upcoming niches in the market, Communications Minister Austin Gatt said this morning.

He was addressing representatives of various government and private IT-related companies and organisations during the National Information Society Advisory Council.

Speaking about developments in the ICT world, he said perhaps it was time to start preparing students, to enter this world from form three rather than waiting for post secondary school.

Mcast and the University need to create new courses that prepare students for niche specialisation, he said as he pointed out various rising trends in ICT.

These included the rise of the igaming market where Malta had already attracted 350 companies that employed some 3,800 people collectively.

Government was also in negotiations with two companies, one from the Netherlands and the other Australian, that looked into setting up internet gaming offices in Malta.

Mr Gatt added that he was confident that Smart City would employ some 5,600 people in the IT industry. One now hoped that the majority of these will be Maltese, he said.

These various niches highlighted the point that the education system had to look to the future to ensure that today’s students would be equipped with the right skills for tomorrow.