Malta's workforce is stronger than is formally recognised by current education structures as thousands of people manifest "invisible" skills and competences that deserve validation, according to a new report.
The consultation policy document - Valuing All Learning: Frameworks For The Validation Of Informal And Non-Formal Learning In Malta - was launched yesterday with the aim of preparing formal structures that recognise the visible evidence of these invisible skills.
The report, compiled by the Malta Qualifications Council, notes that formal learning (which occurs within organised educational structures) accounts for only 10 to 20 per cent of what people learn at work.
The rest is acquired through informal learning (resulting from daily life activities related to work, family or leisure) and non-formal learning (embedded in planned activities not explicitly designed for learning).
Education Minister Dolores Cristina said that the certification of informal and non-formal learning translated into the validation of Malta's greatest asset - human capital.
She highlighted how the need to systematically and professionally validate informal learning stemmed from the fact that many Maltese individuals excel in a trade or hobby that reaped economical benefits and provided social development. However, she said, these precious skills were not officially recognised.
Although the state benefitted from this economical contribution, the individual had nothing to show to prove his/her skills in order to continue learning or seek other employment both in Malta and abroad, she said.
As a first step towards maximising on human capital, the policy document provides an in-depth analysis of the validation process and proposes formal structures through the setting up of sectoral skill units to identify different job categories and qualification levels and assess standards. Legislation regulating the validation would also be necessary to set standards, regulate bodies, monitor validation and ensure quality assurance among other things.
The validation of informal learning was first driven by the Lisbon Agenda which aims to make Europe the world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010 - as a result of which the government launched its National Reform Programme in 2005. The reform specifically mentioned the certification of formal, informal and non-formal learning.