The University Students' Union (KSU) has issued a memorandum stating that unless immediate and forceful action is taken, Malta will fail to reach the Lisbon Agenda and Vision 2015 objectives.

It said the vision of turning Malta into a centre of excellence requires significant challenges to be met by the government, enterprise and individuals, but the rewards for meeting these challenges would be beneficial for society as a whole.

The KSU said that generic, transferable skills, such as literacy, numeracy, IT and people skills, would be increasingly valued, and employees would be required to demonstrate flexibility and an ability to continually acquire new knowledge and skills.

While acknowledging that Malta's education policy has served Malta well to date, KSU said: "If we are to maintain our international competitiveness and ensure a continued high standard of living particularly amid the current global financial crisis, there is no room for complacency".

The memorandum identifies five points of action that are at the very basis of future skills, and how these have been developed in the context of the Bologna Process with the aim of identifying trends which will assist in making informed policy decisions.

A summary of the report is featured on page 89. The full report is available on the KSU website www.ksu.org.mt.