Post-secondary vocational education is set for a “transformation” with the introduction of three colleges catering for different levels of certification.

The changes will be phased in gradually over a three-year period starting in October.

Silvio de Bono, president of the Malta College of Science and Technology board of governors, told Times of Malta that the aim of this “organisational development” was to make students’ learning experience more relevant. The three new colleges will fall under Mcast and cater respectively for foundation, technical and professional levels.

Set up at the turn of the millennium, Mcast is considered one of the major success stories in Maltese education. It has a population of 11,000 students, 6,500 of them following a total of 185 full-time courses.

“However, we need to update its structure to be able to respond to present needs of industry which is closely linked to vocational education,” Mr de Bono said.

The main aim of the reform will be a greater emphasis on a cross-curricular approach, more recognition of work-based learning and greater focus on entrepreneurship skills.

The Foundation College will cater for students finishing Form 5 with no basic skills or lacking any entry qualifications for any other post-secondary institutions.

Its programmes will range from level 1 certification (lowest) up to level 3 which is equivalent to ‘O’ level standard.

‘A different teaching style’

In this area the college will be working closely with secondary schools to prevent students from ‘disappearing off the radar’ – staying idle at home without seeking employment or further training.

“The challenges of these students warrant a different teaching style from the rest and Mcast needs to be more relevant to them,” he said.

Mr de Bono noted that this issue was already being addressed through qualitative research which would help identify the reasons why students dropped out.

The second Technical College will provide programmes at level 4, equivalent to diploma or advanced national diploma. Such students normally seek employment once they obtain the desired certification, but some of them are keen to further their studies.

As the name suggest, the Professional College will cater for students seeking to obtain certification at degree level, which is equivalent to level 5 and 6.

Mcast Principal and CEO Stephen Cachia pointed out that students who opted for this route over university felt more at ease learning through a hands-on experience.

“Last year 14 per cent of graduates who obtained a first degree from Mcast had started their long journey at level 2 as they had left secondary school without any ‘O’ levels. This is of great satisfaction for us as otherwise they would have ended up with no skills at all,” Mr Cachia remarked.

The reorganisation will also result in the merging of a number of institutes, so that they will go down from 10 to six.

Mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering will be integrated into one institute that will also include construction and the maritime sector. This will be rebranded as the Institute of Engineering and Transport.

The others are Business and Commerce, Computer Science, Creative Arts, Applied Sciences (including agribusiness), Community Services and the Gozo Campus, which will remain unchanged.

Each institute will be expected to adapt its courses according to the respective level of the three colleges.

Mr Debono said these changes will open up a number of opportunities for Mcast staff.

The feedback from the staff as well as unions was positive, he added.

He gave a reassurance that nobody would lose their job or their existing conditions of work.

Apart from a head and a deputy head, each college will have a number of programme managers. Their role will be to ensure that the various courses being offered by institutes match the expected level.

Asked whether the new structure would be too cumbersome, he said that similar models existed, citing the University of Malta where each faculty had different departments.

“This set-up is more systematic than the present model. As a result institutes will have more resources to focus on the pedagogical aspect, and leave the administrative work to colleges,” Mr de Bono said.