The training regime for Malta's four disciplined forces is to be merged and brought under what is currently the Police Academy, parliament was told this morning.
"This is an opportunity to make a leap of quality in the training given to the members of Malta's disciplined forces," Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said.
He said the government wanted to see a change of mentality which placed increased focus on training, both for recruits and those already serving. This would lead to improved efficiency and professionalism.
He said there are 4,500 members serving in the Police, the AFM, the Civil Protection Department and the Prison Service.
Training, he said, needed to be ongoing to ensure the best possible results in fighting crime, providing security, rescuing people and reforming those held at the prisons.
The name of the Police Academy will be changed to "Academy for Disciplined Forces" and it shall be autonomous of the four services.
Its role will be to the provision of high quality training and enhancement of skills, including continuous professional development activities and the management, direction, organisation and supervision of lecturers.
The new academy will be run by a nine-member board including a chairman and two members appointed by the Home Affairs Minister and a representative each from the Armed Forces of Malta, the police, Civil Protection, the Corradino Correctional Facility, the University and Mcast.
The Commandant shall be appointed by the minister after consultation with the board.
Mr Abela said the setting up of this academy made practical sense because the disciplined services often needed to work together, even on a simple traffic accident. Furthermore it made no sense for each service to have its own training function. There would thus be a sharing of training resources including staff and equipment.
He said specialist courses abroad, such as in military academies, would continue.
OPPOSITION - MORE DISCUSSION NEEDED
Beppe Fenech Adami, shadow minister for home affairs, said the concept of merging the training academies of the four disciplined services was akin to reinventing the wheel in Malta. He did not know if this had happened anywhere else, and certainly, more discussion was needed.
It was wrong to give the impression that the AFM, the Police, the prison warders and the civil protection were almost identical. Each had their own identity, which needed to be preserved.
Who had proposed this merging, and on what basis?
The work of the four services was becoming more specialised and it was a mistake that the members, therefore, could receive the same training.