Facilitating students’ introduction to the working environment

MITA has launched the ninth Student Placement Programme. This programme is a means for government to facilitate the creation of temporary work opportunities for students in the ICT sector.

During the launch of the programme, Minister Emmanuel Mallia said that Malta experiences a lot of challenges in the technological sector, mostly because of the need for qualified and specialized people to work in different sections in the ICT sector. For this reason, Minister Mallia said that it is important that we keep striving to increase the workforce and its competencies in the sector, so that we can compete in a differentiated manner.

To achieve this, the minister said that it is important that students and youth are offered opportunities to learn how to work and behave in their future roles. Apart from being educated to be qualified, the minister said that students need to learn other skills, known as soft skills. These include communication skills, self-confidence, and the building up of a strong character, which are required by employers when searching for adequate candidates to hire.

In his speech, Minister Mallia said that feedback from the industry has been taken on board and adopted in the programme so that it is relevant and effective. This feedback included suggestions to start the placement before or after July, and that students’ working hours are flexible according to when they are most required.

The minister also explained that the programme is simple and not overly bureaucratic, so that it catches the attention of enterpris- es and voluntary organisations. Minister Mallia explained that through electronic forms, employers can choose the skills and the amount of students they require. At the same time, electronic forms will be used by employers at the end of the placement to get their money back.

Finally, Minister Mallia said that the more placements there are, the bigger the opportunities for students to achieve their ambitions in the ICT sector. The minister explained that human resources are very important for our country. Therefore, it is important that in our strategies, we include such opportunities which provide youths with experi- ences they can learn from for the future.

MITA Executive Chairman Tony Sultana also addressed the press conference, explaining how the programme works, such that private sector enterprises are entitled to a 50% subsidy of the salaries given to students, while public entities and non-governmental organisations are entitled to a 100% subsidy of these salaries.

Mr Sultana also explained that for the programme to be more flexible, employers will be provided with a total of 330 subsidized hours, and they can distribute them as they think would be best for this business.

MITA’s Executive Chairman suggested that in the public sector, students should be used to develop outreach projects, where they would have strong skills and capabilities.

While encouraging the private sector, the public service, and voluntary organisations to offer work opportunities to students, Mr Sultana explained that whoever is interested must enrol through MITA’s website.

Students who apply for the SPP programme must have a qualification in ICT (or a qualification in an ICT-related subject) at level 4 of the Maltese Qualification Frameworks.