Taking important decisions – Owen Bonnici

As announced yesterday, all schools, childcare centres and educational (including tertiary) institutions will be closed from today, Friday for a week. We will be reviewing the situation and inform about the way forward and will announce further decisions by coming Friday.

During a press conference with the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Minister yesterday, we said that Malta was one of the few countries in the EU to shut down all education institutions, in fact Malta is one of eight countries which has so far closed its schools on a national level.

The Ministry for Education and Employment has been monitoring the situation developing due to the COVID-19 outbreak from day one, liaising with the Health Authorities and personally with my colleagues the Ministers for Education at European level.

We have been cautious, but ready to take difficult decisions that needed to be taken in the circumstances to safeguard the health of our children and educators.

I appeal to all to take the necessary precautions to stay safe throughout this period. There is no need for undue alarm, however, I urge everyone to act responsibly to take care of all.

In my article last week I delved into published statistics giving a thorough look at Malta’s performance in various sectors, including education and employment. Results which report that the Maltese economy has been experiencing fast growth and sustained employment creation for several years, stating that employment rates continue to increase for both men and women, and further states that unemployment rates, including long-term unemployment and youth unemployment, are well below the EU average. The participation of young women in the labour market also showed a significant increase.

Further statistics show that during a span of nine years (2010-2019), female employment increased by 52%, and, in 2019, there were a total of 107,123 women in employment, which in turn contributed to 43% of the total increase in employment during the period between July 2018 and July 2019.

It is thanks to positive schemes, such as the free childcare scheme, the youth guarantee, the work programme, training schemes, and many others, that we saw a labour market activation and re-entry of women in employment. As a government, we are committed to further creating job possibilities and opportunities for the benefit of our citizens.

In addition to the recent economic favourable conditions, the active labour market measures, commonly referred to as the Making Work Pay Initiatives, which were introduced in 2014 and continued to date, had a very positive impact on attracting women into the labour market.

Last week I visited Jobsplus, the national employment agency tasked with providing easier access to jobs and the employment market, for the benefit of both the employer and the employee, where I announced these statistics.

In effect, the Maltese labour market in 2019 saw a continuation of recent past trends, including an increase in employment levels, and lower levels of registered unemployment. July of 2019 also saw a 5% increase of persons in employment when compared to the same period in the previous years, with employment in the private sector going up to 171,209, or a 6.5 percentage increase when compared to the same period in 2018.

The total number of persons in employment (both full time and part time) is 257,401 as of 2019.

My visit to schools, colleges and educational institutions continued with a visit to St Margaret College Cospicua Middle School, St. Ġorġ Preca College Guardian Angel Resource Centre and Global College Malta.

At St Margaret College Cospicua Middle School, I was introduced to the library in every classroom concept, which helps to raise more awareness on the importance of literature. This initiative helps to promote a love for reading, as well as seeking to encourage children to demonstrate more positive attitudes towards reading. It also aids to increase the literacy level among our students.

As a government, we aim to see that each and every student is included and encouraged to maximise their potential and their prospects for the future. Through our strategies, we want to ensure that we are providing our children with the right tools from an early age, especially within the education sector.

In an interesting visit at St. Ġorġ Preca College Guardian Angel Resource Centre I was shown around the equipped Food Lab, a Science Lab, an Information Technology Lab, a Design and Technology Lab and Multisensory rooms. We, as a government, wish to see that through the help of our well experienced and very dedicated staff, the students are getting the most out of their experience.

The Guardian Angel Resource Centre is a school which caters for students with severe learning difficulties. Most of the students have sensory disabilities, but there are also students with downs syndrome, global development delay or other disabilities. The school has a total of 56 students in attendance with 12 students who attend on a parttime basis.

These students, who are between 11-16 years old, come from various other schools over Malta. The students are taught important independent living skills with the school following The Achieve program and most students are being awarded certificates in different areas. Guardian Angel Resource centre boasts of a serene environment where students can learn in classes and labs which are fully equipped with different resources.

At the Global College Malta, I presided over the launch of new Continuous Professional Development Courses at MQF Level 5 for companies interested in equipping their workforce with the latest skills and knowledge to keep up with changing global trends.

Global College Malta has been in operation since 2013 with a total number of 260 graduates so far. It is very encouraging to see that this college has a very high success rate with 86% of all students managing to successfully graduate. I would also like to point out that 90% of the students attending this college are Maltese and some of them study on a part time basis as they continue with their work. Therefore, they can benefit from funding opportunities such as Get Qualified Scheme and Endeavour Scheme.

The Get Qualified Scheme is an initiative that supports the personal development of individuals for the achievement of qualifications and certifications required by industry. Upon successful completion, the student will benefit from a tax credit enabling them to recover part of the costs incurred. The Endeavour Scholarships Scheme is to support good quality tertiary education and to ensure that the Maltese labour market is supplied with the right individuals.

There are 35 employees within Global College Malta, with 15 of them working full time and the rest are part time lecturing staff. They offer undergraduate and post graduate degrees on a part time flexible modes of studies in the evening. All courses accredited and validated by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE). All of the courses offered are in the modern and upcoming premises which can be found in Smart City Malta. This college offers student support all the way from academic guidance to assistance during the course of studies up until graduation.