5,400 people waiting for ETC training to commence

A total of 5,434 people who have applied for a training course offered by the Employment and Training Cooperation (ETC) are waiting for their courses to begin, Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo said.

He was speaking in response to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Marthese Portelli.

1,491 people are on the waiting lists for health, safety and security courses, while 1,207 people are on the waiting lists for ICT courses and 632 people are on the waiting lists for literacy courses.

Shorter waiting lists exist for technical courses (233 people), numeracy courses (117 people), hospitality and customer services courses (575 people), accounting courses (161 people), trainer training courses (16 people), transport courses (97 people), care courses (117 people), welding courses (100 people), trade courses (361 people), clerical courses (324 people), and renewable energy courses (3 people).

“Only a small amount of trainers teach courses such as Transport courses and Health, Safety and Security courses, meaning that they cannot be opened up to applicants earlier,” Bartolo admitted. “In other cases, the ETC cannot open courses because too few trainees would have applied.”