Jobs+ Apprenticeship Programme launched

A total of 730 traineeship and apprenticeship placements will be created as part of a Jobs+ initiative which aims to give work exposure to students, especially those not willing to continue their studies.

In all, 83 companies from various sectors, including the manufacturing, gaming, tourism and retail sectors, are taking part in the scheme.

The scheme, which is being supported by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) and MCAST, was announced at a conference entitled 'Apprenticeship, Traineeship and Work Exposure' in which the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Minister for Education Evarist Bartolo were present.

Citing the 'worrying' fact that Malta, along with Spain and Portugal, had the highest rate of early school-leavers, Bartolo said that this scheme will help to better the skills of students and ultimately help to increase the number of workers in employment.

Whilst admitting that the rate of unemployment in Malta was 'serious', he said that the biggest problem was training the right people for the right jobs.

"Our biggest concern is that the job market will become stagnant in the sense that there will not be enough people with the right skills for the available job vacancies," he said, stressing that the scheme will only be a success if it gets the backing and collaboration from governmental and private entities, as well as social partners.

He lamented the fact that no less than 45.5% of students in their fifth year of secondary school either do not obtain one ordinary level pass-mark or do not even sit for the examinations. For this reason, Bartolo said that as of next year the subject Personal and Social Development (PSD) will become PSCD, adding a 'career' dimension.

"Students need to be helped in order to develop a work ethic, starting from primary schooling and continuing into secondary," he said.

On his part, the Prime Minister said that he was convinced that the scheme will prove 'crucial' in the creation of jobs in Malta, as well as for the country's economic growth.

Stressing that this was not a 'be all and end all' solution, Muscat said that the scheme will help as an initiative for both the youngsters and the companies themselves, who will be supported financially for partaking in the initiative.

"Unemployment is a reality but it is also true that many companies often face problems when trying to find the appropriate workers," he said.

Whilst referring to a statistic which showed that Malta's economic growth in 2013 was double that of both 2011 and 2012, Muscat said that the government was not taking the "if it ain't broke don't fix it' approach.

"We cannot simply ignore certain realities... and one such reality is that there are many students who want to keep on studying but not in the academically mainstream manner," he said.