Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, together with the Minister for Education Evarist Bartolo, have today launched Education+, “with the aim to reshape the educational experience of our children and equip them to live in the diverse and complex world of the 21st century,” the Prime Minister said.

He stated that through collaboration between commercial entities, organisations, unions and civil society for citizenship and employability, Education+ aims at bridging the gap between the reality in our classrooms and the reality in our society.

“We’d like to develop a relationship with the different sectors in society to collaborate together to make schools the places where ideas, ambition and dreams are born instead of a place where to kill aspiration and ambition. We want to bring life into schools by offering different experiences to our youths and to them we ask them to experiment, discuss and share their ideas with you.”

Dr Muscat said, “the concept of having employers and employees, teachers and students all together launching such a groundbreaking concept in education is indeed exciting,”

Minister Bartolo said that “the Ministry for Education and Employment is proposing a coherent strategy for lifelong learning opportunities from early childhood education and care to adult learning to ensure that all children, young people and adults have the opportunity to obtain the necessary skills and attitudes to be active citizens and to succeed at work and in society.

This should not be hindered by differences in socio-economic, cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, gender and sexual status. While acknowledging that out-of-school factors like poverty and social exclusion affect student achievement, the Ministry seeks to improve students’ learning experiences by encouraging creativity, critical literacy, entrepreneurship and innovation at all levels.”

The Minister explained that “in line with the Framework for the Education Strategy for Malta 2014-2024, education+ brings together the Ministry for Education and Employment, social partners, businesses, industry and education institutions to form partnerships so that both the education and employment sectors understand each other’s needs, build bridges between industry and education and equip students with the necessary competences mirroring industry demands. education+ honours the four pillars of education recommended by UNESCO, namely learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be.”

Education+ wants to develop and cultivate skills, attitudes and values for the real world in the 21st century and empower young people to become active citizens and be employable in a dynamic democratic society and economy, said Minister Bartolo.

Photograph: DOI/Clifton Fenech

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