Government and GRTU enter into agreement that brings education closer to labour market needs through the GEM16+ Education Programme.
The Ministry for Education and Employment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs regarding the GEM16+ programme.
They said that the purpose of the agreement is to provide students engaged in the programme with opportunities to gear their skills towards labour market expectations, whilst preparing themselves for SEC.
Backed by this agreement, students attending the GEM16+ Education Programme will be given the opportunity to experience jobs according to their inclinations and employability skills which are mostly required by the labour market.
The GRTU insisted that "economic growth needs to be sustained by assuring that our primary resource – human resources – responds to the exigencies of the economy. Such challenges put forward by the GRTU have been confirmed by a recent National Employee Skills Survey commissioned by the NCFHE and JobsPlus."
The GRTU added that it will continue to commit itself in practice through initiatives such as GEM16+ "to ensure that our human resources are steered towards the real needs of the labour market."
GEM16+ is a focused education programme launched by the Ministry for Education and Employment in October 2015. The programme is intended mainly as a stepping stone for students who would have just finished compulsory secondary education but who lack the necessary qualifications to carry on with their academic path.
The programme focuses on preparing its students in small groups in Maltese, English, Mathematics and Physics at SEC level. Students are also prepared to sit for the ECDL qualification.
The aims of GEM16+ Education Programme are threefold: firstly, it aims at having its students better qualified in the subjects mentioned below to be able to continue on the academic track; secondly, it aims at serving as a launchpad to further vocational education and training in collaboration with vocational institutions; and finally, with today's agreement, GEM16+ is being geared towards labour market expectations by serving as a direct track to the employment sector while encouraging vocational education and life-long learning.
The MoU was signed by the Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo, Minister together with the Permanent Secretary for the same ministry Joseph Caruana, and the President for the GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs at the ministry Paul Abela.
Photograph: DOI/Clodagh Farrugia O'Neill