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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JANUARY 2024 Making vocational education a worthy career choice Editorial JUST before Christmas, the Education Ministry published the National Education Strategy 2024- 2030 and kick-started a consultation process that is open until 13 February. Among the proposals contained in the 76-page document there is a suggestion for the creation of a Trade Institute for post-secondary students. The document does not give much detail about this proposal but says it should be based on a mi- cro-credentials system and should promote ca- reers in the traditional and modern trades. A micro-credentials system normally offers a series of short targeted courses that certify the skills and competences acquired by the learner. This approach is ideal to enable people to adapt to a fast-changing society and the needs of the labour market. The European approach to micro-credentials does not posit them as a replacement of traditional qualifications but rather complements them. The idea behind the creation of such an insti- tute probably germinated as a response to the long-standing criticism of employer organisations on the lack of trade skills fostered within the edu- cation system after trade schools were shut down. The closure of trade schools almost 20 years ago created a gap in the system that left students predisposed to manual skills and inclined towards trades without a plausible alternative. Really and truly, it is unclear how such an insti- tute would work differently from what the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology already offers in terms of targeted fulltime and part-time courses in various trades. Maybe, having a dedi- cated institute would provide more focus and re- spond faster to the economy's changing demands. However, the proposal does not fill the gap cre- ated at secondary school level when trade schools were shut down. The belated introduction of vocational subjects as part of the My Journey experience in secondary schools, unfortunately, has not been rolled out fast and wide enough to fill that gap. Additionally, the vocational subjects taught still do not cover certain skills that were otherwise learnt in trade schools. This leader believes that the Trade Institute pro- posal should be extended further to encompass the needs of secondary school students as well. What is needed is a re-think at secondary school level with the creation of a specialised trade school on the same lines as the School of Sport and the Malta Visual and Performing Arts School. In this way, students with a propensity for tradecraft, even if they find academic learning attractive, could progress directly into a second- ary school that can hone their skills, while still ensuring they benefit from the regular educational curriculum. The standards of entry, learning and discipline in this specialised trade school should be high to avoid the negative perception that hounded trade schools in the past when they were associated almost exclusively with low achievers. Additionally, the VET subjects that are part of the secondary school system should remain as options for students who are more academically inclined but still want to learn a trade. This leader believes that widening the concept of a post-secondary trade institute to include a spe- cialised secondary school will provide a more ho- listic response to the problems flagged by industry ever since trade schools were closed down. Such an ecosystem can nurture traditional and modern-day trade skills from a young age and thus ensure young men and women are better prepared to face the challenges of the work environment. There is no reason why Malta should not adopt the path taken by countries like Germany and Switzerland where vocational education is valued as a worthy career choice. At the same time, parents need to look at voca- tional education as a perfectly acceptable career path for all students and not just those who find academic learning unattractive. Within this context, we believe the National Education Strategy should be more ambitious and propose a secondary level trade school that would complement the post-secondary institute suggest- ed thus far by policy makers. This would be one way of transitioning to a new economic model by ensuring that Maltese students exit their mandatory education years with a skill set that allows them to continue to access special- ised learning at post-secondary level or enter the labour market with skills that industry requires. The document released in December was draft- ed after a series of consultation meetings with students, families, teachers, and other stakehold- ers. It contains many more proposals that touch on various educational aspects. But the underlying rationale was to have a bot- tom-up approach when drawing up a strategy that will determine how the educational system will function in the coming years. Very often, changes in the education system were brought about in a top-down fashion with educators complaining that the bureaucrats and academics driving the change were cut off from the classroom reality. We hope that any change, even that prospected by this leader, will keep educators at the centre of the reforms. After all, it is educators in the class- room that are expected to implement change. Quote of the Week "It is dangerous to give the impression that everything has a price and that our society has lost the value of the common good which is beyond market value." A statement by the Gozo Curia expressing concern over development permits and the authorities' failure to protect the most vulnerable and safeguard the common good. MaltaToday 10 years ago 29 December 2013 The story of the year ON Sunday, 20 January 2013, Malta- Today published the kind of exclusive evidence that perhaps only exists in the most lascivious of journalists' dreams. It was an invoice, made out to Dutch commodities giant Trafigura, by a former Enemalta consultant – Frank Sam- mut – for a 'consultancy fee' for the supply of oil to Enemalta. The money was paid into a Swiss bank ac- count for a company Sammut owned in Gibraltar. The 2004 document con- firmed the long-held speculation of kickbacks paid for purchases of oil for the state's energy corporation. The Enemalta oil scandal, as it be- came known, rocked the island: a crim- inal police investigation was launched, seven persons arraigned, one man – perhaps the chief insti- gator – granted a presidential pardon to turn state's evidence; and the leader of the Oppo- sition calling on the Public Accounts Commit- tee – a parliamentary select committee – to hold its inquiry into the Auditor General's report on fuel procurement by Enemalta. Twenty-two sittings later and 72 hours of hearings, Malta is none the wiser as to the scale of kickbacks that went on inside the na- tional energy cor- poration or how this system could have gone on for years without anyone, not even at the political top, ever suspect- ing anything; let alone, reporting the mere suspi- cion of kickbacks. Because as pardoned oil trader George Far- rugia would later declare, the illegal commis- sions he started paying in 1999 almost set in motion a chain of kickbacks he would contin- ue paying, up until at least 2006. What has been uncovered so far is that George Farrugia bribed Alfred Mallia, Tarcisio Mifsud, Frank Sam- mut, Tancred Tabone and Ray Ferris – all former Enemalta officials – and it is still unknown whether other people knew of what was going on, but expen- sive Christmas gifts were given to high- ranking Enemalta officials, including different serving chairmen and one chief financial officer. ...