Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/906955
maltatoday SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2017 Opinion 24 T o succeed in today's rapidly changing labour market, you need skills. And "static" skills won't be enough. Your skills have to evolve along with changes in the world of work, such as digitisation, automation and technological change. Life- long learning is the best way to keep up with these challenges – both for young and old. Training offers across the EU are huge – but workers and young people often don't know about them. And often they see vocational training as the poor relative of university studies. This perception couldn't be further from the truth. In the EU, 75% of graduates who finish a vocational education programme find a job within three years, as compared to 63% of graduates from general education – a clear advantage when young people still struggle to find jobs. That's why I have made it my mission to show that vocational education and training leads to exciting and rewarding careers – from movie makers to fashion designers, from pilots to medical assistants The European Commission's second European Vocational Skills Week (20-24 November) showcased the best of VET in Europe. We are building on the resounding success of the first edition in 2016. With more than 1000 events, we put a wealth of opportunities and experiences across Europe in the limelight while showing that VET and apprenticeships are a great first choice. We are doing more to make VET a true first choice. We know that millions of students have befitted from Erasmus. With the new ErasmusPro programme, vocational students will now have the same life-changing opportunity to spend a longer time abroad as their university colleagues to learn new skills, languages and cultures. Students need skills to get jobs. Businesses need their skills to succeed. Already today, we need to know the skills of tomorrow – most urgently for innovative sectors such as green technology and renewables. And for radically changing sectors, such as the automotive industry. This is why we've launched a "Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills". Industry-led partnerships will map skills needs and trends in their sector. Employers, employees and training institutions will work on new curricula to address skills gaps. I am bringing together public authorities, businesses and civil society actors who might not normally work together. We have kicked-off cooperation with twelve industries, ranging from car manufacturing to maritime shipping, and from construction to tourism, to name but a few. We hope to expand this in the future. Europe is all about cooperation. Together we can tackle the challenges and reap the fruits of the changing world of work. To help people get jobs, business to compete, the economy to grow and society to f lourish. The Commission is working hard to make sure that European cooperation on skills continues to be a success story. Join us on this journey! Marianne Thyssen is European Commissioner for Employment, Social Af fairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Beyond the classroom Keeping pace with the changing world of work S tudent, teacher experiences clearly show that teaching practices should be synergised with student behaviour and expectations to ensure a comprehensive education which is indispensable for their transition to adulthood. The importance of education from the students' perspective can never be stressed enough. In one of my visits to one of our schools, particularly to the inauguration of the Dingli Secondary School earlier this week, one of the students gave a very important speech. This student forms part of the students' council and she was expressing the sentiments of her fellow schoolmates and their expectations. It was not just a prepared speech on the attributes of the new school but also one which included criticism and proposals for a better school life. She started by thanking the staff at the school for their dedication and the authorities for the facilities offered at this new school. But she also spoke about the lack of certain resources, primarily those concerning facilities for the teaching of physical education. She also highlighted the potential dangers of these shortcomings, both for students and staff. Whilst expressing gratitude at having air conditioners in classrooms, she suggested the installation of solar panels to economise on electricity consumption. She also spoke about and made recommendations on transport arrangements and uniforms. This is definitely not 'a voice in the wilderness'. We encourage student participation and the consultation meetings on the new University of Malta Act, primarily those with students, have generated enormous interest along with several proposals for the better running of the University and to enhance student experiences. On another visit to the Zebbug Primary School, I was pleasantly surprised when young schoolchildren expressed their knowledge about our country's Independence and what it means to the Maltese people. They were well aware of the opportunities that enable us to continue with our economic and social growth. This is the student engagement that promotes self – achievement and gives a different perspective to our children's scholastic years. The National Commission for Further and Higher Education has just published a study on student engagement in sixth forms and the Junior College in Malta. Despite Malta's performance in the employment and unemployment sectors and the economic wealth that the country has generated over the last few years, the early school- leaving age still remains among the highest in the European Union. We have invested heavily to tackle this problem and we have made significant progress but we need to do more and we believe that by increasing student engagement we can improve the graph for a better meaningful education quicker. We have to widen our skills base and develop our skills even further. Continuous professional development supports teachers in incorporating student engagement in their teaching styles. Adequate career guidance plays a major role in raising awareness among students as to the different paths available after compulsory education. They need more f lexibility for self - discovery and schools should adopt open- door policies much more. At the same teachers should have more say in the design of the curriculum, which is sometimes very rigid and demanding. This is what prevents the development of more engaging lessons. A revised curriculum would give teachers more f lexibility to personalise their teaching and engage their students. We also need to study alternative forms of assessment. Currently progression is exclusively dependent on summative and high – stakes examinations. By introducing credit system programmes in sixth forms we can create further possibilities for students to personalise their learning experience. Teaching can be a demanding profession. But we will continue to work harder on teacher learning that supports student learning. A meaningful education in the 21st Century has to focus on all aspects of life. Evarist Bartolo is Minister of Education Evarist Bartolo A revised curriculum would give teachers more flexibility to personalise their teaching and engage their students Your skills have to evolve with changes in the world of work, such as digitisation, automation and technological change Marianne Thyssen