Students with an honours degree in social work from MCAST will be treated just like those who have a degree from University of Malta (UoM), social policy minister Michael Falzon said.
Addressing a news conference on Thursday, Falzon said there are currently no social work graduates from MCAST, but the change will allow the institution to offer the course and increase the number of social workers in Malta as a result.
This means that once the changes become law, the social work profession board will automatically warrant graduates from both UoM and MCAST.
The amendments are currently in front of Parliament.
Falzon said this change will increase options for social workers. He added that those who obtained their qualifications abroad would still be able to get their warrant following scrutiny from the board.
“Social work is not an easy job, you have to constantly deal with people... And a person who needs a social worker is someone who is likely facing some form of difficulty."
Falzon said that there is a shortage of social workers not only in Malta but across the western world.
New collective agreement for social workers
The minister also said the government is concluding a new collective agreement with social workers.
“We are close to finalising the collective agreement within FSWS (Foundation for Social Welfare Services),” he said.
FSWS is by far the biggest employer of social workers in Malta, Falzon said.
“This proves our commitment to invest in social justice,” he said.
According to the Foundation’s 2022 annual report, FSWS employs 943 people.
“Of these, 78% were employed directly and worked with clients using the foundation's services. They include 291 social workers and 130 support workers.
The foundation also employs counsellors, family therapists, paediatricians, and forensic psychologists.
Sources close to the negotiations said talks between the FSWS and the Union Ħaddiema Maqgħhudin (UĦM) have concluded.
Workers will now vote on the agreement finalised between the union and government.
“The pay increase offered to workers is substantial,” the source said.
Information tabled in parliament in 2020 shows that four years ago, social workers earned €22,106 a year.
Support workers earned a little over €14,000.
FSWS’s current collective agreement dates back to 2018.
In the run-up to that agreement, social workers had had to take industrial action..
But this time around “negotiations were smooth”, the sources said.