Six Maltese students earn highest marks worldwide

Six Maltese students have received medals for placing first in the world in their respective City & Guilds 2002 exams, putting Malta in second place in the medals table among the 100 countries which offer these prestigious vocational qualifications.

Medals went to only 68 students from about one million who sit for these exams worldwide.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Maltese candidates have come top in their subjects. Five medals were awarded to Maltese students last year and 11 the year before.

"It is very unusual that one country wins medals four times in a row," said Keith Baker, City & Guilds' marketing and business development manager international.

"It indicates that the country's education and training is consistently of the highest quality. And of course the students must have worked extremely hard."

He said the achievement was all the more remarkable when one considered the size of Malta's population: "Malta wins a disproportionately high number of medals."

South African students won seven medals this year, placing first in the country league table, and New Zealand students won four, putting it in third place.

Earlier this week the six Maltese students were presented with their medals at a ceremony held at the Education Division in Floriana, attended by Education Minister Louis Galea, Mr Baker and Katy Reeves, City & Guilds regional marketing and business development manager for Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

The medal-winning students, who were clearly delighted with their awards, are:

¤ Julie Pearl Muscat, who earned a diploma in hairdressing after attending the Carmen Carbonaro School of Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy;

¤ Edward Caruana, advanced technician diploma in applied mechanical and electrical engineering - design and manufacturing, who attended the Education Division's evening classes;

¤ Stephen Falzon, technician diploma in applied mechanical engineering - manufacturing, a former student of the Mikelang Sapiano Technical Institute;

¤ Robert Keith Azzopardi, technician diploma in motor vehicle systems, a student of the same institute;

¤ Christian Camilleri, advanced technician in business information technology, also from the institute;

¤ Steven Kirkham, technician certificate in applied electrical and electronic engineering, another student who attended the Mikelang institute.

City and Guilds is the UK's largest provider of vocational awards, covering some 50 per cent of the country's National Vocational Qualifications. It is also a leading international awarding body, operating in more than 100 countries through a network of 8,500 centres and seven international offices.

"City & Guilds' awards recognise competence - competence to do the jobs that industry needs," said Mr Baker.

"Our qualifications are designed to provide a combination of practical experience and theoretical knowledge. They are therefore recognised by employers as evidence that the holder has the right skills to do a particular job, yet equally they provide a route to higher education and training.

"Our aim is to set standards of technical competence which will receive worldwide recognition by industry, educational establishments and the general public."

Asked to what extent the qualifications were recognised in the European Union, Ms Reeves said in some countries there was better recognition than in others, but the organisation was part of a new Europe-wide system whereby a national reference point in each country explained the value of various qualifications to employers. Thus, recognition of the qualifications was set to become wider.

City & Guilds was established in 1878 in London and the qualifications started being offered in Malta in 1933 - a hundred years ago. It is now in a stage of rapid expansion, with international business targeted to increase from £6 million to £10 million over the next three years.

How they did it

There's no secret to getting exceptionally good results - just work, work and more work, according to two of the medal-winning students.

"I was very dedicated and did my best. I studied very hard and put in long hours," said Steven Kirkham, who earned a technician's certificate in applied electrical and electronic engineering.

"Basically I did my duty and put in what was required," he added humbly.

Despite his success in the subject, Steven has switched career paths and is now doing a course in banking. Julie Pearl Azzopardi, who earned a diploma in hairdressing, put her success down to working and studying very hard.

Saying she felt very honoured to have received a medal, she paid tribute to the help she received from her teachers and from her fellow students, with whom she worked in teams.

"It's easy to put in the effort if you like the subject," she added.

Julie now has her own salon in Nadur.