Employers constantly complain that it has become so difficult to find the right skills in Maltese workers. It has also become customary to speak to a waiter in Maltese, and s/he replies in broken English.
On construction sites, finding a Maltese worker is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The same can be said in other sectors of our economy, from iGaming to handyman works, to garbage collecting, bus or taxi driving, retail and many other sectors of our economy that require repetitive activity.
The reasons why this is happening are several. At the core of all reasons given is that the economy is growing at a faster rate than the indigenous Maltese population can support.
In Malta, the average birth rate in the last decade has been roughly 4,300 per year. Of these, over 86 per cent in 2020 moved into further and higher education. Fourteen per cent of those who have completed compulsory education are somewhere in the labour market or probably neither in employment nor in education and training. This implies that around 3,700 young men and women normally join one of the further and higher education institutions.
At MCAST this year, we now have an increase of 26 per cent of new external applicants over last year and an overall increase of 13 per cent in the full-time number of applicants. Figures are changing daily. Therefore, by late October after the last call for applications, we expect that the college applications of full-time students will be over 7,500.
Adding part-time learners, the population may grow to over 10,000 learners. Unfortunately, not all MCAST students complete their education and training. This is partly due to increasing employment opportunities and an array of other reasons. However, several young people decide to return to the college when they are older as they realise how important an accredited qualification is to a career or to find and maintain a job.
Although MCAST has over 20.5 per cent of full-time applicants who are non-Maltese learners, yet we are certainly not short of local talent. In part-time courses, the percentage of Maltese applicants is over 91 per cent, while 86.2 per cent (2,375) of all graduates last year were Maltese. Of those who graduated in a Bachelor’s degree in 2021, 21 per cent joined MCAST at MQF Levels 2 and 3.
So why do we claim to have a shortage of local talent? A number of arguments require further discussion.
The first is that employers claim that the skills and competences provided in formal education are not necessarily those they need in places of work. At MCAST, every formal qualification has strong stakeholders’ (mostly employers) input along its design and unit writing to ensure relevance to evolving work practices.
The second argument is that MCAST’s vocation should solely focus up to technician level, which is an MQF Level 4. Last July, the largest cohort of full-time registered students at Level 4 stood at 2,169 (35.4 per cent) but on the successful completion of their course, the majority of these students decide to advance to higher levels of education and training. Could anyone advise them otherwise?
We must restore dignity and prestige to manual work- James Calleja
With the advancements in technology, AI and new work environments, I would be the last to advise any student to stop at Level 4. Machines can very often do the job that is required of a Level 4 worker. Technicians are in demand, but some salaries and career advancements are still unattractive. Can employers address this issue and give technicians a higher profile – rolling salaries from basic, to advanced and senior technician levels?
When someone claims that Maltese workers are nowhere to be seen, very often few go looking for them or invest in their skills while they were still learners.
What could make a huge difference in restoring pride in hands-on learning is strengthening and making apprenticeship programmes compulsory from Level 3 to Level 6 (Bachelor’s degree) while supporting employers, especially SMEs with student salaries.
This policy can ensure that work-based learning becomes a truly investment in Maltese talent, which is evident everywhere. When giving MCAST students a project, their artisanship and professional approach is top notch. This is why MCAST aims at making apprenticeship programmes a compulsory credited unit within most qualifications even though almost 90 per cent of MCAST students find jobs in the sector of their preference in education and training.
Nevertheless, the biggest challenge in post-secondary education remains that of retention of Maltese learners. From experience, I suggest six initiatives that we all need to support to keep Maltese young people in lifelong learning. The first is to make sure that all young people leave compulsory education with very basic skills – reading, writing in our official languages, mathematics and use of IT.
The second is to make vocational subjects, including traditional trades, more visible in primary and secondary education. We must restore dignity and prestige to manual work.
Thirdly, employers must adopt a learner through an apprenticeship/internship/work placement as soon as s/he steps into an MCAST course. Fourthly, a revised Apprenticeship Act could give a more attractive wage as soon as the learner finishes the programme successfully. Fifthly, a redefinition of the role of technician with good prospects of a career and upward economic mobility.
Finally, it would be of benefit to the very young to create a Trades Village at MCAST and invite primary school learners to play the mechanic, the fireman, the gilder, the veterinary doctor, the tile layer, the carpenter and many other useful skills.
Nevertheless, increased visibility of trades also requires adequate payable work-based learning. Maltese talent will then be easy to find and hard to lose. However, we must put one’s money where one’s mouth is!
James Calleja is principal/CEO at MCAST.