MITA has launched the ninth Student Placement Programme (SPP).

The programme is a means for Government to facilitate the creation of temporary work opportunities for students in the ICT sector.

During the launch of the programme, Competitiveness Minister Emmanuel Mallia said that Malta experiences a lot of challenges in the technological sector, mostly because of the need for qualified and specialized people to work in different sections in the ICT sector. For this reason, Minister Mallia said that it is important to keep striving to increase the workforce and its competencies in the sector.

To achieve this, the Minister said that students and youth need to be offered opportunities to learn to work and how to behave in their future roles. He said that students need to learn soft skills, such as communication skills, self-confidence, and character building skills which are required by employers. 

"The more placements there are, the bigger the opportunities for students to achieve their ambitions in the ICT sector. The Minister explained that human resources are very important for our country. Therefore, it is important that in our strategies, we include such opportunities which provide youths with experiences they can learn from for the future.

MITA Executive Chairman Tony Sultana also addressed the press conference, explaining the programme. Private sector enterprises are entitled to a 50% subsidy of the salaries given to students, while public entities and non-governmental organisations are entitled to a 100% subsidy of these salaries.

Mr Sultana also explained that in order for the programme to be more flexible, employers will be provided with a total of 330 subsidized hours, and they can distribute them as they think would be best for this business.

Whoever is interested must enrol through MITA's website. Students who apply for the SPP programme must have a qualification in ICT (or a qualification in an ICT-related subject) at level 4 of the Maltese Qualification Frameworks.