Learning should be a lifelong journey for everyone, no matter the age and social background. We all need to acquire skills that are relevant to our lives, our needs and our work.

As a government we are committed to strengthen education for adults as a means for them to improve their skills, reach personal milestones, and increase their chance of employability. In today’s ever-evolving world, education should not stop at the end of compulsory education: the continued advancement through education is of profound importance.

Learning not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but it also boosts sustainability, competitiveness and employability.

It was with pleasure that this week I officially launched the Lifelong Learning Prospectus for the courses that will be offered during the 2020/2021 academic year.

With this year’s launch I am also pleased to see that decisions were taken, after discussions about their impact on both students and educators that will bring some changes to the way Lifelong Learning operates. I am sure that these changes will benefit the educational sector. Lowering the age of students that can apply for the courses being offered and also the work put in for some of the courses to be given online will have a positive impact on all those involved.

For the first time, a number of courses will be delivered completely online. This decision was taken following the very successful migration to online classes during the COVID-19 partial lockdown, when traditional classes - in typical classrooms - had to be abruptly stopped due to the pandemic.

In addition, from this year, the age of applicants has been lowered to 15 years. This decision was taken as a preventive measure to early school leaving, providing additional lessons at a very low rate to students who cannot afford to pay for private lessons to sit for their SEC examinations.

As the National Coordinator for the European Agenda for Adult Learning, the Directorate for Research, Lifelong Learning and Employability within the Ministry for Education and Employment is continuously improving the quality of adult teaching and learning in Malta. This is giving results as during the 2019/2020 academic year, more than 8,500 adults followed courses offered by the Directorate. And notwithstanding the difficulties that arose due to the Coronavirus, the courses where still delivered, albeit online, and with huge success.

During 2020/2021, the Lifelong Learning Unit will be offering more than 400 courses in 77 different subjects, including vocational subjects. These are highly interesting and also are being offered in various sectors, including Essential Skills, Language Learning in 11 different languages, Improving Education and Career Prospects, Healthy Living and Creative Expression.

The courses marked MQF are accredited by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) Malta. Applications for courses commencing in October 2020 until January 2021 or May 2021, will be open from 15 July to 7 August 2020, whilst the prospectus can be viewed on www.lifelonglearning.gov.mt.

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In the previous section I mentioned the SEC examinations. The results, which due to COVID-19 this year followed a Predicted Level Assessment, were sent via SMS and post this week. This was a particular year for the education sector, including the exams, as due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the closure of schools from March till the end of the semester, the MATSEC board had to rethink the method of assessment for these annuals, working closely with the Ministry of Education and State, Church and Independent schools. These discussions brought about an exercise resulting in the Predicted Level, based on a system which was extensively explained by the MATSEC Board.

I congratulate all those who did well in these results. At the same time, I encourage those who did not get the expected results, to benefit from free SEC Revision Classes initiative under the Youth Guarantee Project, financed with European funds for the seventh consecutive year, which I launched at the beginning of the week.

The project, which is administered by Jobsplus, is aimed at students who will be sitting for their O-level exams this September in both Paper A, and Paper B. The subjects offered are Biology, English, Maltese, Mathematics and Physics.

Lessons will start at the end of July and will take place in the morning, in schools across the country with classes running for five weeks starting on 27 July up until the end of August. Students between the ages of 15 and 24 who will undergo exams in the aforementioned subjects, in both Paper A and Paper B, are eligible to apply for these classes. Students can choose to take classes in a maximum of three subjects.

For the first time, these classes will also open for those students who wish to apply for Paper A, unlike previous years, whereby only those applying for Paper B were eligible.

Since its inception in 2014, the SEC revision classes have so far assisted over 4000 students giving favourable results year after year. The European Social Fund 2014-2020 provides for the continuation of the Youth Guarantee – Youth Guarantee 2.0, which has €1 million allocated to it for further investment in the human capital to provide more opportunities whilst promoting social wellbeing.

Students can apply online by visiting education.gov.mt/revision. Applications close on Monday 20 July 2020 at 10am.

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The One Tablet Per Child project for students was a successful project. We also saw a huge benefit from this project during the COVID-19 period during which traditional education had to give way to online learning and teaching.

Tablets are a learning and entertainment opportunity for students and during the summer months I encourage the use of these tablets as they can serve as a preparation for the next scholastic year. As was done in past years, the Directorate of Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills has prepared a profile with a set of resources for the tablet, known as the summer resource lesson profile found on Year 4 and 5 tablets. Students have access to educational activities and resources to make use of during summer.

The summer period is a period of relaxation. But I believe that there should also be a balance between relaxation and keeping up to date with learning. I augur a good summer to all students!