Participating in a debate on employment in Parliament yesterday morning, Education and Employment Minister Louis Galea was adamant about the need for young people, particularly school-leavers, to become qualified and skilled.

“The government’s message to young people is to further their studies and training,” said Dr Galea.

He said around 70 per cent of 17-year-olds are currently furthering their studies or training – a significant jump over previous years.

Despite this and a number of other factors, including an increase in the number of post-war baby-boomers and therefore an increase in the number of pensioners, the economy is resulting in a net increase in employment opportunities, the minister said.

The latest figures showing the number of people registering for work are very relevant when considering the restructuring process of the Maltese economy that has been taking place during the past three years or so, said Dr Galea.

He spoke about restructuring in line with the fact that since 2003, the number of people working in the public sector fell by 4,250, while more than 5,300 jobs were created in the private sector.

Dr Galea added that the restructuring process is taking place to make certain sectors more productive and effective by means of privatisation.

While a total of 6,150 jobs were created between June 2005 and June this year, a total of 8,738 employment vacancies were notified to ETC this year – an increase of 16 per cent over last year’s figure.

On the other hand, according to the labour force survey issued by the National Statistics Office, a total of 12,700 people said they are ready to work.

Minister Galea said that when faced with such a scenario, one immediately notes that the employment opportunities being offered are not sufficiently motivating people and he said a large number of such people are, in fact, women.

“In addition, there is a shortage of people to fill certain vacancies. People may want to work, but not for the wage or the type of work offered,” said Dr Galea.

By means of various measures included in the budget for 2007, the government is committed to helping each and every person who is registering for work, said Dr Galea, adding that, from an objective point of view however, one must consider that the way the economy is developing is having a positive outcome and the measures taken by this government are proving fruitful.

Dr Galea spoke about the country’s problem with regard to the number of women in the workforce.

A number of family-friendly measures had been introduced in the budget, but there was still a lot to be done in this regard, particularly when it comes to child care centres, he said.

“We want to create more accessible child care centres, but I believe that it is also a matter of getting used to the concept,” he said, adding that while the government wants to create a socio-economic framework to help more women work, this needs to be an individual choice.

“We want it to be the choice of every mother, and possibly of her together with her partner, and we also want to try to instil the mentality that men also need to bear a responsibility when it comes to child care,” the minister said.

Praising the work carried out by the ETC in combating the country’s employment problems, Dr Galea said the corporation is committed to refining its services.

He said that, together with the university and the Malta Council for Arts, Science and Technology, the ETC plays a very important role with regard to training.

An important development, that will have an important impact on the employment sector, said Dr Galea, will be the council for qualifications that is being set up and developed.

“This council will create a level playing field for the certification of competences on eight different levels. Eventually, we will also be in a position to certify individual’s informal competences. Our aim is to encourage lifelong learning and mobility from one level of education or training to the next and from one sector to another,” he said.

Labour spokesman for social protection Karl Chircop said that while he agreed with a number of aspects mentioned by Minister Galea, the opposition believes that there are a number of shortcomings in the employment sector.

Pointing out ETC’s importance in the country’s development, Dr Chircop said the corporation needs to be more dynamic, since the job market is continuously changing.

Like Dr Galea, the Labour MP spoke about the female work force and criticised the government for slacking in this area.

“Over the years, the government has spoken a lot about this aspect and about the need to increase the number of women in the economy, but nothing has in fact been done,” said Dr Chircop.

He said this problem had not been tackled in time and had grown out of all proportion. The incentives announced in the past two budgets are not proving fruitful because there are not enough work opportunities, the Labour spokesman said, adding that the number of women who were registering for work in September stood at 1,712 – the highest in the past five years.

Moreover, said Dr Chircop, the government is not investing enough in affordable, accessible child care centres. He suggested that, since the birth rate has gone down and there are now fewer children in primary schools, resources should be reallocated.

“If there are too many teachers and too much space, let’s take advantage of this phenomenon and invest in child care centres instead,” said Dr Chircop.

The MLP believes in subsidised child care centres and the whole sector needs to be regulated, he said.

Dr Chircop went on to say that around 30 per cent of those registering for work are young people and he said that a new phenomenon is that whereas in the past, some school-leavers went on to trade schools, nowadays many are not eligible to go to MCAST.

The Labour Party is reaffirming the need for MCAST to be further strengthened. “The country cannot afford to lose more human resources and we propose that MCAST works in close contact with secondary schools,” said Dr Chircop.

Another problem, he said, is the fact that guidance teachers in schools are having to tackle an increasing number of social problems and therefore career guidance is being ignored, so the government needs to address this problem and invest in the areas that need most attention.

Another problem is the lack of academic and technical skills of a number of young people, said Dr Chircop, adding that the MLP wants to seriously address this issue.

“When we refer to lifelong learning, we mean that the process must start in the early years of formal education and has to go on until one starts working,” the Labour MP said, adding that the ETC’s Active Youth Scheme needs to be given an impetus and needs to be better promoted.

Dr Chircop expressed his concern over the situation of employment in Gozo and referred to the Xewkija industrial estate as a “ghost town”.

He said that, according to popular feedback, the Labour Party is informed that the employment situation in Gozo is much worse than that in Malta. “Many people are comparing the situation to that of the 1960s, which was characterised by emigration,” he said.