The Malta Financial Services Authority has embarked on an initiative to offer “guidance” to guidance teachers, a move which is positive indeed.

The MFSA has already gone on record saying that the financial sector will need more graduates in that field in the near future. By briefing guidance teachers on the specific needs of the sector, the latter will be better able to identify those students which they feel would fit the bill.

In doing so, they would then be able to encourage students to pursue that career line. This is all very positive, but it must be done on a broader level. We already know that we are going to need more information technology graduates for when Smartcity comes to Malta.

And IT Minister Austin Gatt has already publicly stated, on more than one occasion, that we are going to need more graduates in that field.

But is there uptake? One would have to say that yes, there are more students who opt to pursue a career in computing and software, but are we reaching out enough to encourage them?

Again, lessons should be taken from the MFSA scheme in this regard. We need to identify the target markets as early as possible and from there, the various industry segments need a go-between.

In a sense, guidance teachers should act in the same manner as a football scout. The employer has a particular set of needs and must engage a middleman to scout for the talent they need.

A more holistic scheme should be set up, however. By and large, we know that Malta needs more qualified people in tourism, the financial services sector, the IT sector and pharmaceuticals.

These are easy enough to pinpoint, and emphasise on in career guidance. But, as we have seen time and time again, industrial development does not seem to build up slowly in today’s fast-pace world.

The development of the pharmaceutical sector came out of the blue, so we must be more responsive. Perhaps this is where the government’s role lies. Again, we point out that with IT and the financial services sectors, the government was on the ball and is telling students where the openings will be in the future.

Perhaps better liaison is needed. And perhaps a relevant sector should be set up within the Education Ministry to address this need. We have often heard that the future of a country is its youth and this holds true.

If we have good educated youngsters that are steered towards a career that is suited to them, while at the same time suited to the general needs of the country, we have a win-win situation.

At the same time, we need to ensure that we are not producing a glut in certain professions. One classic example is that of lawyers – there are simply thousands of them. One would think that students would see the light, but unfortunately, they still keep signing up for such courses.

It is clear that the government is trying to encourage alternative courses, but we need to ensure that we have an effective medium to get through to students, to make them understand the situation.

We are not saying that children should be streamed in junior school, but by the time that secondary school children choose their subjects of study, we should start thinking of pointing them in the right direction.