Education Minister Louis Galea yesterday inaugurated the new offices at Sta Lucija of the Malta Council for Qualifications, which he described as the tool through which workers could obtain certificates, recognised in Malta and Europe, for any ability or talent they might have and for which they did not have a certificate.

They had also created a situation in which academic and vocational qualifications would be treated equally in the world of labour, he added.

The council, he pointed out, was set up by legislation in December 2005 and was working to create a framework of national qualifications, which could be interwoven with the framework of European qualifications, expediting the process of recognition for Maltese qualifications.

Dr Galea said the council was also developing a system under which qualifications and certification could be obtained for experience gained through work. The Institute for Tourism Studies is the first institution to reach agreement with the council so that the institute’s certificates and diplomas would also be issued under the authority of the council.