A few years ago, the government set a big target for itself. At a time when the number of young people continuing their studies beyond the compulsory schooling age of 16 was a mere 43%, it said it wanted to increase the figure to at least 85%. It said it wanted to reach this aim by 2015.
We are still in 2012, and yet the figure, according to the latest data referred to by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last Tuesday, has shot up to 82%. Two years ago, it was 73%.
It is therefore likely that the target set by the government will be reached long before the 2015 deadline is up. It is clear that the government’s drive to encourage more students to further their studies – and the provision of facilities for them to do so – is working.
The numbers keep growing everywhere one looks. The University is bursting at the seams and more courses are opening each year. The same goes for MCAST, which is expanding rapidly and where a project is underway to build a new complex able to house up to 10,000 students.
Added to all this, the sixth form at Naxxar is giving many more students – including, but not only, those who do not do so well in the ‘O’ level examinations – another opportunity to continue studying. The Naxxar complex is complementing the one in Msida, where other students prepare themselves for tertiary education.
Today’s younger generations, in particular teenagers at the end of their compulsory schooling age, have myriad opportunities to choose from. And the government is trying hard to push more and more of these young people to not enter the world of work immediately, but to further their studies before seeking employment.
What is also encouraging is that the institutions involved, in particular the University and MCAST, are working hand in hand with industry to offer courses leading to jobs that are available in this day and age. There was a time when the number of courses was limited to the traditional professions, but today this is no longer so, as all types of courses are offered.
In a country with no natural resources, and in one which has to rely solely on the human element, education plays a vital role in the country’s economy – because it would be useless to create jobs without there being people who are skilled enough to take them up. Thankfully, the Sixth Forms, MCAST and University are seeing that this does not happen.