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Vocational education prepares people for work in a trade, a craft, as a technician or in support of professionals. Craft vocations are usually based on manual or practical activities and are traditionally non-academic but related to a specific trade or occupaVocational education
Vocational education prepares people for work in a trade, a craft, as a technician or in support of professionals. Craft vocations are usually based on manual or practical activities and are traditionally non-academic but related to a specific trade or occupation. In Malta, just over a quarter of all students aged between 14 and 16 opt for vocational subjects. This is the fourth lowest rate in Europe. According to Eurostat, in figures released to mark the annual European Vocational Skills Week, in 2016 of the over 19,000 students in Maltese upper secondary schools, only 5,557 chose to study vocational subjects. While some 28 per cent of the students studied such subjects, the numbers were lower than those of the majority of EU member states, where the average was almost 50 per cent. Despite the huge financial investments being made in education – this most vital area to Malta’s future development – these statistics are a sad indictment on educational standards and the skills gap in the Maltese labour market. Why? According to Malta’s ambassador for the European Vocational Skills Week, Elaine Pavia, there is still a stigma associated with the learning of vocational subjects,... Read more