Early school-leavers receive certification in vocational subjects

Seventy-three youngsters who participated in the the Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) were presented with certificates during a ceremony which was held this evening at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

The ALP is a governmental initiative, undertaken by the Education Ministry, which began in January of this year. It was designed specifically for those fifth-formers who, back in December, had not applied for any MATSEC Ordinary Level examination.

Subsequently, the programme opened its doors for these students and offered them the chance to apply for vocational courses such as mechanical work or hairdressing. In this way, students had the opportunity to resurrect their careers. A ministry spokesman said that some students have even reached Level 3 in some subjects - the equivalent of an O-level standard.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, who was in attendance, praised the students for their perseverance. He said that it would have been easier for the students to decline the Ministry's offer but they were courageous for doing so.

"One parent told me that his son did not love school," he said. "I will go one step further and say that it is the education system that does not love these children. If it did, we would realize from before that this was not the right system for these kids."

He said that initiatives like this should be started earlier and not in a student's fifth form year. "Why is there need to leave someone in school for 10 years if the fit is not right, only to then try and help in the last few months?"

The programme's director, Mario Cardona, explained that institutions such ad ETC and MCAST were instrumental in helping to make the programme possible. "It was our aim to keep these youngsters as part if the educational system," he said. "But we wanted to do this by offering them slightly different to what they were used to. With these qualifications, they could go on to enroll in the several foundation courses at MCAST or ITS."

Stressing that this was not a one-off initiative but it would be repeated in the coming years, Cardona said that programmes such as these could help to combat the "big challenge" of early school-leavers in Malta. A recent Eurostat figure showed that Malta had the second highest rate of early school-leavers across the EU.

This evening's ceremony was attended to by close to 100 students, with a handful taking it in turns to describe their personal experiences, what led to them applying for the course, and how they fared when part of it.

One student, Mark, said that back in January he wanted to leave school because he wasn't enjoying it but his overall mood changed when he was contacted to participate in the programme. He is now studying carpentry.

A parent spoke about how he used to take his son to work with him so that he would not get lazy. The programme helped to give his son a sense of discipline, he said.

Prior to this evening's ceremony, two others had already been held - with one being held in Gozo for students who participated in similar courses on Malta's sister island.

In related news, a ministry spokesperson said that the Youth Guarantee Scheme - launched by government a few months ago - was reaching its target. Furthermore, more professionals are expected to be included in the scheme, with traineeships also set to be offered to students.