Government and GRTU bridge the skills gap through GEM16+ programme

The General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU) has hopped on board the GEM16+ programme launched by the ministry for education and employment last October, in a bid to bridge the skills gap in the labour market.

According to the ministry, GEM16+ is intended mainly as a stepping stone for students who lack the necessary qualifications to carry on with their academic path, and focuses on preparing them in Maltese, English, Mathematics and Physics at SEC level and for ECDL qualifications.

Earlier today, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs in order to provide students engaged in the programme with opportunities to gear their skills towards labour market expectations, whilst preparing themselves for SEC.

This brings the aims of GEM16+ to three, the ministry said in a statement. The other two aims, it said, include having students better qualified in the mentioned subjects to be able to continue on the academic track, and serving as a launchpad to further vocational education and training in collaboration with vocational institutions.

“Backed by this agreement, students attending the GEM16+ Education Programme will be given the opportunity to experience jobs according to their inclinations and employability skills which are mostly required by the labour market,” the ministry said.

The GRTU said that economic growth is sustained by assuring that human resources respond to the exigencies of the economy. “GRTU continues to commit itself in practice through initiatives such as GEM16+ to ensure that our human resources are steered towards the real needs of the labour market.”

The memorandum of understanding was signed by education minister Evarist Bartolo, Permanent Secretary for the education ministry Joseph Caruana, and GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs President Paul Abela.