Malta : lifelong learning and skills development

Abstract

Despite the Maltese Government's declared aim of promoting lifelong learning (LLL), the country still lags behind the EU average with regards to LLL indicators. Eurostat figures show that the participation of the Maltese adult population aged 25+ in education and training during 2006 was 5.5%, considerably less that the EU-27 average of 9.6% (European Commission, 2007). The participation rate increased by only 1% between 2000 and 2006. Malta's target of 7% of adults in LLL by 2010, as set in the NAP 2004, (which is less ambitious than the EU target of 12.5%) can hardly be achieved at this rate of progress. On the other hand, considerable progress has been noticeable in the participation of females, increasing from 3.5% in 2000 to 5.6% in 2006. This trend is probably related to government efforts to promote female participation in the workplace, which is still by the far the lowest among the EU-27 members. The male participation rate remained relatively stagnant for the period in question. Age appears to be negatively correlated to participation in LLL. 9.1% of persons in the younger age group (25-34) tend to have the highest participation rate, when compared to those in the 35-44 age group (6.6%), and the 45-54 year olds who have the lowest level of participation (at about 3.9%). Employed persons are much more likely to take part in LLL activities when compared to inactive persons (7.1% and 2.8% respectively). On the other hand, as will be explained in Section 2.1, the participation rate of the unemployed is not very encouraging. The educational level of persons is positively correlated to participation in lifelong learning. Thus, 18% of persons with a high level of educational attainment participated in LLL in 2006, when compared to 8.1% of those with medium levels and 3.0% of low education achievers. While the male participation rate in the latter group showed a decrease between 2000 and 2006 (from 3.4% to 2.6%), the female rate increased from 1.4% to 3.2% (European Commission, 2007). While no recent data is available, a study carried out with data of December 2002, revealed that distribution and access to training varies within the different sectors of the economy (NSO, 2003). Thus, out of all the employed persons engaged in LLL, 78.2% worked in the services industry, 21% worked in manufacturing, while 0.8% worked in agriculture and fisheries. This study also highlighted that employees in the public sector were twice as likely to participate in training as their counterparts in the private sector (9% and 4.5% respectively).