OPENING SPEECH BY THE HON LOUIS GALEA, MINISTER OF EDUCATION, AT THE ETC CONFERENCE "LIFE-LONG LEARNING - THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE WORKPLACE"

That Lifelong Learning should be the theme of this conference being held on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the ETC is a most pertinent choice. The fundamental philosophy of all learning as lifelong is precisely the paradigm shift that we are doing our best to propel amongst our citizens in order to equip them for the exigencies of a full, adult, civic and working life. Together with the Ministry of Education, the ETC has an obvious primary role and responsibility in this process. I will take the opportunity afforded by this morning's conference to highlight four key root causes leading to the shifting labour market trends which are obliging a lifelong learning orientation, and to a brief analysis of their consequences.

One cause for this shift has been the growth of many new professions. Alongside the cadres of priests, lawyers, notaries and doctors - the staple products of universities - there is today a larger and growing variety of occupational groups, many of whom enjoy some social recognition (often by means of a warrant or licence) which legitimises and grants exclusivity to their practice. Such groups request and require a particular blend of tertiary education provision which must include a substantial element of practice and ‘hands on learning'. Our University is delivering its fair contribution to this process with over 60 different diploma, degree and post graduate programmes on offer.

Professionalisation is not the monopoly of some professional groups, however, but a general trend across many occupations. Nor is it premised simply on external, social acknowledgement; but is driven rather by internal, organisational motives. The advent of benchmarking firm performance has invariably led to a concern - shared by employers as much as by employees - to upgrade the quality of the labour force. And this is the second point I would like to make: the widespread human resource development. The recognition and certification of skill and occupational competence bear witness to the discovery of non-academic qualifications and to the value, if not outright primacy, of experience, in this context. Academic work had lauded mainly research, while non-academic work had lauded only experience: today, the separation between research and experience is disappearing. Today, it becomes increasingly clear that experience is research. ‘Human capital theory' has become a standard consideration by firms professing a belief in human resource management or total quality management, within both of which a training and development programme is an essential feature. Integrated management practice today often incorporates both performance review and employee involvement schemes, which depend on the availability of training and human resource development opportunities for staff. These then arguably experience higher job satisfaction, which in turn translates into better and higher output. Note that this virtuous cycle is not the exclusive preserve of an elite group of employees - it increasingly concerns the whole workforce of whoever wishes to remain in business. The ETC has been a major driver behind such programmes over the past decade, supporting some 2,100 traineeships under the Industrial Development Act and over 3,300 trainees on other training programmes during 1999 alone. The number of training providers in this area has shot upward, and I also note with satisfaction that the Foundation for Human Resource Development, represented here at this conference, (and another one of my babies some ten years ago) is contributing its fair share towards building and supporting the young human resource profession in Malta.

The third point refers to the basic competences required from all workers. Human resource development is not restricted to those firms who choose to strive to beat their competition on quality. It also inevitably concerns those other firms which would lag behind. The reality of today's labour market is one which demands a basic competence from all employees. Gone are the days when millions of illiterates could get away with being mere ‘machine fodder' - such jobs are already becoming robotised in many parts of the world. The loss of jobs in industry and the compensatory growth of the service sector means that real-time contact with the customer is becoming a standard employment feature. Thus basic literacy, numeracy, but also participacy, operacy and social skills become critical. The advent of computer technology and the promise of such facilities as electronic commerce or electronic government is predicated on ‘operacy' and thus widen further the spectrum of basic skills expected of today's workforce. The category of ‘unskilled workers' may soon disappear from the nomenclature of employment statistics. And here one cannot not acknowledge the considerable effort that the ETC has been making in order to ascertain the development of a computer- literate, local population.

Having said all this, how are we to ensure employability. And this brings me to my last point. The delirious tempo and rate of change of technology today renders impossible the marketability of the same skills during one's employment trajectory. Which means that employees are becoming concerned with access to continuing education for the purpose of re-training or re-tooling their skills to enhance a more flexible orientation to the labour market and thus to ensure their long-term employability. Which implies at least two basic consequences for all training institutions: that they must become more sensitive to the need to empower their students with the ability to upgrade and reorient their aptitudes, ‘learning how to learn'; and that they must align themselves for an invasion of ‘adult' and ‘mature' students, that large potential clientele no longer pursuing full time education or training.

We now need to cope with shifting definitions. The strict compartmentalisation which has characterised education and work so far has been premised on the ‘just in case' economics of stable markets, stable employment and stable client tastes. Until recently, one could easily expect a life pattern with obligatory, tenured schooling from six to sixteen, followed by obligatory, tenured work from sixteen to sixty. The comfort of such a sense of security is fast being shattered. Today we appreciate the ability to be rapidly reactive, to adopt a ‘just in time' orientation. There is on one hand a new urgency to blend and mix work experiences with education for those who are students. Thus, we must conceive and design opportunities for work placements, practicums, site visits and extra-curricular credits. On the other hand, we must also just as imaginatively blend and mix educational experiences with work for those who are workers. Thus, we must also conceive and design opportunities for in-service training, refresher courses, sandwich courses, professional development programmes, qualifications related increment or promotion options. Employers, trainers, educators and professional bodies are all called upon to encourage, support and lubricate this transition. The ETC's sterling contribution to this effort is perhaps best exemplified but its Night Institute for Further Technical Education, its Technical Apprenticeship Scheme and the Extended Skills Training Scheme, the latter two being run in partnership with supporting employers and the Education Division.

This new symbiosis of education and work implies a fresh approach to learning and training - with more part-time courses, more participative pedagogies, more distance learning options, more home-based course work or self-led tuition. The ‘sage on the stage' must give way to the ‘guide on the side', mentoring rather than lecturing, facilitating rather than dogmatising.

The implications of these changes are enormous. The numbers of those attending education and training institutions should increase dramatically. The types and format of structured learning opportunities will also increase. So will the providers of such education and training. So will the sourcing and financing of all such initiatives. So will the profile of the beneficiaries. The challenge ultimately is to create a learning society, where lifelong learning is a natural norm, an acquired right, an automatic orientation to a fully participatory life as a citizen, as a worker.

To conclude, I am pleased to note that the Employment & Training Corporation is committed to pursuing the cherished goal of a lifelong learning society. I recognise this commitment in that wider national context which is developing at least five other complimentary initiatives: first, the quality provision of post secondary vocational education, with the establishment of the MCAST; second, the familiarisation with, and respectable insertion of, technology education with its introduction in the schools' core curriculum at secondary level; third, the continued and enhanced support for ‘learning by doing' life skills programmes for students during school hours, such as Scoops: Coops for Schools, Young Enterprise and the President's Award; fourth, the establishment of the Institute for Student and Parent Learning Support; and fifth, the setting up yesterday of the Malta Council for Vocational and Professional Qualifications to develop, certify and grant credentials based on such vital skills and competences which have so far gone regrettably unrecognised.

Having been, as then Minister for Social Policy, the key player in the setting up of the ETC 10 years ago, it is with a special sense of personal satisfaction that I now wish this institution "Happy Birthday" and invite it to continue taking a leading role in this inculcation of a lifelong learning orientation amongst our society. I also thank the foreign and local speakers at this conference - Prof. David Ashton from the Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester, Ms Evelyn Viertel from the European Training Foundation, and Ms Antoinette Caruana from the Foundation for Human Resources Development and the newly appointed first Chairperson of the MVPQC. Thank you all for having kindly accepted the ETC's invitation to attend this event and kick-start what should prove to be a most interesting discussion. I would also like to thank you for the different ways in which your three organisations are supporting the promotion of education and training in Malta, also in collaboration with the ETC and the Ministry of Education.

Finally, I thank you all for being here today and would wish you all fruitful deliberations.