HSBC Malta Foundation donated €10,000 to Nature Trust – Foundation for Environmental Education FEE Malta’s EkoSkola programme, and €13,000 for the Water Explorer Programme and various water projects carried out in schools.

HSBC Malta Foundation’s contribution also supports the Young Reporters for the Environment Programme (YRE), as well as the YRA Award Ceremony. YRA encourages students to conduct journalistic investigations about environmental issues to report about them to the local community via articles, photos and video clips.

“HSBC Malta has been investing in EkoSkola for over 12 years because we believe that the future of our environment requires a mindset change that can be brought about by new generations of citizens choosing to live a more sustainable lifestyle than previous generations,” said HSBC Malta’s CEO Andrew Beane in his address during the summit.

“Through a set of interrelated actions, EkoSkola programme helps young people to understand and appreciate the opportunity and responsibility that they have to bring about the needed change through simple, yet practical everyday acts,” the CEO added.

“EkoSkola inspires young people to actively engage in their environment by encouraging them to actively protect it,” said Vincent Attard, President of Nature Trust Malta.

“From the classroom, the programme expands to the entire school and eventually nurtures change in the community at large. The EkoSkola programme is an ideal way for schools and students to embark on a meaningful journey towards improving the environment in both the school and the locality,” Mr Attard added.

Other initiatives covered by the Foundation’s donations include Eco-School 9th Young People’s Summit, the 14th EkoSkola Parliament Session as well as the Learning About Forests Programme (LEAF)—an international outdoor learning programme promoting awareness and knowledge about the key role forests play for sustainable life on our planet and whether that role is being compromised by the way of life we lead.

The Eco-School programme, known in Malta as EkoSkola, was introduced in Malta in 2002, with six pilot schools. Today, the number of participating schools in Malta and Gozo stands at 123. Eco-Schools, an international programme run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) amongst over 19.5 million students in 68 countries worldwide, aims to mobilise schools to encourage students to adopt an active role in environmental decision-making in their school and community. In 2015, the Eco-Schools programme has been recognised by UNESCO as the Programme for Education for Sustainable Development in the world.

The post HSBC Malta Foundation supports EkoSkola via donation first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“This partnership with the Edward de Bono Institute has been of great benefit for Melita, helping to inject new and creative ideas into our marketing strategy,” said Mireille Muscat, Head of Marketing at Melita. “This will help us to better communicate the benefits of using Melita’s infrastructure and products. We also hope that the experience will have given a useful practical insight to the students about what awaits them once their studies are completed,” she added.

“This initiative was a great experience for our students, giving them an opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge to a practical scenario. The Edward de Bono Institute is committed to building partnerships like this with the private sector as we firmly believe that these initiatives help both students and potential future employers to understand each other’s skills and requirements,” said Margaret Mangion, Senior Lecturer at the Edward de Bono Institute.

The post UM students pitch marketing ideas to Melita first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

During the summer, interns from JAYE Malta Foundation and MCAST spent time at HSBC, learning about the functions at the bank’s retail and commercial businesses, customer service operations, accounting, communications, business technology services, marketing, human resources, and other areas. Interns also had the chance to meet members of the senior leadership, in addition to their dedicated mentors, who supported the interns on a daily basis.

“We are incredibly happy with the work of our talented interns and dedicated employees this summer,” said HSBC Malta Head of HR Caroline Buhagiar Klass. “Our 22 interns came from diverse backgrounds, but all shared a passion for the constructive impact of banking on social and personal prosperity. We hope we have instilled in them an expanded world view and a willingness to contribute positively to the society in which they will be active citizens in the coming future,” said Ms Buhagiar Klass.

HSBC tags its Future Skills programme as a key part of its updated sustainability strategy.

The post HSBC’s third internship programme educates 22 interns first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

After many years of work, most people desire to retire in comfort, trying to retain their same standards of living prior to retirement. The session by BOV promises to offer information on this topic to senior customers.

According to BOV’s calculations, a person will need at least two-thirds of their pre-retirement income in order to maintain the same level of lifestyle upon retirement as before. Nevertheless, BOV says that not everyone will be eligible to receive the two- thirds of their current income, chiefly due to the fact that the state pension is capped.

The main speakers of the session in Gozo will be David Spiteri Gingell, Management Consultant and Mario Farrugia from BOV and the minister of Gozo will also attend the event with the president of the Gozo Business Chamber.

The seminar is free of charge and participation is available on a first come, first served basis, therefore, interested individuals are recommended to apply in an email.

The post BOV to hold info session on tax incentives on pensions first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The main topics discussed during the sessions included the sign-up process, sending online payments, setting up standing orders and ordering new debit cards or pin codes.

The main speakers were Scott Lee Holloway, APS Bank Voice of the Customer Officer, Sharon Grech from Sliema Branch and Roberta Portelli from the IT Quality Assurance team.

APS Bank says it offers further assistance online through the official page of “myAPS” Omni Channel.

The post APS Bank educates senior customers about online banking first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The government believes that continuous learning even after the end of compulsory education is of “profound importance”, according to Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education and Employment. Over the years, the number of lifelong courses offered has not only increased but improved, as 7,000 adults attended such courses during the past academic year, Mr Bartolo believes.

Lifelong learning courses marked Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF) are recognised by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE). These programmes include essential skills which aim to improve basic reading, writing, maths and computer skills; language learning in 11 different languages, offered at MQF level 1 and 2, SEC and A-Level; improving educational and career prospects; healthy living; and creative expression. Lifelong learning offers courses which cater to different learning needs.

Today’s world is continuously changing and so, the pursuit of knowledge for personal or professional reasons not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also sustainability, competitiveness and employability, notes Mr Bartolo.

The courses will be held at the eight Lifelong Learning centres, in 27 local councils and 17 NGOs. Applications for courses commencing in October 2019 until January 2020 or May 2020, will be open from 17 July until 7 August 2019.

Information related to the courses and applications may be found on the Lifelong Learning website.

The post ​Education ministry launches 450 Lifelong Learning courses first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The Ministry of Education has awarded Melita with a contract to connect all government-owned education institutions with dedicated fibre as part of a managed network. Melita expects the upgrade — covering more than 100 institutions — to future-proof Malta’s public schools, enabling them to leverage current and new digital technologies by removing bottlenecks associated with bandwidth, according to a press statement sent to Business Malta.

The contract award follows a public call to telecommunications operators issued last year which was won by Melita. More than half the schools will be connected as from the beginning of 2019-2020 academic year, with the rest of the schools being enabled by January 2020.

Melita CEO Mr Rösch tagged the day as an important one for Melita for being chosen as the service provider for supporting more than a hundred schools. “It is not only an investment in the infrastructure but also an investment in the future of the country,” Mr Rösch said.

“This project is important for Melita, not because of its scale but most importantly because of the impact, it will have on our children’s education. The new network will, in fact, allow the technology team within the Ministry of Education to manage and deliver services to all sites seamlessly and more efficiently, helping to make both teaching and learning more engaging and rewarding. As a forward-looking organisation which takes inspiration from the needs of our customers to invest in the right infrastructure to connect them to the services they need, being awarded this contract is very satisfying,” Mr Rösch added.

“As a small island in the big world, connectivity has always been crucial,” education minister Evarist Bartolo said. The minister also elaborated on the fact that traditionally speaking, maritime and aerospace connectivity has been important for Malta, being an island. However, as today sees immense digitalisation activities, internet connectivity is becoming more important than ever.

The minister also said that his ministry looks forward to further collaboration with Melita to enhance connectivity for both education and employment.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Business Malta’s morning report from the event has been updated with further details carried by the official press release issued in the afternoon. The cover picture of the article has also been changed to a photo of the Melita CEO speaking at the event.

The post Gov’t teams up with Melita on upgrading school connectivity first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The aim of this event is to provide a platform for Level 2 and Level 6 students within the ICT institute to showcase their work and highlight the emerging technologies that are researched within the institute. 

The research topics are about Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Games Development, Blockchain enabled applications, AI, Computer Networks and others. 

All prospective students, parents and guidance teachers are encouraged to attend to get more familiar with the process behind these academic projects.

The post MCAST hosts one-day EXPO for ICT students first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Focusing only on post-secondary level, the number of students enrolled in sixth forms and other institutions dropped by a year on year 7% to 10,194 during the academic year 2016-2017.

The largest proportion (88.8%) was aged between 15 and 19. Foreign students enrolled amounted to 667, accounting for 6.5% of the total.

The vast majority of enrolments (88.6%) was in institutions controlled by the government. Those enrolled in vocational institutions accounted for 47.2% of total students at this level.

The most popular field of study among vocational students was “Services” (18.9%), closely followed by “Engineering, manufacturing and construction” (18.1%) and “Information and Communication Technologies” (15.5%). Courses followed within “Services” included tourism-related courses.

Tertiary-level sees growth

Based on students enrolled in tertiary-level courses, the total number during the academic year 2016-2017 was 14,425, showing an increase of 4.8% compared to the previous academic year, as the NSO press statement figures show.

Female students were in the majority (55.9%), while almost three-quarters of the total student population at this level (73.5%) were studying on a full-time basis.

Nevertheless, part-time enrolments showed an increase of 14.3% over 2015-2016. The largest proportion of tertiary students (57.9%) was engaged in courses at the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level 6 – Bachelor’s or equivalent. This proportion was followed by enrolments at ISCED level 7 (Master’s or equivalent), with a percentage of 29.4%.

Most tertiary students (46.7%) were aged between 20 and 24, followed by those under 20 years (21.6%). Moreover, female students outnumbered their male counterparts at almost all ISCED levels of tertiary education.

At the same time, foreign students totalled 1,204, accounting for 8.3% of tertiary level enrolments, showing an increase of 16.7% over the previous academic year.

Furthermore, at the tertiary level, the most popular fields of study emerged as “Business, administration and law” with 3,857 students and “Health and welfare” (2,802). In total, these two fields of study accounted for around 46% of tertiary-level enrolments in 2016-2017.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Post-secondary student numbers drop, tertiary increase in 2016-17 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

As the scholastic year is nearing its end, the cost of tuition fees influences the choice of many students on their further studies.

Therefore, BOV believes that getting an education loan can help an individual to choose the right path, without giving up on the best available choice and giving to students the freedom to choose the best education that fits their future goals.

Nevertheless, BOV warns that all loans are subject to credit approval by the bank and a credit agreement, the press release says.

The post BOV announces offering education loan first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.