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.