The Education – Employment Stakeholders’ Guidance Forum

TheEducation-Employment Stakeholders’ Guidance forumwas set up in October 2017. The aim of the Forum was to bring together representatives from the education and employment sectors in order to work closer together with regards to school to work initiatives specifically for students who are within the compulsory education years (i.e. between 7 – 16 years old). The Forum was set up by the National Schools Support Services within the Ministry for Education. It is open to heads of educational institutions, national associations, The Malta’ Employers’ Association, the Malta Enterprise, the Chamber of Commerce, employers representing different employment sectors, Jobsplus (Malta's PES)and post-secondary institutions, among others. The overall aims of the Forum is the following:

• A platform where stakeholders meet to discuss and exchange ideas and whose main sought outcome is the creation of a common understanding of what the links between education and employment entail;
• A proactive forum to promote the concept of lifelong guidance through concrete initiative proposals to strengthen the links that already exist and to establish new networks;
• To encourage collaboration and cooperation on specific activities (i.e. career exposure experiences (one-week job shadowing at the place of work for Year 11 students (14-15 years), career orientation visits for Year 10 students (13-14 years), amongst other initiatives.
• To strengthen the transition of students from compulsory to post-compulsory education and/or work;
• A platform where stakeholders work together in order find ways on how to address and narrow skills gaps identified in the local labour market;
• To discuss matters of concern.

The following Stakeholders’ Guidance Fora have been organised to date:

October 2017: First Stakeholders’ Guidance Forum

October 2018: Second Stakeholders’ Guidance Forum

June 2019: Third Stakeholders’ Guidance Forum

October 2020: Fourth Stakeholders' Guidance Forum:Postponed because of the Covid 19 pandemic. It is planned to organise the upcoming forum in the beginning of the new scholastic year (tentatively October 2021).

Outcomes achieved can be found in the links provided with this description.