The theme chosen for this year's Public Service Week is 'The Public Service Always At Hand', because the service is tailored to your needs, is reached at your comfort, and so is always right beside you and at hand, including in the education sector.
This was stated by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar during a visit to the Verdala Secondary School in Cospicua, which forms part of Saint Margaret College. The visit took place as part of Public Service Week 2020, which runs until Friday 25th September. The Principal Permanent Secretary was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Education and Employment, Dr Francis Fabri.
During the visit, which was open to the media, Mr Cutajar had the opportunity to see some of the tangible results of the strong financial investment made in the educational field over the last seven years, including the state-of-the-art workshops in this school for students to get practical experience in areas such as hospitality, beauty and hairdressing, fashion and textiles, engineering and information technology.
Mr Cutajar said that in a small country lacking natural resources such as Malta, we strongly stress the importance of human resources. Education is just the key to getting the right people in today's and tomorrow's jobs.
The Public Service, said Mr Cutajar, strongly believes in the importance of education, so much so that it has set up an institution itself for public officers to continue to learn and train throughout their careers. It also set up the one-stop-shop edu servizz.gov, where with a telephone call or a visit one may make us of more than 60 services in relation to the field of education.
The Principal Permanent Secretary added that the huge financial investment that has taken place in the Public Service in recent years is also reflected in the field of education, including by building new schools, laboratories and workshops. The same goes for investment in technology, which has also been extended to primary schools by giving a tablet to each student of the fourth and fifth years, so that tomorrow's adults are fostered early in the use of technology.
While focusing on students, the Public Service also caters for teachers. A new collective agreement has been drawn up for them, and the National Board of Compulsory Education has been set up with an advisory function, bringing together representatives of teachers, parents and industry, Mr Cutajar said.
Dr Francis Fabri spoke about the programme 'My Journey: Achieve Through Different Paths', which was designed in recent years to ensure that each student learns according to their particular skills and that no student is left behind or lost along the way.
Dr Fabri explained that 'My Journey' offers a vocational and practical route for which every student can opt without feeling inferior. He said that in order to implement this system, the Ministry for Education and Employment also focused on the necessary infrastructure. In fact, some 77 state-of-the-art workshops were set up through national and European Union funds. The total cost of the project amounted to €12 million.
