An Investment in Knowledge Pays the Best Interest

Benjamin Franklin once said that “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” and I cannot agree enough.

Educating yourself as well as those around you is the best investment in the future that we can make and it is an investment that is not being made by this current Government.

As an employer, I have had many experiences with interviewing candidates, shaping careers, and watching people grow; and I feel that there is much more that we should be doing to provide the Maltese with the tools they need to grow and flourish.

Where the current government have failed, we need to concentrate on taking large steps forward in not just improving the level and type of learning that is available, but also inspiring people to take steps to better themselves.

We must reinforce the importance of expanding people’s mind and integrating lifelong learning into every aspect of the working world.

Development and the ongoing acquisition of different and evolving skillsets is critical to the success of both the individual, and the economy as a whole.

The world around us is undergoing a huge period of change and we must arm our citizens with the deep skills, soft skills, and knowledge they need to pioneer the way in this ever-changing sphere.

Encouragement

I hear many stories of people that feel that they are stuck in a rut when it comes to their careers.

We need to encourage people to reignite their hunger for success, development and learning.

We must inspire people to strive to be the very best that they can be and to always seek to improve on their current talents.

Empowerment

Once we have re-lit the flame of learning we need to empower individuals to be the masters of their own destiny.

We must allow them to decide what they want to do, how they want to do it, and when they want to do it.

As a Government, we can provide them with the opportunities, information, and means of pursuing their dreams- something that is not being done at the moment.

Engagement

Learning must be interesting, absorbing, and relevant.

We must seek to build relationships with employers, associations, government departments, and educational institutions so that we can provide high-quality and highly relevant courses and workshops to the people that need them.

By monitoring current trends and demands both locally and abroad, we can make sure that we offer only the most applicable, engaging, and useful learning opportunities available.

Accessibility

A failing of the current system is that no one has paid any attention to the fact that people who are already working, have issues with time and flexibility.

We all lead hectic lifestyles when we combine work and family life, and many feel that they simply do not have the time to dedicate to education. We need to listen and be responsive in our approach- we can provide online learning portals, distance learning programmes, schedules that are sympathetic and flexible to the demands of modern life- through measures like this we can seek to increase uptake and engagement across the board.

There is a wealth of technology at our fingertips that we can utilise to facilitate these measures, and at the present moment, quite simply- no one is doing anything about it.

There is a world of opportunity out there but it is moving at a very fast pace. To make sure that we do not get left behind, we must seek to encourage and invigorate the motivation of our citizens, whilst ensuring that a new government is in place to support them every step of the way.