The insufficient linkage between industry and education : a simple lack of communication?

Abstract

For years industry in Malta has claimed that there is a labour skills mismatch. Industrialists and their representatives hold that this situation has arisen mostly because the education authorities have failed to keep abreast with the latest technology and because educators are too detached from the real world of employment. Educators on the other hand say that they cannot possibly be expected to teach and at the same time be conversant with the latest technology used by employers. Persons from a number of sectors have said that the two sides should work closer together. This study investigates whether this situation has come about due to a lack of communication between the two sides - the premise being that better communications can allow the parties to work towards a common goal. A questionnaire was used to understand industrialists' recruitment difficulties and the type of communications between the two sides. Interviews were also conducted with the decision-makers in the fields of Education, Industry, Employment and Training Corporation, Federation of Industry and others. Rather than a simple lack of communications, there is a basic conflict of ideology between the two parties. Industry tries to influence educational policy by various means, while Education resists these attempts on a number of grounds. As things stand at present, the two sides seem reluctant to communicate with one another.