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THE MALTA INDEPENDENT - 22nd February 2005
Careers for Gozitans?
We are preaching to our kids – and quite rightly so! – to take school seriously, to sit down and study hard, so that in the end they will have acquired a solid foundation for a satisfying work life. Our exam-laden system means that school stops being fun at the tender age of eight or nine years. However, almost a further decade later, after rat-racing from exam to exam, the sad reality kicks in, especially for those youngsters whose only fault it is to have been born on the wrong island. For in Gozo, due to its size, workplaces are limited, and career opportunities for school-leavers are very rare indeed.
Those who are bright enough – and have sufficient stamina left to study – might postpone their job-seeking activities for a few more years and continue their education at university.
As for the vast majority, the search for a job becomes a nightmare. Many young people find themselves in the situation of accepting a workplace, for which they are – fresh A Level certificates in their pockets – vastly overqualified, the only alternative being unemployment.
Do I hear you ask, “What about looking for work in Malta!”? Certainly! Of course there are far more employment opportunities to be found on the main island. Apart from greater career prospects, the fact that wages are usually higher than in Gozo is a further incentive to send off those job applications. Never mind the rather daunting thought of a ringing alarm clock at 4 a.m. in order to cross the channel to report punctually for work!
Alas, reality soon defeats the young person’s initial eagerness. A dozen or so job applications might result in a couple that are not answered at all, with the remainder generating polite refusals. “Sorry, the vacancy has already been filled,” is their general tenor. This is all the more frustrating because in most cases not even the opportunity of a personal interview was granted, let alone a reason given for rejection.
Are Maltese employers discriminating against Gozitan young people? Is the impression wrong that job applications are discarded as soon as it is realized that the return address is in Gozo? I would be more than pleased if I were proven wrong – but this is what many have come to think.
Seeing the enormous efforts the ETC is currently making in order to get employers to accept the more mature members of society, what about a similar campaign to attract them to Gozitan school-leavers that are, after all, no less bright and enthusiastic than their Maltese peers?