Quality Apprenticeship Conference

Date: Tuesday, 14^th November 2023

Venue: Verdala Palace, Rabat

The conference will provide a platform for Industry Partners, including three international speakers, apprentices and academics to come together to reflect on current practice and propose the way forward for ensuring that the apprenticeship experience prepares our current student workforce for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.  The conference will also recognise Industry Partners who have been instrumental in ensuring quality apprenticeships for the MCAST Students, tomorrow’s employees.

08.30: Welcome Coffee – Registration
09.00: Introduction and Overview of the ‘Encounter: MCAST meets Industry’ initiative
             Mr Ramon Mangion, Director Education & Training Programmes and Learning Support

 Welcome Address
Prof James Calleja, MCAST Principal & CEO

09.30: Address by the Minister of Education, Sport, Youth, Research, and Innovation
             Hon. Dr Clifton Grima

09.35: Workshop Schools – Quality in Education – How to lead change
            Ms Carina Joao Oliveira, Executive Director, Insignare, Portugal

10.10: Industry Partner feedback – Findings of the Survey
             Ing Pierre Dalmas, MCAST Deputy Principal, QA, Student Academic Management and Work-Based Learning

10.30: Coffee break

 11.00: Student Panel discussion: Quality in Apprenticeship
             Moderator – Ms Edel Cassar, MCAST Director, Strategy Implementation

12.00: Competence building by work-based learning – Opportunities and challenges (Case study from Finland).
           Ms Paivi Korhonen, Director and Chief Executive in the Joint Authority of Education in the    Espoo Region Omnia (Finland)

12.35: Assigning value to Work-Based Learning
            Mr Maarten Thiry, Head of Marketing, PXL Applied University, Belgium

13.10: Launch of MCAST Apprenticeship Guidebook for Industry Partners and Conclusion
            Ing Pierre Dalmas, MCAST Deputy Principal, QA, Student Academic Management and Work-Based Learning

 13.30: Networking lunch

 

Ms Carina Joao Oliveira

Executive Director, Insignare

Carina João Oliveira is a Civil Engineer with a degree from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (pre-Bologna), with a post-graduate degree in Management and Leadership from AESE Business School.

She is the CEO of “INSIGNARE – Teaching and Training”, which owns Fátima Hospitality and Tourism School and the Ourém Technical VET School, among other functional areas of business services and training, with a specific department for Adult Education.

In 2019, she was elected as Secretary to the Board in Executive Committee of EfVET – European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, based in Brussels, the European representative for VET schools and providers.

In INSIGNARE, She led the pilot project between the European Commission and the African Union to open up Erasmus for vet in Africa – SAAM, and has therefore had several international representations to implement the system, namely in Kenya, Cape Verde, Angola and Brussels, which is an ongoing project that includes 17 other African countries.

She is a full member of Portugal Order of Engineers, elected a member of the National Assembly of Representatives for the 2022-2025 term, and in the 2019-2022 term was elected a member of the National College for Civil Engineering.

Ms Päivi Korhonen

Ms Päivi Korhonen currently works as a Director and Chief Executive in the Joint Authority of Education in the Espoo Region Omnia, Espoo (Finland).  Responsible for societal advocacy, reputation management, and related stakeholder collaboration, coordination of networks, and media relation and in charge of corporate-level visits and events.

Mr Maarten Thiry

Mr Maarten Thiry currently works as Head of Marketing & Sales programmes at PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hasselt, Belgium.  Before that, he was project manager for the integration of 17 new associate degrees at his university.  Today, he also sits on the Flemish strategic counsil for EQF5, which advises the Flemish government on how to further develop this fairly new level of higher education.