Tripoli, 3 March 2013:
Libya and Malta have signed an education and training deal, which will turn the Libyan school in Ta’ Giorni into a training centre of excellence for up to 900 new Libyan students.
“It will become a regional institute of education, confirming us as a regional hub of excellence,” said Malta’s Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
There will be staff and student collaboration between the Malta College of Arts, Sciences and Technology (MCAST) and the Libyan school. Under the new agreement, more than 900 Libyan students will study at MCAST, according to the Times of Malta.
There are also plans to set up an MCAST campus in Misrata.
The improvements to the school in Malta’s Ta’ Giorni will be financed by the Libyan government and Malta will provide expertise and teaching staff.
The Libyan Minister of Labour and Retraining, Mohamed Fitouri Sualim said there would now be a renewed focus on the Libyan School in Ta’ Giorni. He added that, in the past, the school had not been used as much as it should have been.
Sualim also said that the agreement enhanced the long-term relationship between the two countries.
This latest deal firms up two education agreements made late last year, when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries.
Gonzi said that the “excellent diplomatic relationship” between Malta and Libya was now being “translated into concrete initiatives.” [/restrict]
