The Maltese Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) and the Maltese College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in order to strengthen the cooperation between the two entities.
This cooperation, which has existed for a number of years, will now be formalized for the first time and will include a program through which college students will be able to gain volunteering experiences and have more information about the sector and about the different unions.
The agreement will also increase the promotion of the sector with young people and the opportunities for students. Apart from this, cooperation will also be created on training programs, information and resources for those who wish to contribute to volunteering.
This was announced by the Minister for Inclusion and Volunteering Julia Farrugia Portelli and the Minister for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation Clifton Grima, in the presence of the CEO of MCVS Mauro Pace Parascandolo and the Principal and Chief Executive of MCAST, Prof. Joachim James Calleja.
The agreement is also allowing the MCVS to have a fixed physical presence in a central location in the MCAST campus in Paola, through a Volunteer Hub, from which information about the sector will be provided both as services for those who wish to contribute as a volunteer and also for voluntary associations.
Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli explained how the presence of Volunteer Hub at MCAST will continue to send a strong message in favor of volunteering among students. “We want to empower students to be catalysts for positive change. As a Government, we will continue to invest as many resources as are needed to promote volunteering as a tool through which students and teenagers shape a brighter future”, said Minister Farrugia Portelli.
Minister Clifton Grima said, “With this agreement we are emphasizing how important a role volunteering plays and that it makes a change in people’s lives. It is significant how the Hub will be in a student campus like MCAST, when we know how much the students are taking an active part in the life around them on various levels. This agreement is also another one that sees various entities coming together to continue giving more opportunities to the country’s students.”
Present for the signing were the Permanent Secretaries of the two Ministries, together with a number of students who have just completed their volunteering experience as part of their academic journey at MCAST.
