MCAST streamlines top-up stipend payments for apprentices

MCAST streamlines top-up stipend payments for apprentices

Published February 13, 2025

The Commissioner for Education within the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman notes with satisfaction the progress that has been registered by MCAST in ironing out problems connected with the payment of top-up stipends to its apprentices.

Following a complaint last year by a student, who was following a course leading to the Advanced Diploma in Construction Engineering, that he had not been paid for his placement period with the Public Works Department, the Commissioner, after a detailed examination of the facts, found that the student was in fact being paid all that was due to him. However, it transpired that the procedure used by the college for the payment of the top-up stipends to students doing an apprenticeship with a government department was unnecessarily complicated, leading to delays in payment and the perception that students were not being paid according to the agreement signed.

The Commissioner recommended that a simpler, more linear and more practical method of payment of this top-up stipend should be devised.

The Commissioner notes that MCAST has proposed an alternative and more direct way of handling these payments. The decision to implement the proposal is awaiting the concurrence of other stakeholders. However, a number of corrective and preventive actions aimed at the root causes of the delays have already been implemented, reducing the incidence of complaints.