Teaching Businesses

Therefore TCTC has joined forces with HSBC, Maltapost, Airmalta, Vodafone and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications on this initiative and it will be carried out in collaboration with local councils in Zabbar, Mosta, Naxxar, Zejtun, Paola, Tarxien, Fgura, Hamrun, Ghaxaq, Gudja, B’Bugia, M’Scala, Mellieha, Rabat (Malta) and San Gwann.

“The EBIZ is in line with TCTC’s philosophy to provide training courses and make them easily and conveniently accessible to the community by setting up computer labs at local councils in line with our other community training projects,” Mr Abela says.

The EBIZ course is divided into six modules, with each one focusing on specific areas that business people will find useful in their day-to-day operations.
The first module will explain how to use Outlook. “But this is not just teaching people how to send an email,” Mr Abela says with a laugh. “This involves the setting of rules of incoming messages, creating multiple inboxes, setting reminders, as well as compiling to-do lists and activity reports.”
The second module looks at spreadsheets – something that many businessmen are often intimidated by. This module assists in the creation of spreadsheets for items such as profit and loss accounts, cash flow statements and sales invoices.

“The E-services portion of the course looks at numerous online services that businesses can take advantage of to make their life easier,” Mr Abela explains. “This portion of the course shows you how to take advantage of ETC material online, make online VAT payments and submit income tax reports via the internet. These can save time and paperwork for small businesses, allowing managers and traders to focus on developing the businesses instead.”
The fourth part of the course involves the use of mobile phones. Applicants will be taught how to send and receive emails with their phones, synchronise them with their calendars to keep track of appointments and even use mobile broadband.

“The fifth part of the course is conducted by HSBC and involves a full overview of internet banking and its business uses. The final part of the course looks at soft skills and deals with items such as time management, customer care and marketing online,” Mr Abela says.

“There is also a number of EU funding opportunities that companies can take advantage of through the offices of the ETC,” Mr Abela continues. “The Training Subsidy Scheme (TSS) and the Training Aid Framework (TAF) can be applied for through the ETC and companies can obtain grants that cover up to 80 per cent of the training costs.”
“We will also be running EBIZ Pre Accession Course which is being offered at a subsidised fee and will enable participants to develop the necessary skills to enjoy the EBIZ course for those that are not fully computer literate,” Mr Abela explains.

More advanced users will be catered for by means of the EBIZ Expert course. This will be a more detailed and in depth look at business applications including stock control software, payroll, financial management and Sage accounting features, as well as a deeper focus on E-commerce and E-marketing opportunities.
EBIZ for youths is a third scheme that will teach some of the above skills to young entrepreneurs. “This is in the pipeline and will be developed alongside local councils and schools. I would like to see Public-Private-Partnerships such as these made through TCTC which continue to further the local communities and to help them develop their skill sets,” Mr Abela concludes.

Applications, which have to be submitted by 29 January 2010, can be collected from the respective local councils, HSBC branches and TCTC offices in Naxxar and Paola. The courses will start at the end of January 2010 and there will be weekly classes between 1 and 3.30 pm or from 7 to 9 pm.
Further information can be obtained from www.ebiz.com.mt