Dr Kenneth Vella

Organisation: Mater Boni Consilii St Joseph School, Government of Malta

Position or Title: Headmaster; Maltese Ambassador to Finland

Brief Bio: 

Dr Kenneth Vella was born in Pieta’ Malta on the 22 nd March 1974. He attended Marsa Primary State School, Junior Lyceum Liceo Vassalli tal-Handaq, Gian Frangisk Abela Upper Lyceum and the University of Malta. In 1996, Vella graduated with a Bachelor of Education Honours degree from the University of Malta.

In 2005, he obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Administration and Management and in 2008 a Masters in Educational Leadership, both from the University of Malta. Vella continued with his studies at the University of Lincoln in England from where he obtained a Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Research and Development in 2015.

In 2010, Vella was appointed by the European Commission as a member of the Expert Group on Education And Training In Sport. Between 2010 and 2012, Vella was also one of the directors within the Malta Sport Authority. After teaching for ten years in a Church school, Dr Kenneth Vella was selected to be an Assistant Head in the same school then in 2012 he was appointed principal of Mater Boni Consilii St Joseph School Paola.

In September 2015, Vella was also appointed as a member of the Board of Studies within the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta to plan and prepare courses in Educational Leadership. In July 2019, he was appointed Chairman of the Quality Assurance Committee within the National Commission for Further and Higher Education and during the same year he was directly involved in the organization of the first IVETA conference in Malta.

In January 2021, Dr Kenneth Vella was elected Vice President for the European Region of the International Vocational Education and Training Association (IVETA). Vella is also an executive member of the Malta Society for Education Administration and Management.

Dr Kenneth Vella has also extensive journalistic background. In the past twenty years, he has written educational and sport articles which were published in local Maltese and English daily newspapers and produced sport programmes for the national radio and tv station – PBS. Two of these programmes were in 2002 and 2003 selected as the sport programme of the year by the Malta Broadcasting Authority.

Dr Kenneth Vella has been collaborating with English, Finnish and Estonian educational entities for the past fifteen years, facilitating visits to Finnish schools and universities by Maltese educators, coordinating seminars on Finnish pedagogy led by Finnish educational experts in Malta and has been instrumental in introducing Finnish and Estonian educational resources to Maltese teachers and educators. Four years ago he was appointed the Non Resident Ambassador of Malta to Estonia and Finland. He believes that IVETA is critical to facilitate the contact and the sharing of expertise between experts and members from different countries.