Cap. 538 Art. 20Person who, on the dateofcominginto force of this Act, has a professional qualification in counselling.

(1) Any person who, on the date of entry into force of this

Act, has a professional qualification in counselling which makes him eligible for a licence of a warrant to exercise the counselling profession in a country where the professional qualification has been obtained, shall be considered to satisfy the provisions of article 3(3)(d).

(2) Any, any training undertaken by a person who successfully obtained the qualification referred to in article 3(3)(d) between the date of receipt of such qualification and the entry into force of this Act, shall be deemed to be training undertaken under the supervision of a counsellor or a counselling supervisor.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any person who satisfies the Council who before the coming into force of this Act:

(a) he is qualified in Masters in Counselling that includes professional training or has a diploma at level 7 within the Malta Qualifications Framework issued by the University of Malta or its equivalent in accordance with the standards of the Malta Qualifications Recognition Information Centre; and

(b) has exercised the counselling profession on a regular basis or has occupied the post of a counsellor in a Government department or agency for a period of not less than three years, or has occupied the post of a counsellor in a Government department, institution or a non-governmental agency approved by the Council as such, or is self-employed and certified by a supervisor that he has worked for at least two hundred hours within a period of two years, shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of article 3(3)(d): Provided that the Council may order additional training to the persons referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b).

(4) Any person who is registered in courses which are not equivalent to the Degree of Masters in Counselling – M.Couns. -offered by the University of Malta in terms of the Bye-Laws under the auspices of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, shall be allowed a period of two years from the entry into force of this Act to complete such courses and the Council may order additional training. Following this period of two years, the Degree of Masters in Counselling obtained from the University of Malta, or its equivalent, shall be considered as the minimum qualification for the counselling profession.