MCAST students are still uninformed about how changes at the college will affect them, shadow minister for education Therese Commodini Cachia said this afternoon.

MCAST will be formed of three colleges, each focusing on specific levels. The Institute said that such reform will ensure that students received the programmes and attention that they needed as well as more specific pedagogies and links with stakeholders.

However Dr Comodini Cachia, after attending a consultation meeting with students’ representatives, said that students are concerned that the merging of different institutes will downgrade the level of the separate institutes. As an example, The Institute of Agriculture will now form part of the Institute for Applied Sciences.

“Unfortunately the reform was provided as fait accompli and no consultations with stakeholders were carried out beforehand. It should be the Education Minister himself who is carrying out such meetings and not the opposition,” Dr Comodini Cachia said.

She added that a number of lecturers at the college have also raised concerns with the opposition about calls for vacancies, asking how these will affect them.

The shadow minister said that it would have been more logical to create a reform to ensure a better standard for the services offered to students.

Dr Comodini Cachia said that while the PN supports tertiary, it questions the legal notice that  has resulted in lower requirements for educational institutions to be recognised as universities.

A Legal Notice published three days after the Heads of Agreement was signed between the government and the Jordanian Sadeen Group, which is investing in the American University of Malta.

The Opposition is also consulting different educational institutions about the government’s plan to develop the ODZ at Zonqor.