The University of Malta started its new academic year today with over 3,700 new students an increase of more than 250 students when compared to the last academic year.

These bring the total student population for this year to 11,737. The female student population is significantly higher at 6,708. The male student population totals 5,029. University students will include 612 international students coming from 71 different countries. Together they are following a total of 840 courses.

2,721 students will be registering for undergraduate courses while 979 students will be reading for postgraduate degrees. Another 1051 new students will be joining the Junior College, bringing the total number of students to 2,323.

The new academic year was launched this morning with a ceremony held at the Sir Temi Zammit Hall. The customary procession of robed academic staff was followed by musical interludes by the University Wind Ensemble and the Rector’s speech.

This is Professor Juanito Camilleri’s last year as University Rector. He is the 80th rector of the University of Malta. Addressing the staff and new students, Professor Camilleri referred to this year’s university theme: ‘Think outside the box … and read the signs of our times.’ He urged students to move beyond Malta’s shores and decipher how the country looked ‘from the moon.’

This theme was consistent with the message he put forward during his rectorship. He drew attention to one’s responsibility to make the right choices and challenge that which has become the norm. He invited students to think outside the box and to hone a global vision, to question what is said with an open mind and a different perspective. While completing university with a set of skills was very important, he said, it was not enough.

“In order for one to make an impact, on eh ad to first discover one’s true self and all that one stood for, while seeking to understand what was taking place in the world and reading the signs of the times.”

“We all live in a world laden with opportunities, choices and also with the threat if we make the wrong choices.” He said new disciplines continued to emerge, discoveries in quantum and astrophysics give as new insights on how the world and the universe are wired up. He observed how social media have been instrumental in bringing down regimes and yet, the Rector remarked, we still had to see if these can be useful at all in building effective democracies.

Professor Camilleri also spoke about climate change, and how it is expected to impact on migration.

He remarked that while most of Central Africa will become inhabitable due to global warming within the next thirty years, half of the world’s youth will be born in Africa. “So we can expect massive migration northward and southward, the southern Mediterranean coast will become very densely populated. More people will seek to migrate northwards toward Europe. What we are witnessing now in the Mediterranean is merely an amuse bouche - not even an appetizer if what is in store down the line.”

Malta itself will most certainly hot up. Fresh water increasingly becoming the most valuable commodity and this means we need to make sure we have sustainable and affordable energy not only to cool our habitats but also to irrigate and sustain our farmland.  The world’s population will increase to some 9 billion.

“On the flip side, Malta has a declining birth-rate, an ageing population and an increasing influx of immigrants from both the north and south. I can imagine how Maltese wedding albums will look like thirty years from now. But will we be wise enough to adapt ‘Malteseness’ in a timely fashion? Will we still recognise what it is that makes us Maltese? Will we still be known for our hospitality, for our tolerance, for our adaptability, for our Christian values, or will these be replaced by xenophobia and myopia?

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo was present for the start of the academic year. The University of Malta has introduced a number of new courses this year, including Master in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Culture, Master of Arts in Ageing and Dementia Studies, Master of Arts in Catholic School Leadership and Master of Education in Teaching of Ethics in Schools.

At an undergraduate level, UoM is introducing Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Microelectronics and Embedded Systems, among others.