The government is to introduce a new University Act separate from the current bill under which the University of Malta currently falls.  Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this in a meeting with the University of Malta lecturers.

However, UMASA (University of Malta Academic Staff Association), said it was never consulted on the new University Act.

In an email sent to its members, a copy of which was shown to this newsroom, the association writes; UMASA regrets that to date, it has not been consulted on the new University Act.   When it attends the 3pm session tomorrow, UMASA Council will maintain that such consultation should precede any meaningful discussion about the University's future direction.

During the meeting, lecturers were invited to raise issues they felt needed to be raised. Among the issues discussed, a prominent point which arose was about what the new Rector for University should represent. The idea is to have a figure of high-standing who is to be respected to head the University.

Prime Minister Muscat spoke about a 5-year plan for the University which was seen to be quite business oriented, seeing as a lot of the issues mentioned were about the University budget and how, in comparison to other Universities all over the world, the UoM, although with a steadily rising budget, is still one of the most successful Universities in the world, given it's at points lacking financial backing.

In fact, issues such as whether foreign students should receive stipends or not were also raised, the issue leading to the discussion of keeping University prices competitive and to keep up with the global trade of foreign students.

Other points mentioned by lecturers during the meeting included more focus on digital academia, the weaknesses and strength about the UoM in terms of moving with the times and competing with foreign Universities, as well as the amount of Bureaucracy, which needs to be tackled.