The National Commission for Higher Education has an advisory and consultative role but it will definitely not be a regulatory body, its chairman Joseph F.X. Zahra said yesterday.

Speaking to the press after a briefing seminar for representatives from the higher education sector, Mr Zahra said the commission was currently holding meetings with stakeholders to ensure that tomorrow’s needs in the sector would be met.

He explained that the commission had also had meetings with the Opposition and with Alternattiva Demokratika because the future of this sector was important for all policy makers.

“Further and higher education and research are clearly vital investments for Malta and the Maltese. Ensuring a highly educated society, more university research and more innovation and knowledge transfer, is the key to our ability to generate wealth and maintain a sustainable standard of living,” Mr Zahra said.

He said that beyond its economic value, further and higher education and research permeate every facet of our daily lives.

“Our health, our industries, our social policies and indeed our understanding of ourselves, our own culture and the surrounding world we live in, all emanate from this cradle of knowledge.”

Mr Zahra added that further and higher education institutions are crucial to all these objectives and are the key protagonists in the transformation of our island. Their story is testament to the potential of the Maltese and a challenge to do better in the future, he added.

The NCHE chairman also stressed the importance of a “small but strong” secretariat to be able to carry out not just administrative tasks but also research and to prepare reports that are intended to guide the educational establishments at all stages of planning.

He said the commission is “student centric” and operates on a wider dimension than stringent sectorial interests.

“The commission is not just another layer of added bureaucracy but its members are there as thinkers and to lead the way. The immediate reaction from stakeholders is that we need this commission now.”

Asked by The Malta Independent why certain courses at university, such as in the arts and humanities, were perceived to be of less importance to the local economy, Mr Zahra replied that although the country needed to read the signs of the times, there was definitely a lot of space for humanities and other related courses which are crucial for the country.

Mr Zahra reported the progress of the Commission to date. The recommendations for a change in the Education Act to focus on the National Commission for Higher Education, were submitted in April, as requested by the mandate given by the Minister of Education. These provide for the establishment of a permanent Commission, its terms of reference and a legal basis for its operation.

In its plans, the Commission awaits the establishment of a permanent Commission through enactment, appointment of staff to complete its executive arm, and publication of a strategy which outlines the development pathway for the sector at large.

For more information on the National Commission for Higher Education, visit the website http://www.nchemalta.org.