With the commencement of a new semester at university, one tends to look back and evaluate the previous year. Such assessment is essential as it serves to identify one’s strengths and preserve them, as well as rectify one’s weaknesses.

When students in the Faculty of ICT look back on their past year, they are filled with concerns about the new academic year, their third and final year. Last year, their second year of the undergraduate degree programme in the newly established Faculty of ICT, numerous issues had arisen that adversely affected their studies.

The unbalanced timetable of the lectures between semesters together with unrealistic assignment deadlines clearly put students in a difficult situation. Moreover, in these times where student oriented education is highly promoted, people are urged to voice their concerns. However, the feedback received was so late that the actions required to address the problem were no longer necessary.

It is totally deplorable that a student, who had applied for the revision of a paper of a particular unit, was informed that he passed the exam five minutes before he started the re-sit exam. It is equally unacceptable that examination results are published two weeks before the supplementary examination session is to be held. To add insult to injury, re-sit results are still unpublished by the time a new academic year has started.

It is to the detriment of students when lecturers do not show up for the better part of lectures planned for a particular study unit. While it is understandable that there might be cases where a lecturer would not be able to attend, the faculty should find a replacement instead of ignoring the situation. Students were nevertheless made to sit for an exam focusing on the minimal material covered. This obviously affected other units, which were designed to extend the student’s knowledge in the area.

The matters highlighted in this article, are neither exclusive to a particular year of this degree programme nor to the Faculty of ICT itself. Similar problems are recurrent and spread over a multitude of courses in different faculties. These should serve to shed some light on the deplorable state of affairs students have to put up with it while they further their studies in the highest educational institution of the country...

University of Malta BSc ICT (Hons) Year 3 Students