The University of Malta and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology have signed an agreement allowing MCAST students following the Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care entry into University's nursing courses.

"I look forward to further discussions between UoM and MCAST to identify student mobility pathways between the two institutions to avoid unnecessary replication of degree programmes, particularly those leading to warranted professions" the University Rector, Prof Juanito Camilleri, said.

In his short address Silvio Debono, President of the Board of Governors, said that this is a very important milestone whereby students from MCAST attending Level 4 and Level 5 in Health Sciences can now opt to either pursue their degree at MCAST or else move on to carry out a degree in Nursing at the University of Malta.

This agreement has also opened doors for other potential agreements in other fields of study. MCAST, through its University College will also continue in its mission in offering degree programmes in different fields, complementing those offered by the University of Malta, Dr Debono said.

Following the signing of the agreement, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said that this is an important step in strengthening the collaboration between the University of Malta and MCAST, wherein our main higher education institutions are complementing each other in the award of qualifications. The Minister also said that the public education sector has plenty of room for growth and opens up other opportunities in other qualifications.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne praised the agreement stating that this will increase the number of nurses graduating from the University of Malta. The projected increase in health infrastructure and services over the next few years will provide exciting opportunities for the new graduates. In fact it is envisaged that this new agreement will increase the number of nursing graduates by about 30% to over 200 a year. Parliamentary Secretary Fearne said that this is a sharp contrast to the situation under previous administrations when the imposition of numerous clauses on the University nursing course had lead to only 44 nurses graduating in 2010.

This agreement, which comes into effect from this September's intake, opens the door for hundreds of students to further develop their skills at the University in the field of nursing, while avoiding replication of courses. Since the MCAST Extended Diploma is at MQF Level 4, the University will not require further SEC certification at MQF Level 3 as it will assume that the students would have obtained the necessary Level 3 skills through their studies at MCAST.