A few days ago, during one of the graduation ceremonies for students in BSc. (Hons) Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Aeronautic and Marine) from the University College of the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology (MCAST), a graduate complained that it was not right that students graduating from the University of Malta in engineering are given a warrant by the Engineering Board but those graduating from MCAST are not. MCAST was set up under the Eddie Fenech Adami administration by then Minister of Education Louis Galea. Its main aim was to increase the number of students continuing their post-secondary education. Malta was lagging behind the other EU countries in this respect and many post-secondary institutions such as the ex-Fellenburg Centre and other centres including new ones, were brought together to found MCAST. The Education Act setting up MCAST specifically gave it the right to confer degrees. These home-grown degrees at Level 6 were set up to complement early BTEC certification diplomas and were mostly launched during the term of Dolores Cristina as Education Minister and have continued to expand under this present government's Evarist Bartolo.
The National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) was officially launched on 14th September, 2012 and is legislated by the revised Education Act which came into force on 1st August 2012. Its mission statement is: “to foster the development and achievement of excellence in further and higher education in Malta through research, effective licensing, accreditation, quality assurance and recognition of qualifications established under the Malta Qualifications Framework.” First set up earlier as the MQC (Malta Qualifications Council), it had then been integrated into the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE). Its function is to make sure that any educational institution in Malta offering higher educational qualifications reached the required standards, especially since many private universities were also setting up shop in Malta. As part of the EU framework this was needed to establish a level playing field as far as standards were concerned. MCAST developed its degree programmes within this framework under the NCFHE and is fully certified to grant degree programmes as well as other diplomas at a lower level for post-secondary students, much like the University of Malta runs its own Foundation programmes. MCAST University College was specifically set up within the MCAST colleges system to concentrate on conferring degree programmes and has now even started offering Masters (Level 7) programmes. Its head is Ing. Dr. Alex Rizzo who is excellently certified and has both engineering degrees from the UoM and has also obtained a doctorate from an expatriate European College.
The Engineering Act sets up the Engineering Profession Board and defines the eligibility for the warrant as well as the duties and obligations pertaining to a warrant holder. It falls under the remit of Minister Joe Mizzi. An engineering degree is necessary to get a warrant, followed by at least three years experience. However any work experience during the degree itself can contribute by not more than a year towards the work experience. It is highly unusual and unfair that this government board has decided to grant warrants to UoM graduates in engineering but not to MCAST graduates in engineering which college was also set up by the government!
At present, MCAST has 10,000 full-time and part-time students both local and foreign, with about 800 graduating every year in several disciplines. It should have dawned on the Engineering Board and other Professional Boards by now that this refusal to grant recognition to degrees by MCAST University College, or other colleges with NCFHE certification, is tantamount to narrow minded post-colonial turfing and snobbism which is highly discriminatory and illegal as it flaunts the spirit of the legislation (epikaea) enacted by the state!
What is the way forward here? The first and best option is for the different local Professional Boards including the Engineering Board to come to their senses and change their discriminatory and illegal attitudes in light of the present educational developments and realities now found in the country. If this fails, the government should legislate to specifically make this attitude to graduand turfing, illegal. I remember Prime Minister Gonzi verbally alluding to this option in his meeting with MCAST students before the last general election when he became aware of this injustice. This responsibility has now fallen on the shoulders of this present government. Failing this, MCAST can open a legal challenge to this malpractice in the Law Courts, as MCAST student bodies or any of the graduates in their respective professions can in fact do as well, which legal option can lead to indemnity damages. Sometimes these complex issues, when facing professional inertia, need referral to the courts to tackle adequately as was the case with private broadcasting in Italy in the eighties.
I am sure that all this can be avoided with a modicum of good will and prudent common sense. However, it has to be dealt with expeditiously as it is creating a social and professional injustice to the many MCAST graduates (and their families) qualifying every year.
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