The Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy (FEMA) at the University of Malta has failed a whole class after they came into possession of evidence of widespread collusion between students for the exams related to a particular study unit - a decision which student's union KSU has called 'unjust'.

In an email sent to students on Monday morning, the faculty said that it has “substantiated evidence of collusion” in two tests which make up the EMA1008 study unit – a unit taken by first-year Bachelor of Commerce students called Quantitative Analysis for Business.

The Faculty said that it has in its possession over 43 screenshots from a Facebook Messenger Chat which substantiate the claim that students had colluded with each other to cheat during the exam.

It is not made clear within the email how many students were involved in the alleged cheating.

The matter, they said, is being considered and evaluated at Faculty level, and if the behaviour is repeated then it will be referred to the University Assessment Disciplinary Board.  The Faculty said that it reserves the right to impose penalties in cases where it has established that a breach of the regulations has been committed.

Till then, the mark of 0 will be assigned to all students in the course for the first test of the study unit, the Faculty said, with students having the option for reassessment but the possibility of only receiving a maximum score of 45 – which is the minimum mark needed to pass the test.

Failure to heed the warning in the email will lead to the students failing the entire study unit, the faculty said.

Concluding, the faculty said that the decision is final.

Reacting to the news, the University Student Council - KSU said that the action taken by the University is "unjust".

"KSU believes that the action taken in the case of first-year Bachelor of Commerce students at the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy (FEMA) is unjust. Whilst we strongly condemn cheating in any form and believe that collusion should be addressed by the University, it is unreasonable that students are penalised en-masse without a fair hearing before the Faculty’s disciplinary board as part of a comprehensive investigation. We reiterate that students deserve a due process and investigation as per the University of Malta Assessment Regulations", they said.

"It is unjust that students who worked hard and sat for their exam independently of their peers whilst following all regulations receive a failing mark due to the actions of other students. Therefore, KSU calls for the reconsideration of this decision, following a thorough process that considers students individually rather than en-masse."

In a separate statement meanwhile, student organization SDM condemned any act of cheating, and that online and take-home examinations were implemented specifically to ensure the health of all students, meaning that it should be every student’s duty to abide by all the regulations which the University puts in place.

“As a student organisation, we are sympathetic towards the students who did not cheat and whose average will be affected negatively because of this abrupt decision taken by the faculty in question”, SDM said.

They said that in the coming days they will be discussing the matter with student representatives on the Faculty Board, ASCS – which is the student organisation which represents commerce students – and KSU.