In recent days some controversy and opposition has arisen to a new programme which the University of Malta is introducing for those who begin their studies at the institution.

The Communication and Academic Skills Programme (CASP) is set out to improve students' critical thinking and reasoning and also improve their writing and problem-solving skills.  However, it has become subject to an online petition launched by some students - which has now received over 1,300 signatures - against it.

The students insist that the study unit has been forced upon them and that it will make them lose focus on study units which they specifically selected to study in their respective courses.

It is good firstly to identify what exactly the CASP is.

According to the University, it is a university-wide initiative "targets invaluable skills crucial to academic excellence that prepare students for the academic challenges, the demands of the world of work, and the opportunities which are yet to be created. "

"CASP is designed to immerse students in the experience of inquiry-based writing strategies and encourages them to engage in the iterative process of writing and presenting research. Both study-units are driven by an overarching principle, which is to prepare students to be versatile in their competencies as they adapt to a rapidly changing world. They aim to develop students' critical thinking and reasoning; ability to evaluate and strategically process information; collaboration through the mediation of opposing views; self-direction through metacognitive skills; and creative problem-solving skills," it said.

Foreign universities in the U.S., UK, and other European countries have had similar programmes for several years, so why should Malta be any different?

In the petition against the unit, which was signed by over 1,300 people, the aggrieved students claim that the addition of this particular study unit, which comprises 8 ECTS or European credits, would cause students to have trouble focusing on those units which they specifically elected to study in their respective courses.

Such a statement ironically proves exactly why the study unit which the University of Malta is proposing is sorely needed.  These students do not appear to realise that the skills needed on the workplace do not start and stop with what is taught during lectures.

In fact, in many sectors, the skills taught and focused up in the CASP unit are even more important than what is taught during a lecture. 

If anything, the biggest argument which should be made in all of this is that the things which this study unit is focusing on should be introduced at an earlier stage: perhaps at sixth form.

As things stand our education system is building workers who are taught to know their place and not think critically about what they do and what is around them.  The very fact that students themselves have opposed to a study unit which focuses on critical thinking and critical writing on the basis that it's not related to whatever course they are in simply backs this statement up.

It is positive, at least, to see that the University student council (KSU) expressed its agreement with the CASP in principle.

Perhaps one could argue that the matter could have been better communicated to students, but that does not remove any of the merits that such a study unit has, and the positives it will bring to those who attend and actually bother to pay attention to it.