Nationalist Party consults with MCAST students over Zonqor development

 MCAST students express concerns about the proposed reform of the institution, as well as the proposed development at Zonqor Point

Shadow Education Minister Therese Comodini Cachia
Shadow Education Minister Therese Comodini Cachia

The Nationalist Party has continued meeting with interested parties about the government’s decision to build the new American University of Malta at protected, virgin land at Zonqor point.

Shadow Education minister Therese Comodini Cachia met with student representatives from MCAST earlier today, where she listened to their concerns about the project. The meeting is part of a series of consultations the party is holding with students from other educational institutions as well as other related entities.

Addressing the press immediately after the meeting, Comodini Cachia said that the opposition was doing what the government should have done before any decisions were made.

“Students at MCAST are very concerned about the way this project will ruin a beautiful ecological area in the south of the island,” she said adding that nobody was against the idea of having pluralism and higher and tertiary education.

“The students are also concerned about the way recent developments may effect the levels of education in Malta,” she said referring to the legal notice that published on 8 May.

The notice has modified the Further and Higher Education Licensing, Accreditation and Quality Assurance regulations, to allow any accredited higher educational institute to become a fully-fledged university if the National Commission for Further and Higher Education deems it to be in the national interest.

Comodini Cachia added that students and lecturers had issued a statement to condemn the government’s decision in this respect and that the party would be meeting with lecturers to discuss the matter.

Asked were the party had obtained the e-mail addresses of the lecturers in question, Comodini Cachia insisted that they had been obtained from the university directory which was public and open to all. She explained that a simple Google search of the lecturer’s name was enough obtain their university address and that there had been no braches to their data protection.

 “The students have also expressed deep concerns about the proposed reform at MCAST,” she said explaining that both students and lecturers were surprised by the way the reform had been presented as a ‘fait accompli’, with many not even understanding the meaning.

Comodini Cachia expressed her disappointment at the fact that the reform, which will include grouping institutes together and introducing new managerial posts among others.

“Just this week, a call for a vacancy was created, but the lecturers were not aware of this, and they are also concerned about the criteria that will be used to select such people,” she added, explaining that students were also concerned about the identity of some of the courses.

“Many students are worried about the proposal to group agri-business and applied sciences under the same institution. They have questioned how this will effect the identity and the structure of this course among others.”