Updated | Teachers’ union raises concerns about new university licensing rules

The Malta Union of Teachers has expressed its disagreement with the recently published legal notice 150/2015, which it feels will "undermine longstanding beacons of education".

The MUT said that while it agreed in principle with allowing foreign universities to operate in Malta, it said that the amended legal notice to reduce the required number of programmes for the setting-up of higher education instituttions would allow entities without substantial educational function to operate as a university.

"It is an international norm that an entity awarded the title of University should (a) be multidisciplinary with different faculties, (b) have taught programmes, (c) have a continuous strong research element, and (d) support an element of outreach in the host community. The proposed amendments, however, mean that eligible entities in Malta will now be able to ignore three out of these four criteria and are free to adopt just one of these elements," the MUT said.

"Another implication is that Malta will operate a definition of University which is different from the established norm in most countries thereby putting the country’s academic reputation at risk. Moreover, the Union doubts whether Malta has currently enough resources to monitor what goes on inside all higher and further education institutions."

The union also expressed concern that applications for the status of University would be considered by the NCPHE “if the application is in the national interest”,  which the MUT said could lead to the awarding of academic licences on an ad hoc basis, regardless of academic standards.

"The Union would have expected a proper study to be conducted to make sure that the University of Malta, MCAST and ITS do not lose foreign students to private institutions, especially if these are primarily of a commercial nature. If this happens, local educational institutions with long traditions and good repute would end up with financial difficulties that could make it impossible for them to operate successfully."

In a reaction, the Education Ministry said that the accreditation and licensing process run by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) had remained largely unchanged.

"In the last few months, the government has regularised the high standards we have achieved so far and further strengthened them. New regulations now ensure that educational institutions operating in the University sector in Malta and Gozo must have the required fully qualified academic staff and they must go through a rigorous quality assurance process of their programmes before they are allowed to operate. Their students and academics must undertake research. Applying in the national interest does not exonerate educational institutions from the obligations to offer good quality courses, research programmes and good academic governance," the ministry said.

The ministry said that international trends show that new universities are being established with specialised programmes in one or a few areas. "In fact, LN150/2015 defines universities in the context of these new global realities. The quality and standards of a university do not depend on the amount of programmes and faculties but in the way these programmes are run and delivered."