Labour Youth question whether MEP fulfilling University obligations

The Labour Youth Forum (FZL) have questioned whether Nationalist MEP Therese Comodini Cachia is fulfilling her contractual obligations as a University of Malta lecturer.

“How is she managing to lecture four half-days a week when she has European Parliament duties three days a week?” FZL President Alex Saliba told a press conference. “Is she conducting research as her contract dictates.

In response to a parliamentary question, education minister Evarist Bartolo said that Comodini Cachia is entitled to “give four sessions of four hours each per week”, as well as research and other academic duties, including administrative and professional work.

Comodini Cachia, also shadow education minister, has insisted that she still performs the same duties as stipulated by her contract since her election to the European Parliament in 2014.

“I still hold lectures and meetings according to the lecturing schedule assigned,” the MEP told MaltaToday. “As you are aware I am not resident in Brussels, but have retained full residency in Malta.  This gives me time during each week for me to be at University.”
She said that when lectures are scheduled on days when the MEP is in Brussels lectures are held through video-conferencing facilities available at the University of Malta.

In reply to whether she is fulfilling all obligations, Comodini Cachia said: “if I didn’t believe that I could give students my utter best I would not have retained my commitments. Nor would I continuously develop the programme of studies I coordinate for the students to obtain an even better experience.”

‘PN against students reading for Masters’ degrees at MCAST’  

PL executive secretary Lydia Abela accused the Nationalist Party of trying to cast a bad light on MCAST students and lecturers and of being against students reading for their Masters’ degrees at MCAST.

“[Opposition MP] George Pullicino didn’t even know that MCAST was made a self-accrediting institution since 2012, under a Nationalist government,” she said.

A legal notice published in May allows MCAST to offer courses up to Level 7 (Masters’ degrees, Postgraduate degrees and Postgraduate certificates), whereas it had previously only been deemed fit to offer courses up to Level 6 (Bachelor’s degrees).

Speaking in Parliament on Monday during a debate on whether that legal notice should be revoked, Pullicino questioned whether any studies had been carried out before the government allowed MCAST to offer Level 7 courses. 
“MCAST will obviously be more credible if its programmes are accredited by an independent institution,” Pullicino said. “We are not against MCAST’s self-accreditation at this level, but we must ensure that the process is carried out with as high a quality as though it were being carried out by a foreign institution.”

Evarist Bartolo has accused Pullicino of launching an “unfounded and uncalled for ferocious attack against MCAST’s integrity.”

He said that the National Commission for Further and Higher Education has recently carried out its first-ever audit of MCAST, the University of Malta and the Institute of Tourism Studies, and that MCAST had performed positively.

Bartolo said that the audit will be published in the coming weeks.