University wants 12,000 students by 2006

The university is aiming to increase the number of its local full-time and part-time students to 12,000 by 2006, according to a four-year strategic plan that has just been published.

The goal should not be too hard to achieve. Student numbers are rising every year, with nearly 9,000 full-time and part-time students flocking to lectures last academic year.

The university says it will make a special effort to attract students from those areas in Malta and Gozo where, because of certain constraints, young people have shunned tertiary education.

The institution will also try and attract more adult part-time learners, especially those seeking to improve their careers or to gain a postgraduate qualification. A Lifelong Education Unit will be set up to co-ordinate part-time courses.

Also in the university's sights are foreign and exchange students, which it is aiming to attract more of through expanding the activities of its International Office and European Unit, and consolidating bilateral agreements with other universities.

Furthermore, the university will make "fresh attempts" to offer distance learning programmes through radio, TV and the internet.

Some of the other actions that will be taken to increase student numbers are the expansion of day-care facilities to enable more mothers to become full-time students, the extension of accredited courses run by associated institutions, and making student services more user-friendly and efficient.

But the strategic plan also acknowledges that proper funding is critical to providing quality education to an ever-increasing number of students.

"The university has to persuade the government that current state funds are utterly inadequate to meet its academic commitments, and that if the institution's prevailing economic situation persists, academic quality will suffer."

The plan speaks of making sure state funds are utilised efficiently and enhancing transparency and accountability in fund management.

The university will encourage all its faculties and institutes to embark on activities that generate local and foreign funding, while allowing them greater autonomy over those funds.

It will also seek to collaborate with local industry on projects of mutual financial benefit, intensify efforts to attract more fee-paying foreign students and lease facilities to generate funds.

Other goals contained in the strategic plan include pursuing excellence in research, strengthening links with the world of work, streamlining its administrative structures and improving the physical environment.