The voice of MCAST - the newly formed students' council

In its first years of operation MCAST achieved a number of milestones which have brought integration between students and training structure. The latest achievement is the formation and establishment of a students' council.

It had been a clear vision shared by both the administration and the student body for quite some time, to bridge the gap and have this representative structure as an essential component of the college. The establishment of this student group has been a rather lengthy and time-consuming endeavour.

The first step was the formation of the students' council task force. This task force has been crucial in developing a strategy and the governing statute for MCAST's students' council. The council was launched on National Youth Day (March 21, 2006). Its dedication and commitment will always be remembered as it formed the foundations for full representation and a voice for MCAST students.

Nearly a year has passed and the first MCAST students' council has now been elected. This executive is entrusted with the challenge to establish the foundations of this student organisation for future growth in initiative, contribution towards the future development of the college and responsibility.

The first executive is composed of seven members: Luke Cassar, secretary general, Paul McAlister, financial co-ordinator, Wilfred Buttigieg, president, Cladonia Scerri, international co-ordinator, Paul Bonnici, social policy co-ordinator, Giovanni Galea, social and cultural co-ordinator, and Julian Portelli, PR officer.

All performances start with clear goals

The council seeks to represent full-time MCAST students in all that concerns them, both on a national and international level, promoting educational, personal, social and cultural awareness.

MCAST students: different needs, one college

The council will seek to understand the diverse needs of MCAST students attending the various institutes at different vocational education and training levels. In this regard, the council will create tools and studies for students to properly channel their aspirations and issues.

This will not only allow the council to develop coherent and synchronised student policies, initiatives and activities, but also to seek the unification of all students under one name and body.

The council believes that broad horizons, unlimited knowledge and youth initiatives are important ingredients for a united MCAST student community. In this regard, the students' council will seek to liaise with the National Youth Information Centre (NYIC) to create and maintain youth information points throughout all MCAST institutes and centres.

The council has the duty to provide the impetus for participation of students and youth. It is responsible for the organisation of a number of events and programmes as youth participation is at the centre of everything in ways that adhere to the principles of personal development, health, entrepreneurship and responsibility.

At present, MCAST is a multi-campus college. This brings about an increasing need to establish contact points with students at different sites. This entails capitalising on the communicative world we live in both as an asset and as a challenge.

The council will have to exploit the various media, some of which it will use to communicate. Hence, the Web portal will be launched in the coming weeks. This online service will help reach out to more students and increase our information dissemination and sharing tools. The print media will always remain effective, thus the students' council will be printing informative material, yet economically, in order to comply with the policy of environmental concern.

MCAST: a community college

Being part of MCAST, a community college, the students' council believes that through the sharing of their views, aspirations, passion, concerns and experiences, MCAST students have an opportunity to make an optimal contribution to society.

Being very aware that their role is not to bring revolution but promote steady evolution, we entrust ourselves to a chain of events that will eventually motorise change. We intend to do this through numerous activities, the biggest being National Youth Day.

Without revealing any surprises for the time being we can assure everyone that this year it will be on a much wider scale than last year, since the number of those who believe in this collective event has grown significantly. This event will not just grow in size but also in meaning - to promote the value of life among peers and to empower young people to initiate positive actions that will serve to create awareness about healthy living and leisure.

Europe, a world of opportunities

The MCAST students' council aims at bringing about a 'European generation'. This will be attained through the involvement of students in European youth programmes, such as youth exchanges and the end goal being the organisation of a youth exchange here in Malta later this year.

This aspect is not a short-term goal but will continue in the future and hopefully grow to involve the over 5,000 students who will be attending MCAST in years to come.

Students' House

In time the Students' House at the Main Corradino Campus will be a place that both represents and recognises the students' council. This place will be of great logistic importance to the delivery of the council's message.

The Students' House will be completed this year, but until then the council will continue to work hard by exploiting their best assets: personal and group determination and the support of those who believe in them, particularly senior managers both at the college as well as its institutes.

The students' council can be contacted by e-mail: student.council@mcast.edu.mt.

Mr Buttigieg and Mr Cassar are president and secretary general respectively