IT institute plans €10m campus
St Martin's Institute of Information Technology is planning to purchase land for a new campus, which would enable it to increase its student body to 2,000 within five years, with the international market as its target. This would entail increasing its...
St Martin's Institute of Information Technology is planning to purchase land for a new campus, which would enable it to increase its student body to 2,000 within five years, with the international market as its target. This would entail increasing its current workforce of 43 to around 180.
"Of course, we would have a considerable number of Maltese students but we believe that there is a lot of potential internationally," principal Charles Theuma said.
"The cost of a degree in Malta is less than half of that in most EU countries and even less than that when compared with English-speaking ones."
The project will require an initial investment of around €10 million but he does not anticipate any problems raising financing.
"There are other institutions which are like us partnered with the University of London, who are very interested in the campus," he said.
"Plus, St Martin's has always funnelled its profits back into the institute for future investment." Mr Theuma said that a potential site had been identified for the campus, but he declined to say where it is as negotiations have not yet started.
At present St Martin's operates from premises in Hamrun but will soon be moving its administration and library to another building nearby.
This will provide a bit of breathing space but with a capacity of 500 and a student body of 370 (80 of them full-time), space will clearly be a challenge in the future, especially as it expands the range of full-time courses on offer.
This September, it will add a degree in creative computing to its BSc in accounting and finance as well as two other computing degrees, and a BSc in economics and management.
For Mr Theuma, the problem he anticipates is not filling the new campus but rather weaning the Maltese public off the idea that the educational system should be based on the University of Malta.
"I have been an educator for 21 years and have been involved with the University of London programme for six years and I have always come up against this mental block. I don't think that this should be the case. We do not compete with the University of Malta - for example, our economics degree is a BSc, a maths-based degree, unlike the UoM's BA degree. So we look for degrees where we can widen the choice available. The same applies with our computing degrees: None of them have a direct counterpart at UoM," he said. "And yet no one can deny the need for this variety. The UoM has 300 ICT students and we already have 200."
The new computer course is being introduced with the intention of feeding Malta's gaming and film industry, both of which would gratefully suck up graduates. However, there are other emerging industries such as edutainment (using computing to enhance educational processes).
The same applies for the institute's financial degrees. The University of London is one of the main providers of graduates for the City of London and with Malta aiming to become a centre of excellence in financial services, he believes Maltese students would benefit greatly.
"Having lecturers with an international perspective, who are involved in research with the main players in the financial services industry, well, this gives a plurality of thought that a student in a purely local context might not be able to get."
He also sees potential for Malta as a centre for excellence in tertiary education as an economic sector in its own right but stressed that this would come from having numerous institutes and not from the UoM alone. This all has to be seen in the context of the fact that the UoM is already bursting at the seams, he stressed.
"Of course, Malta's taxpayers can invest in expanding the UoM's resources but if the private sector is willing to invest, wouldn't that make more sense?"
The fees at St Martin's are around Lm2,000 per year for a full-time degree course but Mr Theuma believes that the extension of the stipend system to students at approved tertiary education institutes, as was announced in last year's budget, would help greatly.
"The UoM benefits from being free and from the stipends given to students. If ours also got the stipend it would help to level the playing field somewhat," he said. Foreigners already make up around a quarter of St Martin's student body, many of whom originally came to Malta to study English and realized it would be a great place to continue their studies.
"I estimate that 2,000 students could generate Lm10 million for the economy, which is as much as we would have got from the additional 50,000 tourists who never materialised," he said.
"The only thing that we have to watch out for is that quality is maintained. University Rector Juanito Camilleri says the same thing, hinting that not all private providers are up to scratch - which unfortunately casts doubts over all operators.
The sooner the Higher Education Commission finishes its work and decides on how to monitor this very important sector, the better. It is in no one's interest to allow bogus operators in who could destroy all we have worked for."
"Of course, we would have a considerable number of Maltese students but we believe that there is a lot of potential internationally," principal Charles Theuma said.
"The cost of a degree in Malta is less than half of that in most EU countries and even less than that when compared with English-speaking ones."
The project will require an initial investment of around €10 million but he does not anticipate any problems raising financing.
"There are other institutions which are like us partnered with the University of London, who are very interested in the campus," he said.
"Plus, St Martin's has always funnelled its profits back into the institute for future investment." Mr Theuma said that a potential site had been identified for the campus, but he declined to say where it is as negotiations have not yet started.
At present St Martin's operates from premises in Hamrun but will soon be moving its administration and library to another building nearby.
This will provide a bit of breathing space but with a capacity of 500 and a student body of 370 (80 of them full-time), space will clearly be a challenge in the future, especially as it expands the range of full-time courses on offer.
This September, it will add a degree in creative computing to its BSc in accounting and finance as well as two other computing degrees, and a BSc in economics and management.
For Mr Theuma, the problem he anticipates is not filling the new campus but rather weaning the Maltese public off the idea that the educational system should be based on the University of Malta.
"I have been an educator for 21 years and have been involved with the University of London programme for six years and I have always come up against this mental block. I don't think that this should be the case. We do not compete with the University of Malta - for example, our economics degree is a BSc, a maths-based degree, unlike the UoM's BA degree. So we look for degrees where we can widen the choice available. The same applies with our computing degrees: None of them have a direct counterpart at UoM," he said. "And yet no one can deny the need for this variety. The UoM has 300 ICT students and we already have 200."
The new computer course is being introduced with the intention of feeding Malta's gaming and film industry, both of which would gratefully suck up graduates. However, there are other emerging industries such as edutainment (using computing to enhance educational processes).
The same applies for the institute's financial degrees. The University of London is one of the main providers of graduates for the City of London and with Malta aiming to become a centre of excellence in financial services, he believes Maltese students would benefit greatly.
"Having lecturers with an international perspective, who are involved in research with the main players in the financial services industry, well, this gives a plurality of thought that a student in a purely local context might not be able to get."
He also sees potential for Malta as a centre for excellence in tertiary education as an economic sector in its own right but stressed that this would come from having numerous institutes and not from the UoM alone. This all has to be seen in the context of the fact that the UoM is already bursting at the seams, he stressed.
"Of course, Malta's taxpayers can invest in expanding the UoM's resources but if the private sector is willing to invest, wouldn't that make more sense?"
The fees at St Martin's are around Lm2,000 per year for a full-time degree course but Mr Theuma believes that the extension of the stipend system to students at approved tertiary education institutes, as was announced in last year's budget, would help greatly.
"The UoM benefits from being free and from the stipends given to students. If ours also got the stipend it would help to level the playing field somewhat," he said. Foreigners already make up around a quarter of St Martin's student body, many of whom originally came to Malta to study English and realized it would be a great place to continue their studies.
"I estimate that 2,000 students could generate Lm10 million for the economy, which is as much as we would have got from the additional 50,000 tourists who never materialised," he said.
"The only thing that we have to watch out for is that quality is maintained. University Rector Juanito Camilleri says the same thing, hinting that not all private providers are up to scratch - which unfortunately casts doubts over all operators.
The sooner the Higher Education Commission finishes its work and decides on how to monitor this very important sector, the better. It is in no one's interest to allow bogus operators in who could destroy all we have worked for."