Promoting more and better post-secondary education in Malta

The National Commission for Higher Education (NCHE) is a government agency whose mission is to promote more and better further and higher education, and to empower all students with knowledge and skills for their future.

Institutions in this sector face a growing student population with a larger share of our youth choosing to further their studies. Institutions need to increase their capacity and the mix of courses they offer. Continuous investment and long-term planning is required to have the right staffing profile and quality to the highest standards. Making Malta a centre of excellence in any type of economic activity needs heavy investment in the underlying education and training system.

For this reason the NCHE is totally engaged in developing a strategy entitled "The Modernisation of Further and Higher Education in Malta", and welcomes the current consensus and support towards its work from all stakeholders.

The NCHE's functions include formulating a vision, strategy and guiding principles for further and higher education, to promote a structured dialogue with all stakeholders, including students and academic staff, and to advise Government on the development, planning and governance policies of the sector.

The commission conducts research on policy issues related to student choice and fair access, quality assurance and accreditation, state funding and accountability, international developments, and dissemination of information to the general public on all issues relating to this sector.

Further education includes all post-secondary general and vocational education institutions and their programmes.

Post-secondary institutions include the Junior College, state higher secondary schools and private sixth forms. The vocational sector includes the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), the Institute for Tourism Studies (ITS), and all other formal private tuition of a vocational nature.

Higher education includes the University of Malta and other private education institutes authorised to deliver tuition that leads to recognised tertiary qualifications.

Under the chairmanship of Joseph F.X. Zahra, the commission launched a number of initiatives that include the setting up of the secretariat and a number of projects to see the agency through its first year.

Last October, the Minister of Education requested the NCHE's advice regarding the needs and priorities for reform of the current regulatory framework, and to make recommendations that may improve governance, quality, accountability, and funding of various institutions in the sector.

The commission consulted all heads of institutions, students and staff representatives to understand the challenges and opportunities that they face and how the existing structure complements or hinders their work. From these initial discussions the NCHE identified three priority areas it is currently working on this year:

• The establishment of a competent authority to implement a licence framework for private and state institutions, with a set of standards and obligations and a reporting cycle on their activities and performance;

• The setting up of accreditation agencies and the standards to which such agencies must comply to give public confidence in the assurance of the institutions' official endorsements and programmes. Agencies must operate to high standards of foreign peer agencies and ensure that Maltese qualifications are among the best qualifications worldwide;

• A portfolio of short-term measures to finance the growth and quality enhancement of the University of Malta. The NCHE recommends the establishment of a University Trust Fund linked to tax benefits for donors, the University's ability to offer joint degree programmes with foreign universities at commercial and sustainable fees, and possible improvements in the funding of basic and applied research activities of the university. Such measures would give the University more financial autonomy and sustainability in the short to medium term.

Apart from these recommendations related to the regulatory framework, the NCHE is committed to strengthen the culture of medium- to long-term planning, within the institutions themselves as well as between different planning functions of central government.

The NCHE is organising a series of one-day foresight events in collaboration with the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) and heads of institutions, aimed at creating a structured dialogue on the outlook of this sector and its respective stakeholders. This work will contribute towards the gradual formulation of a consolidated strategy that takes a common vision into account.

Work has also started to strengthen the NCHE's interface with students and their representative organisations. Through this ongoing process the commission will ensure that its recommendations take into consideration students' perspectives and contribute to their welfare.

A further function that the NCHE has started to develop is that of consolidating the statistical and financial data necessary to be able to devise funding models and planning tools that can project scenarios of different student populations and choices, their impact on institutional capacity, quality and programme mix.

Transformation in education needs long-term planning, and the NCHE is there to support this concerted thinking.

Mr Zahra stated that "further and higher education and research permeate every facet of our daily lives. Our health, our industries, our social policies and indeed our understanding of ourselves, our own culture and the surrounding world we live in.

"All this emanates from this cradle of knowledge. Further and higher education institutions are crucial to all our common aspirations and are the key protagonists in the transformation of our island. Their story is testament to the potential of the Maltese and a challenge to do better in the future".

The NCHE is operating from the Old University Building, St Paul Street, Valletta. Its Website is www.nchemalta.org.

Mr Sciberras is chief executive officer of the National Commission for Higher Education