KSU welcomes investment in university but asks if it is enough

The projected increase of investment in the University of €3.5 million was commendable, the University Students’ Council (KSU) said in its reaction to the budget.

“The fact that government seems to be effectively taking up the public responsibility that holds for education, but more importantly for higher education, is an important policy decision that will allow for long term economic benefit.”

KSU said it was, however, concerned with the fact that the additional investment in University will, for the greater part, be taken up by the bigger cost required because of the increase in the number of people attending university.

So the increase in investment had to be seen from the perspective that this was due to an increase in cost.

“KSU believes that this increase may not be entirely sufficient for the infrastructure that is over all required by the University of Malta, to cater for the increased number of students.

“KSU recently proposed that an interest-free loan for students should be set up for those going on Erasmus programmes. It is a measure that could have been highly beneficial to those planning to make use of Erasmus opportunities and may not have the financial capabilities to do so.

“KSU presented a detail report which showed that the cost of the plan would be minimal relative to the benefits to be reaped from the students. This is in line with the national aim to increase student mobility. “Unfortunately, this proposal was not taken into consideration despite the fact that it would be highly beneficial to the student body overall,” the council said.