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Like those compulsive explorers of old who would have occasionally paused to reflect on their exploits while looking forward to reaching new, exciting destinations, as the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology celebrates its 10th anniversary, it is important to consider the college’s successful past as a springboard for the road ahead.

...the challenges, and the rewards to be gained, are nothing short of remarkable- Maurice Grech

No beginning is ever easy. Indeed, were it not for persons with courage, determination and vision, Mcast would never have come to be.

In its first year, its student population stood at about 1,500 and the few courses offered were necessarily those at the starting end of the educational framework. Thanks to the hard work of those who led Mcast in those early days, more students joined the college as, year after year, new courses were offered for students to progress to. Within a few years most institutes were offering courses up to level 5.

Two years ago, we reached the next logical step: the launching of vocational degree programmes, which the higher level students themselves had been eagerly anticipating. Today, in fact, no fewer than 19 vocational degree programmes are being offered in eight institutes. Our student population has now exceeded 6,000 full-time students and over 4,000 part-timers as the number of day (full-time) courses rose above 150, with an additional 300 evening (part-time) courses.

During 2010-2011, the continuing professional development offered to Mcast’s staff was quite significant. About 20 lecturers, who were selected to teach at degree level in subsequent years, were offered Masters programmes and benefited from a 12-week research placement within Fraunhofer Gesellschaft’s institutions, which is the largest research institution in Europe, with over 15,000 scientists, professors and engineers and over 70 research institutes in various countries. Furthermore, well over 100 members of staff received pedagogical training at Masters level and 50 others at level 5.

The majority of academic staff participated in seminars on educationally-sensitive topics like assignment design and assessment, internal verification and quality assurance delivered by experts from Edexcel, the UK’s largest academic and vocational certification awarding body that recognised Mcast as its first international centre of excellence in Europe.

Our plans for the next three years are even more ambitious. The construction of Mcast’s new campus started last summer. Within two to three years, the first three buildings of this project, namely the Institute of Applied Science, the Institute of Business and Commerce and Students’ House, shall be completed.

EU funding initiatives will enable Mcast to review all courses at levels 1, 2 and 3 as well as the Pathway to Independent Living programme. This project has, as its prime objective, the increased employability of vulnerable groups.

Another EU-funded project will enable Mcast to upgrade all its home-grown courses at the higher levels 4, 5 and 6.

Following consultancy with the respective industrial sectors, courses will be redesigned and formulated for accreditation purposes. In addition, a number of new courses will be offered in our centres and institutes in Malta and Gozo. A third EU project we are working on shall lead to the delivery of 28 courses through the blended learning approach (using a mixture of traditional classroom-based methods, distance learning and e-learning), thus increasing accessibility.

Over 350 adults participating in lifelong learning will receive certification and accreditation of Prior Learning while the electronic accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning will be implemented too.

Mcast has indeed flourished into a superb institution with a tremendously promising future. On behalf of Maltese students, I thank former Minister Louis Galea, Minister Dolores Cristina, the principals who came before me, the members of the board of governors, administrators and staff for making all this possible.

This is certainly no time to lower our guard. On the contrary, the challenges, and the rewards to be gained, are nothing short of remarkable.

The target to sustain Mcast as a centre of excellence is demanding but always within reach. With the successful completion of the projects, which have already been initiated and for which funding has already been secured, this target will be attained.

Prof. Grech is principal and CEO of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology.