The government is looking to investing in the Mcast campus in Gozo to give it dignity and visibility, the Prime Minister said during the inauguration of the €3 million Institute of Business and Commerce in Paola.

Addressing staff at the new institute, Joseph Muscat urged administrators of the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology to maintain the flexibility they had shown, especially when there was a vacuum in the market and the college had to provide new training.

He went on to address the “elephant in the room”, insisting there should be more synergy between the University of Malta and Mcast. There had to be greater commitment to work hand in hand.

Dr Muscat, who was given a tour of the institute and some classes, said the Paola campus development was “one of the good projects that were started in the past legislature”.

We don’t want to give the impression we’re investing in institutions and not in Mcast

The institute, which started hosting students yesterday, forms part of a larger project on the Paola campus. Since 2011, €20 million have been invested in the Institute of Business and Commerce and the Institute of Applied Science, a car park, sport facilities and a student house which will be finished by next year.

Meanwhile, the next phase of the Mcast development will include the main square, a library and the Institute of ICT.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo also spoke about the Gozo campus.

“It is not acceptable that the Mcast in Gozo gets the leftovers, with a section in the Xagħra primary and another in the Xewkija primary school.

“We don’t want to give the impression we’re investing in institutions and not in Mcast, while at the same time encouraging students in Gozo to take up courses at Mcast.”

He also spoke about the importance of strengthening not only its infrastructure but also Mcast’s role in the education sector.

There were still a lot of early school leavers, so childcare centres and kindergarten services had to be strengthened to be able to provide students with a better introduction to the education system.

Speaking at the same press conference, Mcast principal Stephen Cachia said this infrastructural development and the review of Mcast’s curricula in the next two years would ensure it remained relevant to the country’s needs.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party issued a statement saying the inauguration of the campus was another inheritance by young people from the Nationalist government.

PN education spokesman Joseph Cassar said a project such as this, whose total cost was €120 million, was the best gift the PN could hand to Malta’s young people to enable them to fulfil their dreams.

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