Hardly a week goes by without some educational issue hitting the headlines. The most recent items are the replacement of the students’ Smart Card with a grant and the approval by the planning authority of an extension of the University campus.

The question that many stakeholders in our educational system are asking is whether these initiatives are indeed smarter ways of upgrading the educational system or mere short-sighted popular tactics that may well be ineffective in promoting excellence.

The expensive bureaucratic system of administering Smart Cards was a good enough reason to abolish it. But as the University Students’ Council and the GRTU remarked, giving students grants for educational purposes without proper controls to curb abuse could well amount to a waste of taxpayers’ money.

What is remarkable is not so much this practical tactic to avoid expensive bureaucratic practices, but the failure to debate whether the whole system of motivating students to continue their studies with financial incentives is indeed upgrading the educational system.

Malta is among the few countries in the world which not only provides students with free education from kindergarten to postgraduate training, but also pays post-secondary school students stipends and allowances to encourage them to continue with their studies.

If the educational achievement levels are improving sufficiently to justify the expenditure on our free educational system, then perhaps taxpayers would not begrudge such support – even though, as we have argued before, such a practice is an outdated and outlandish cost.

But many stakeholders in the educational field, including educators and business leaders, argue that many of our students are not improving their educational achievement levels despite the financial incentives. In fact, some students may just be interested in earning a small weekly income that they supplement with part-time work during the week without intending to complete their studies.

The plans for ‘a bigger University’ may seem a good idea that should upgrade our educational system. But is it worth investing in more buildings when the trend today is to invest in more technology in higher education to educate students?

Lauerate International Universities is a network of higher educational institutions spread in different countries whose mission is “to make quality higher education accessible and affordable so more students can pursue their dreams”. In a worldwide survey they conducted among 28,000 students following training courses in their universities they came up with some very revealing findings.

Almost half of respondents believe that “the university of the future will provide content online for free for most courses. Most courses will be offered at all times of the day or night, and most courses will be offered without schedules to accommodate students who work or simply prefer learning at non-traditional times”.

Even more important, most respondents “see the university of the future as clearly focused on producing graduates who are prepared to excel in jobs that are needed by industry and society”. The Economist Intelligence Unit in a similar survey concluded that “online learning is gaining a firm foothold in universities”.

These seismic changes in the way many universities deliver tuition pose operational challenges that may hinder the full benefits from being realised. For instance, university lecturers may need to adjust to adopt the new technologies.

But our educational leaders need to look at smarter ways of using our limited financial resources in the most cost-effective way. Giving more freebies to students and building more physical university facilities may not be the best way forward.

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