By setting up the proposed American University of Malta, the government is “walking into a trap” which could eventually force the University of Malta to operate as if it were a business rather than a not-for-profit dedicated to social and community change , according to a British professor.
Ian Parker, Professor of Management at the University of Leicester, said that in Britain and other European countries, education was increasingly becoming a commodity rather than a public good.
Prof. Parker has been brought over by The Critical Institute, a non-profit organisation, to deliver a two-day workshop on critical psychology.
Lessons should be learnt from what was happening abroad, he explained. British university education started off being free but tuition fees were introduced in 1998. Education became increasingly unaffordable, so much so that recently, the University of Manchester was taken over by students protesting against the high fees.
“We can’t immediately say that the American university will destroy the education system in Malta. But there’s a real danger, given what we’ve seen happen abroad,” Prof. Parker said. One of the consequences of the American university setting up shop in Malta, he explained, would be that initially students would be perceived as paying to get in because they were unable to get into the University of Malta.
But over time, perception would change and tuition fees would start to be seen as an indication of the value of the course.
“People start to imagine that the more you pay, the better the course you’re getting. It’s an illusion but a very powerful one which starts to undermine the public university system even more. They start to think of themselves as being second best to the private sector.
“It’s a very pernicious process but I’ve seen it happen in Britain and I worry that the same will happen here.”
Away from the environmental damage, the Maltese government may well have entered into the agreement on the American University with the best of intentions, perhaps perceiving immediate economical advantages.
People might believe that a new university would make for competition and a more varied choice, he said.
“But in reality the choice would become a financial one, between similar courses in different universities. And what we’ve seen in public universities as a consequence of that was the closure of courses that didn’t make money.
It’s a very pernicious process but I’ve seen it happen in Britain
“So actually people were supporting more choice but the trap is that they were led into a financial choice.
“Students become consumers of education rather than thinking about learning. Meanwhile, researchers and lecturers become pressured into competing with each other rather than thinking about the research which might benefit the community as a whole.”
Shaun Grech, director of The Critical Institute, pointed out that, according to the programme of the yet unlicensed American University of Malta, the focus is on subjects such as business studies and other courses traditionally perceived as pulling money.
This could result in less investment in the humanities and in courses which were dedicated to social change, ultimately spelling their death.
The broader impact on Maltese society, he continued, would be a reframing of what education was all about.
“The American university will strengthen the concept that it should be career oriented,” Dr Grech said.
“But what does it mean to have a good career? Is it about earning so much money or about contributing to society in a critical way?”
The Prime Minister’s use of words such as “competition” and “monopoly” was very dangerous, he added, and Maltese academics did not seem to grasp their implication.
Academics would have to work to draw funds to pay for their own wage, resulting in precarious working conditions such as having post-doctoral research fellows working for a pittance and not knowing whether they would be securing a job within a year’s time.
By being required to pull a certain amount of money, academics may be subjected to increased pressures, anxiety and stress, which could also affect teaching.
The two-day workshop on Crises and Alternatives in Critical Psychology will start today at Mount St Joseph in Mosta.
info@criticalinstitute.org