The chairman of the National Commission for Further and Higher Education, Martin Scicluna, this morning denied that standards of accreditation for universities in Malta were being reduced to accommodate the planned new university by the Sadeen Group.

He said that the legal notice issued two weeks ago had been in discussion for the past few months and it was only a coincidence that it was published on the same days when the American University application was announced.

The Nationalist Party said yesterday it would challenge the new legal notice in parliament because it lowered standards and was only aimed at facilitating the Sadeen Group university.

Mr Scicluna said that the legal notice only touched the criteria for institutions to be eligible to apply for university status, and did not compromise the quality of education in Malta.

He said it was 'absolute canard' to say that the quality criteria had been reduced in any shape or form. 

Asked how many applications the commission was considering, Mr Scicluna said there were another two applications apart from the American University. He did not say whether these were from already established universities are a completely new university like the one proposed by the Sadeen Group.

He said the information was confidential.

Asked by Times of Malta whether, as an environmentalist, he approved of the siting of the American University in Zonqor, he said it would not be professional of him to comment.