Another successful part-time course in drawing and oil painting, organised by the Ministry of Education, through the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, came to an end.

As usual, the organisation, the facilities and the teacher, Carmen Aquilina, were excellent.

But... the disappointing part has yet to come!

The certificates for a number of the part-time subjects are issued for “attendance only” and not for the standard achieved. This renders worthless the efforts made by the students, most of whom put in a lot of work in class and at home.

It also makes the certificate useless, especially if presented when applying for a job. I know cases of students whose certificates were refused by the ETC.

I wrote to Mcast in 2011 about this issue and was promised it was going to be brought up during their administrators’ meeting and that I was going to be informed of the outcome. This never happened, although, in succeeding years, for a short period, the standard achieved was printed at the back of the certificate.

Although this was a slight improvement, with due respect to those behind the system, I think it was a stupid idea.

I have never seen a certificate with such important information printed at the back.

It was a relief when, some time later, the standard achieved was displayed prominently on the front. However, it did not last long. Recently, the description of the subject as a ‘hobby’ has slowly been filtering through in spoken and written format.

I have objected to this idea to the college.

There is also no opportunity to further one’s studies in these part-time courses. It is high time Mcast administrators consider spreading the study of these subjects over a number of years, leading to a recognised certificate or diploma.

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