The signing of an agreement between the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and Malta Freeport for the formation of a partnership related to training has rightly been seen as the way in which MCAST can take an increasingly important place in this country's educational system.
MCAST was set up to complement the University of Malta in tertiary education. With the right management and the right teaching staff it should provide the country with a wide range of skills needed by industry, commerce and other sections of the country's economy.
This in itself is an essential function, one that is long overdue, but it is also important because it will take some of the pressure off the university which has been desperately trying to fulfil the state's demands to be all things to all men despite its increasingly straitened financial resources.
The new agreement is leading MCAST to assist the Freeport in the running of national vocational qualifications, which are awarded by a body in the United Kingdom, for its employees and, in return, the Freeport's trainers will help MCAST in the running of its vocational and re-skilling programmes and apprenticeship training. The Freeport will also assist with the placement of sea cadets and will open up its facilities to MCAST students. This way both institutions will be benefiting, as the interchange of academic training and training by experienced practitioners should lead to an ideal mix in the professional or technical training of Freeport employees and MCAST students.
If, as one trusts, the agreement is fruitful, it should lead to similar agreements with other corporations in this country and it is heartening to learn that some agreements are already being negotiated.
Ideally, MCAST should have training arrangements with all the leaders of Maltese industry and commerce because the college's raison d'être is bound up with the country's need for a steady flow of skillful young people and the retraining of older people whose earlier skills have become outdated or irrelevant. The Minister of Education's words that "Only if every institute at the college has strong links with industry and employers can we ensure that our students get the highest level of training possible" should be blazoned high in every institute and department of MCAST.
MCAST needs to keep up-to-date with its training programmes and resources as much as the university. Technology and business methods develop and change much faster than in the past and any fears that courses are not up to scratch could lead to a disastrous falling away of students.
Like the University of Malta, the college is and will be facing competition from institutions based in the United Kingdom, all of them hungry for the income deriving from foreign students. This competition will almost certainly increase when Malta joins the European Union next year and both institutions can fight it off only if they are seen to be offering better courses and qualifications.
Paradoxically, the maintenance of standards can best be done by MCAST if it enters into partnership agreements with foreign educational institutions, as Minister Galea has pointed out. This could be another important way to fight off competition. Having partners is much healthier than having opponents.