As many as 444 students could see their dreams of an Erasmus student exchange go up in smoke if the suspension of funds to the local agency by the European Commission remains, according to the Erasmus office in Malta.

The Commission decided to suspend the funds after the Maltese authorities failed to rectify shortcomings in the way funds were being handled and which had been flagged in August.

The Commission said that information at its disposal indicated that the weaknesses identified were of organisational nature and "do not relate to fraud or breach of ethical behaviour".

The Ministry of Education has said that while it was "fully committed" to come in line with the Commission's recommendations in the shortest time possible, the process was expected to take about six months.

The University Students' Council said yesterday it had met the local European Union Programmes Agency on the issue and alternative funding methods were being explored. Students involved could be informed as early as next week whether they would still be allowed to take part in the programmes.

Luke Rizzo is one of the students whose plans are in jeopardy. A 23-year old fifth year law student, he had been wanting to go on an Erasmus exchange programme since he entered University. "Naively, I had even applied in the first year, even though I knew I had no chance of being selected. That's how badly I wanted to go."

Mr Rizzo was eventually accepted to spend his final year in Milan as part of his studies. Now, however, he's seeing his dream of studying abroad slip through his fingers.

"I worked hard at school for it and I made sure I kept next year relatively free. As it's getting closer I have to face the fact this experience is not going to materialise," Mr Rizzo says.

Nineteen year-old student Robert Fenech, studying English and communications, was accepted to study for a semester at the University of Constanz in Germany, and the Erasmus programme has always been a dream for him.

He's determined to go even if the funding does not arrive but that would mean he has to work all summer to be able to fund his studies. "The imp-ortance of accountability is finally hitting home in Malta; the fact that we can't keep on having old practices. It's hard and, unfortunately, it has hit us students more than any other," Mr Rizzo said.