Justin Schembri’s Talking Point ‘Photoshopped image of Mcast’ tries to shed bad light on the operations of a public vocational education and training institution.
It is truly sad that a young aspiring politician, who also happens to be a teacher by profession, speaks so despairingly about Mcast without verifying the truth. All his assertions strongly suggest he relied on individual sources that are refusing to abide by new standard operational procedures promoting transparency, efficiency and fairness at Mcast.
He is completely misinformed about what is truly going on at Mcast.
The day after he raised the same issues on In-Nazzjon (March 20), I invited him for an exchange of views and to discuss his concerns further. Neither reply nor acknowledgment were received. Following the publication of the article in the Times of Malta, I called him directly hoping to arrange a meeting soon.
It is clear from the onset the objective of the article is to cast a negative light on Mcast that has already proudly provided thousands of students with a unique learning experience that has led them to a successful career. The article is based on false information aimed at supporting a status quo, run without the necessary formal procedures and transparent systems.
Should the author visit the college, he would see first-hand the vast range of game-changing achievements that have taken place over the last three years, particularly at Degree and Master’s level, and also at the lower levels of qualifications.
On the research side, Mcast is extending opportunities to all its academic staff, now offering all lecturers the opportunity to take on research for the very first time.
Indeed, a specific budget has recently been introduced and is being allocated to offer all interested Mcast academics the opportunity to carry out research as part of their effective contact workload.
It is improper and unethical to use education for political gain, especially if one’s sources of information are unverified
A consultation process based on a position paper is ongoing with lecturing staff in an effort to motivate and encourage Mcast academics to take on this vital research challenge. The aim of this process is to move research beyond the ownership of a few. The consultation process on research will end before Easter. Standard operating procedures will follow.
To complement this, Mcast is setting up six research committees, one within each institute, to oversee the growing range of research endeavours, a far cry from the incorrect comment made by the correspondent that Mcast is removing its research committee, which last met 18 months ago without any trace of minutes taken or decisions made.
More so, over the last two years, Mcast has launched a free postgraduate certificate for its lecturers, taken up by close to 100 Mcast staff to date. The college’s Journal of Applied Research & Practice, launched for the first time last year and with two issues this year, is evidence of the excellent research contribution of these early Mcast researchers. The success of Mcast in research has gone as far as to achieve over €3 million in EU research grants for the period 2018-2020.
The article erroneously refers to Mcast University College. This is an internal structure set up within Mcast in accordance with Chapter 327, paragraph 93.1 of the Education Act and, contrary to the allegations in the article, it is not a separate degree-awarding entity.
Over the last few years, the university college has been extremely successful in launching over a dozen Master’s programmes for the first time, including highly-innovative programmes such as the MSc in Lean Enterprise, MBA for the Small Business, Master’s in Business Informatics, MSc in High Performance Buildings, MSc in Mechatronics and MA in Product Design, among others.
Together with these, a significant range of undergraduate degrees has been launched that is vital to the nation and the Maltese economy, such as the BSc in Nursing Studies, BSc in Business Analytics, BSc in Physiological Measurement, ACCA Qualification, BSc in Financial Services Management, BSc in Sport, Exercise & Health and many more.
It is a pity that all these achievements listed above are referred to as inertia and inaptitude by an aspiring politician.
He has himself photoshopped the real image of Mcast, which is an institution of excellence whose learners are eagerly sought after by employers in Malta.
The correspondent claims that as a principal I live in an ivory tower. The truth is diametrically opposite to this assertion. Moreover, it is improper and unethical to use education for political gain, especially if one’s sources of information are unverified.
Alarming learners, parents, employers and the public in such ways is indicative of a failed approach to the service this country deserves. Mcast also merits respect.
James Calleja is the principal and CEO of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece