Engineers graduating from Mcast are still not being issued a warrant despite the degree being equivalent to that offered at the University, a decision taken by the engineering board.
During a graduation speech last week, engineering student Simone Grech called on the authorities to address the issue, saying it was unfair that while both degrees were of same value, Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (Mcast) students were being denied a warrant.
“We are being discriminated against in the sense that we are not able to obtain professional recognition. This is especially unfair when you consider that the majority of us Mcast engineering graduates have been successfully employed in industry alongside graduates from other local and foreign institutions,” Mr Grech told the Times of Malta only days after his graduation.
According to a spokeswoman for the College, the issue had repeatedly been raised with the engineering board, adding that the degree by Mcast was just as valid as that offered by other institutions.
“The Mcast engineering degree, like the University of Malta degree, is a 240 ECTS, four-year full-time course.
“Thus the Mcast degree is of the exact same value as the UoM degree both in credit (ECTS) value and Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF) level and there is absolutely no reason why the Engineering Board should not grant a warrant to our students,” the spokeswoman went on.
We are being discriminated against
In an attempt to convince the board to reconsider its position, the spokeswoman said, the College had opened itself to the scrutiny of an external review by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE).
Recently, Mcast also participated in an external review of all local engineering degrees commissioned by the board itself.
“Since the engineering degrees of both Mcast and the University of Malta are accredited at MQF level 6, not acknowledging one group in favour of another is both discriminatory and undermines the relevance of the MQF structure.
“We feel that the engineering profession should be oriented towards improving society through hard work, technical progress and ethical behaviour irrespective of what institution is written on one’s degree certificate,” Mr Grech went on.
Questions sent to the engineering board on the matter were not forthcoming by the time of writing.
This year there are over 6,700 students following full-time courses at Mcast, with 172full-time courses offered at Foundation, Technical and University colleges, ranging from introductory certificate courses and degree programmes to Master’s programmes.