The more time passes, the clearer the ever domineering presence of our current administration emerges, and the spreading of its influence is weakening good governance on all levels.

There seems to be no limit to this weakening tendency, no aspect of our society, no institution is immune to this tendency.

The Muscat administration seems interested in only one thing, that of exerting control through manipulation, a case now being made clear by the recent moves at the University of Malta. It is clear that the next targets are set at controlling our country’s education, manipulating the University.

Last April, the government launched a draft consultation paper covering governance at the University, supposedly aiming at strengthening the autonomy of the institution itself. 

In my opinion, putting partisan political bias aside, this is an aspect that has not been sufficiently discussed, and I am personally ready to engage in such discussions, freely and without reservations.

The document itself puts emphasis on the importance of autonomy and therefore, it should be a fundamental principle.

Upon going through this consultation paper, one may notice that it is not clear whether the document is referring to financial independence or academic autonomy.

Within this paper, changes will see the University having a governance board and a separate executive board; in practice this set-up aims at reducing academic flow while also reducing the representation of the University council.

So, will the executive branch proposed, be made up of non-academic members appointed/chosen directly or indirectly by the government, thereby excluding academics who are the major stakeholders in the institution?

We must ascertain that the national University does not become an extension of the government, in the sense that, in its essence becomes a puppet guided by Castille

And who will exactly benefit from this so-called autonomy, our University (its academics and its students) or the Castille-manipulated puppets, set there to do the whims of their masters; the Prime Minister and Education Minister Evarist Bartolo?

What is worrying is the fact that the council of our national University, which until now has already been somewhat dominated by a majority of members appointed directly or indirectly by the government – without going into the merits of previous administrations going back in time as far as Ugo Mifsud Bonnici’s era – will now completely lose its autonomy under the Muscat administration, and this with the approval of the Education Minister.

 Ironically, the main scope behind this initiative was the need to strengthen the University’s autonomy. This gives rise to a series of questions as to what is the real aim behind this need for change, which we will have to analyse.

Until now it does not seem so clear on what criteria the members on these two boards will be selected, what level of autonomy the rector will have in decision-making, and on what basis will these boards approve the academic plans, which are in the professional capacity of the academics.

And how can the government ensure that there will be no political interference in the content taught at University?

Therefore, we must ascertain, without any reservations that the national University does not become an extension of the government, in the sense that in its essence becomes a puppet guided by Castille.

If this is the case, we are creating a precedent in undermining the only institution that can enlighten a population that is mentally beholden by tribal partisanship.

How can we expect academics to have and give an informed opinion if the University becomes an extension of Castille, or worse a political club?

All this is the result of an arrogant political attitude that is undermining good governance, and although the Education Minister expressed that his intentions are only to increase autonomy at the University, it seems that this could possibly be a case of doublespeak, a paradox in which more autonomy can mean less.

Justin Schembri is a Nationalist Party candidate.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.