A request by University students to publish a report concerning accreditation of engineering courses at Mcast and the University of Malta has been turned down.
Students’ council (KSU) president Carla Galea told Times of Malta that the university students were not contesting the decision to give those reading for degrees in engineering at Mcast a warrant, but they wanted to ensure that all students were “on par with each other”.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo announced in September that engineering students at the college would, from this year, be given the chance to sit for their engineering warrant.
Previously, the Mcast course was deemed to be “vocational” by the Engineering Profession Board and not eligible for professional recognition. At the time, both the KSU and the University Engineering Students’ Association (UESA) ex-pressed disappointment that they were not consulted.
“The issue is not that University students do not want anyone else from any other institution to get a warrant, but rather the fact that students from any institution must be at par with each other when it comes to the quality of education involved.
All students were on par with each other
“This would only serve to safeguard the high levels of the engineering profession here in Malta, which should be quite a reasonable and expected attitude towards this issue,” Ms Galea said.
Following the minister’s announcement, the two organisations had written to the Engineering Profession Board requesting the publication of the reports that audited both the Mcast and University courses. This request, however, was turned down.
“It is worth noting that following talks with rector Alfred Vella, the University finds no problem in publishing the Accreditation Agency Specialised in Accrediting Degree Programmes in Engineering, Informatics, the Natural Sciences and Mathematics (ASIIN) report for the Faculty of Engineering should the board ask for its consent,” Ms Galea went on.
The organisations were now appealing to the board to reconsider its position, insisting there is full transparency in the granting of the warrant for engineers.
The issue has repeatedly made headlines in recent years, with students from the college complaining that the board was discriminating against them by not granting them a warrant when their course was the same as that at the University.