The government’s Engineering Profession Board has turned down a request by Times of Malta to publish an audit of the course offered at Mcast, insisting this was a “working document”.
The board was replying to questions by the newspaper in the wake of reports that a group of some 150 engineers were mulling legal action against the government body over the refusal to publish a report auditing the Mcast programme.
According to a spokesman for the board, both Mcast and the body were in the process of “implementing the recommendations made in the report”.
“Mcast, together with the board, are also seeking to commission external recognised reviewers to ascertain that the new course structure and content is fully in line with the recommendations made in that report,” the spokesman said.
This is an ongoing process that needs to be given time to be implemented
A similar request for the report by university students to the board, which is the regulating authority, was turned down in November. Both the programmes of the Faculty of Engineering at the University and at Mcast were subject to evaluation by the Accreditation Agency Specialised in Accrediting Degree Programmes in Engineering, Informatics, the Natural Sciences and Mathematics (ASIIN).
According to the spokesman, once the review of both the new course by the college and the bridging studies course for past graduates is completed, the board would then “discuss the possibility of the publication of the report”.
“This is an ongoing process that needs to be given time to be implemented to enable all the recognised stakeholders to eliminate the lacuna that existed in the previous Mcast course and this for the benefit of past graduates and new students at this tertiary educational institution.
“As this document is an internal working document, it would not be of benefit to the whole process to publish this report,” the spokesman went on.
In an attempt to get hold of a copy of the report, Times of Malta also filed a Freedom of Information request asking for it, but this too was turned down.
Until last year, Mcast students who followed the course in engineering could not apply for the engineering warrant as the programme was deemed to be a vocational one by the board. As from this year, however, graduates from both the University and the college could apply for a warrant.
Prior to the change, Mcast students had repeatedly insisted that they were being discriminated against, often claiming that their course was the same as that offered at the University.
On their part, both the University students and the group of engineers questioning the eligibility of the Mcast students had insisted that their issue was not about the fact that a warrant is issued but they wanted to be sure that those graduating from the college were equipped with the same skills as their University counterparts.