Almost a month into the academic year, the American University of Malta is still unable to say how many students it has at its Cospicua campus.
A few days before the start of the year last month, Provost John Ryder admitted that attracting students to the new university was proving to be a challenge. He had promised numbers would be available tot he media soon after the September 6 opening.
However, Prof. Ryder is now asking the Times of Malta to wait a few more weeks in order for the university’s admissions department to collect the required data.
READ: Student enrolment is 'proving challenging'
“Our entire admissions team is out of the country doing recruitment for next January and the next academic year, so the data will take a bit longer [to compile]”, he replied when asked for an update.
We have not noticed any students here. Cranes and workers are more evident
Asked to give the overall number of students the university is hosting, Prof. Ryder said he did “not know by heart”.
The Times of Malta is informed that only a few students are following one of the four courses offered at the Cospicua campus.
Sources said the fact that the campus still looked like a building site was not helping to attract new students, expected to pay about €15,000 a year in tuition alone.
People living close to the Cospicua campus, situated in a former dockyard building near the former Dock 1, said yesterday students were conspicuous by their absence.
“We have not noticed any students here. Cranes and construction workers are more evident,” a 65 year-old resident said.
Originally, the AUM was to open its doors to students in 2016. However, it had to postpone its opening by a year, as the project took longer than expected to get the required approval from the educational authorities.
An investment by the Jordan-based Sadeen Group – which specialises in construction projects – the American University of Malta was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who said that the government had agreed to allocate about 90,000 square metres of pristine land in Marsascala for a campus.
This led to a public outcry because of environmental considerations, and the government changed the original plans, agreeing to reduce the footprint at Żonqor Point to 30,000 square metres and build another campus in Cospicua.
Asked whether the university remains interested in the Żonqor Point campus, Prof. Ryder said that was still the plan.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com