News that the government is to cut its funding to the university by €1.1 million drew frustration from students and concern from lecturers and the Malta Union of Teachers on Wednesday.

The funding cut was revealed by the university's rector in an e-mail to faculty heads and other university officials on Tuesday. The e-mail was made public by the Nationalist Party.

The University Students' Council (KSU) said Malta was already at the bottom of Europe's research investment rankings and the budgetary cut would only make matters worse.

"As tomorrow’s professionals, University students deserve a space that is not clutching at straws for financial survival, but one that can provide them with the necessary tools to thrive,"  the council said in a statement, adding that the university must explore new ways to gain financial independence from the government.

"The University should have the necessary budget to be able to innovate and improve its services, and not cut corners at the students’ academic expense," it said. 

It observed that the university was already under-funded and consequently, essential services such as a 24/7 library and the upgrading of outdated infrastructure had already been shelved for too long.

Funding should be increasing, not decreasing, it said, and the latest budget cuts begged the question: where do the cuts stop?

On Tuesday, Rector Alfred Vella told Times of Malta the University would not be able to employ new staff unless they were critically needed, and some courses and initiatives may begin later than originally planned.

But he said that there will be no staff layoffs, reduced salaries or decreased resources for academics as a result of the cuts. 

The cut amounts to 1.1% of the government's annual funding to the University. Vella said, however, that the cut was still significant since 85% of the University's budget goes to salaries and 10% goes to essential services, both of which cannot be reduced.

The KSU said it found it inconceivable that the government would introduce such cuts just months after making an electoral pledge to raise research funding by 2% of GDP.

Tertiary education was being pushed down the priority list, it said, and it feared that students would be discouraged from furthering their education at the University of Malta, going abroad instead.

'Another nail in the coffin'

One professor who spoke to Times of Malta dubbed the budget cut as "another nail in the coffin of research education and innovation".

"Clearly, the university should look at trimming the administrative fat that it has accumulated over the past 10 years and invest in revenue-generating activities, such as intellectual property and commercialisation of the research activities of the academic body."

"In fact, it has never been more important than now to invest in the academic body of the university," he said. 

'We are still awaiting information'

The university lecturers' union said it was still awaiting information, but it wanted to ensure the cuts did not hinder lecturers' work and projects.

University of Malta Academic Staff Association (UMASA) president Professor Luciano Mule Stagno said a significant number of lecturers had already contacted him asking what was going to be slashed.

"We still don't know what is going to be cut and by how much. Right now we're looking for more information," he said. 

Part-time lecturers and the Junior College

A number of lecturers told Times of Malta they were concerned that part-time work may be impacted by the budget cuts.

At University, certain credits are taught by professionals in the field who lecture on a part-time basis, but the administration might now be constrained to cover those subjects with the existing complement of full-time lecturers, despite the possibility that they may not be as competent in specific subjects, they said.

Furthermore, concerns were raised on whether the Junior College, which falls under the University, will also be affected by the budget cuts.

MUT assured salaries will not be affected

Malta Union of Teachers president Marco Bonnici said the Education Ministry had assured the union that the salaries and allowances of its members would not be affected.

The MUT represents Junior College lecturers and a number of lecturers at the university.

"The union has been assured that the salaries and allowances of our members shall not be affected. There will also be no affect on negotiations for a new collective agreement at the Junior College, which are at the final stages," Bonnici said.