Top priorities for Malta's future higher education

In a report entitled 'Future Skills Needed, Lisbon Agenda and Vision 2015', the University Students' Union (KSU) held that structural investment was not enough, and there is great need for direct investment in the University.

This is the way forward to ensure that in the coming years, Malta would be able to meet the skills required by the industry. Lack of long-term planning may ultimately lead to dire consequences for the economy, with a loss of institutional knowledge and lack of productivity.

Such planning must take into consideration the change in demographics and ageing workforce, which is leading to general labour shortages. In its report, KSU encouraged employers to plan ahead their workforce requirements so there would be a sufficient number of trainees to counterblanace foreseeable vancancies created when workers retire.

Another challenge Malta faces is the need to meet the growing requirements for cultural and language skills and the international competition for skilled workers. In this regard, generic skills are essential for individuals to operate successfully within society and the economy.

KSU believes basic skills must be embedded into the education system, particularly during the years of compulsory education. This would ensure that even early school-leavers have such essential skills. Fine-tuning of these skills could then be done at post-secondary level.

Funding remains a central issue. Apart from encouraging stronger University-business relationships, KSU appeals for an initial cash-injection to start off the setting up of research facilities which could potentially be not only an academic but also a financial goldmine.

The report highlights the need for the University Trust Fund, promised in the pre-Budget document, to be set up so that University can engage in long-term investment that is not solely depandent on EU funds.

KSU holds that the opening up of higher education institutions could provide the necessary sound basis for the knowledge economy and society in Malta. Structural investment does not directly lead to higher quality education.

Despite Malta still having a low percentage of students taking up higher education and one of the lower completion rates among EU member states, the increase in the number of students - with a shift from an elite system of education to mass education - has led to a higher budget required for stipends.

However, most of the current budget allocated to the University is being spent on administration, leaving very limited spending power for investment in resources, which are of paramount importance for a university that needs to adapt to new technologies and demands from industry.

Among the suggestions KSU made for a more holistic education is the improvement for education and training for teachers and trainers, creating an open-learning environment, making learning more attractive through the use of new media, developing the spirit of enterprise, improving foreign language training, increasing mobility and exchange, and education-family support.

Significantly, Malta still falls short in the number of students pursuing careers in mathematics and the sciences. However, KSU argues that an increase in stipend would not be sufficient to attract more students as the problem must be addresssed at an earlier stage through more industry-related content being introduced at secondary school level.

In additon to promoting wider access to University, KSU appealed for a system of quality assurance, particularly through the setting up the a national quality assurance agency that would monitor the quality of all programmes and courses offered in Malta. Simply opening up higher education to more students would not necessarily meet Malta's needs as a knowledge-economy.

To keep up with the constantly-evolving trends of the industry, prospectuses and course information of local education institions need to be reviewed rapidly and continually. Through well-defined learning outcomes, these institutions would be able to benchmark themselves against best international practice. This would also help to ensure that all study-units taught at University are of the required standard and that they form part of a well-defined course programme.

Student mobility is also an important point. While recognising the efforts made through the Malta Government Scholarships Scheme, the Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarships, and the Youth Specialisation Schemes, the KSU report outlines Malta's need to develop a mobility-oriented culture and facilitate mobility by organising the University's International Office so that students can participate freely in international exchanges.

Moreover, the report calls for a framework to assess qualifications of third-country nationals that are not part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention. Lack of such framework is deterring mobility from fast-developing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India and China.

KSU says that more needs to be done to promote lifelong learning, which is one of the pillars of the current EU Commission for Education and Culture. Employees should be encouarged to undergo further training to improve, update and strenghthen their skills. Such training would need to be quality-assured within the Malta Qualifications Framework.

In a fast-paced economy, first degrees in certain fields prove to be of minor importance five to 10 years after graduation. With this in mind, KSU calls for immediate action to be taken on lifelong learning to facilitate retraining and skills updating. While acknowledging the work being done by the Employment and Training Corporation and the European Union Programmes Agency, KSU believes that lifelong learning must be put at the forefront of the country's higher education strategy.

KSU stresses the importance for a distinction to be made between teaching given to students without work experience and training of adults who are experienced employers or employees.

The rapidly changing skill needs of the economy and society are difficult to predict with a high degree of certainty. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify trends to assist us to make informed policy decisions. As employment in sectors such as agriculture and the manufacturing continues to decline, it is areas such as information and communication technology, the online sector, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and high-value engineering that hold the potential for future growth.

KSU concludes that Malta's aim should not be to simply meet projected skill demand based on an extrapolation of current observed trends. If Malta is to develop competitive advantage in world class skills that drive innovation, productivity, and entrepreneurial activity, it requires a skills profile that is skewed towards higher levels.

The vision of Malta as a centre of excellence requires that significant challenges are met by government, enterprise and individuals. Over the years, academics and the University structure have been resistant to change, assuming that pressure from society and industry would die down. However, the rewards for meeting these challenges are great. The costs of not meeting them are equally high.

Ms Bartolo is education co-ordinator of the University Students' Council (KSU).