University stands to gain from EU membership, say academic staff

The University Academic Staff Committee (UASC) feels that, with increased funding to ensure its continuance and its increasing role in Maltese society, the University of Malta, its academic staff and students stand to gain from Malta's EU membership.

In a statement released yesterday, UASC stated that it has its own vision of the strategic role the University should play in addressing the challenges Malta is facing.

"Malta needs to invest heavily in developing its intellectual capital so as to attract investors seeking to produce goods and provide services of higher added value, and better rates of return. We therefore need to enhance the development of our knowledge-based industry.

"This requires education and research of the highest quality and standard, as foreign investment will not materialise unless we guarantee a skilled workforce, led and instructed by highly educated professionals.

"The University is entrusted with the task of preparing the 'knowledge' strata of the workforce, who should be the prime movers and thinkers - the innovators. From a purely utilitarian point of view, Malta must invest heavily in education and research to stand any chance of survival in a global economy, whether it is inside or outside the EU."

Underlining the "vital role" which the University plays in the development of Maltese industry and society, the UASC noted that individual members of the University academic staff have made highly valid contributions in the national debate regarding the EU and have been responsible for generating a substantial number of impact studies for various organisations irrespective of political persuasion.

The UASC expressed its appreciation for the group of academics, chaired by Professor Josef Lauri, who produced the report on how EU membership will affect the University of Malta and a recently published follow-up following the Malta-EU UoM August 2000 report.

"Both reports show how meticulously the University has considered the impact that entry into the EU would have on tertiary education in Malta," UASC stated. "The University has instituted quality assurance procedures, worked on a smooth and transparent admissions policy and implemented modularisation. Although Malta's membership will take progress at the University much further, this exercise was necessary irrespective of the country's future relationship with the EU."

UASC acknowledged that if Malta joined the EU, there will be initial difficulties for the University "that will be faced and solved". The reports uphold the retention of the Maltese language as an entry requirement for professional courses, the necessity of continuing to provide Maltese students with maintenance grants, and the indispensability of adopting formula funding to cater for growing numbers of students. "Moreover, some of the difficulties can be transformed into economic opportunities," the UASC statement added.

It concluded:

"EU entry will accelerate and improve the University's international dimension, enhancing the personal learning experience of students and staff and broadening innovations through cross-fertilisation of ideas. With EU membership, the University will also increase its potential in knowledge export, and this could become one of the most important trade sectors for Malta in the next few years, as indicated in the Lauri report.

"The UASC feels that - with increased funding ensuring the University's continuance and augmentation of its important role in Maltese society - the University, its academic members of staff, its students and, as a result the country that benefits from them, stand to gain from Malta's entry into the European Union."