Working group to study financial resources of state-funded educational institutions

A working group has been set up to examine and report on the situation concerning the financial and other resources available to state-funded post-secondary and tertiary educational institutions in Malta and Gozo, Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea said.

The group will also recommend appropriate short- and long-term measures that should be taken to secure the financial sustainability and efficacy of these institutions.

Dr Galea said the Education Act, enacted in 1988, now needed revision to take into account the radical changes that have occurred in education these past 15 years.

"The panorama around us has changed so much that it has become vital that we review the whole scenario," he said.

Dr Galea referred also to the 1998 Student Stipend Scheme Commission that reviewed the stipend scheme in the context of its socio-economic relevance, efficiency and effectiveness.

The commission, chaired by ex-Central Bank Governor Anthony Galdes, issued its report in February 1999. Various general recommendations included the enactment of the Post-Secondary and Tertiary Students Maintenance Grants Regulations, 1999, which replaced the former Student Stipend Scheme; the set-up of the Students' Maintenance Grants Management Board; and the implementation of the Students' Maintenance Grant Scheme.

The 1999 Galdes report also underlined a number of other issues including the need to locate maintenance grants in the wider context of overall higher education funding, including educational institute financing, quality and standards assurance, and access to higher education institutions.

Dr Galea said a revision of the maintenance grant scheme was now due and a decision has been taken to appoint a Working Group to review this scheme this time round in the wider context of the overall financial requirements of the higher education sector at large.

The stipend scheme was but part of a larger equation that needed to be examined.

Its aim is to address and ensure long term sustainability of the institutions and the quality provided therein.

The working group will be chaired by Roderick Chalmers, while Jacques Sciberras, Rev. Professor Peter Serracino Inglott and Ann Marie Thake will be members.

The minister said that the group will carry out an extensive consultation exercise with various stakeholders namely the University, Junior College, MCAST, Gozo higher educational institutions, ITS, student representatives, education authorities, union representatives, the Student Maintenance Grants Management Board and other interested bodies.

Dr Galea also announced that he will soon be launching an ad hoc Commission for Higher Education to review higher and tertiary education in Malta and Gozo.