Education Minister Evarist Bartolo recently launched Global College Malta at Smart City, Kalkara.
Malta could attract up to 20,000 international students over the next five to seven years
The new higher education facility will focus on offering British style Master’s degrees in key sectors such as oil and gas, IT (cloud computing) and management.
College rector Brian Smart said its unique courses will help boost Malta’s education credentials and profile internationally, improving its ability to compete in certain business segments.
“The 20 per cent top-tier students in our Cloud Computing MSc are guaranteed jobs with or through our partners on this course, Wharfdale Inc, and starting salaries are in the €80,000 per annum region, so this is a very high-value segment within the knowledge economy,” he said.
The college is preparing for its first intake of students in September and aims to have 3,000 on campus by 2018, mainly from Commonwealth countries, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.
Prof. Smart also presented the minister with €38,000 worth of scholarships for Maltese nationals to attend the college, adding that “we expect about 20 per cent of our students will be locals, and their parents will save a lot of money by not having to send their children overseas any longer to get access to best-of-breed post-graduate education in our specialist areas.”
One of the scholarships presented to the minister was for a Maltese citizen to join the Cloud Computing MSc.
Global College Malta is the first European college offering university degrees according to British standards in Smart City Malta. Prof. Smart said the college and Smart City aim to create a dedicated education cluster where international students, institutes of various educational fields and hiring companies operate in a synergetic business environment, thereby creating a network of opportunities. “Our projections show that Malta could attract up to 20,000 international students over the next five to seven years, which will help to drive growth across all local institutions,” he said.
Prof. Smart added that Malta had won his interest and that of his British management team – Ray Donnelly and Howard Kahn – with its English language status, stable economy, EU membership, safe environment, open culture towards foreigners, warm hospitality, and its proximity to the Middle East, North Africa and the European mainland, combined with excellent airline connectivity.
For further information visit www.gcmalta.com or call 2180 1252.