The engineering profession should not be downgraded by being associated with courses which do not require the same level of effort, commitment and attainment, the Union Periti u Inġinera tas-Settur Pubbliku said.

It was replying to another statement by the government on Wednesday saying that the academic standard of engineering courses offered by MCAST is to be revised to ensure it matches that offered by the University of Malta. It said it had no intention of lowering standards in the profession. 

The government issued its statement after a court provisionally upheld a request for an injunction by the engineers’ union against the Engineering Profession Board, in a bid to safeguard the rights of professional engineers. 

The request followed a judicial protest filed by two elected members on the board, formally disassociating themselves from the allegedly “abusive and divisive” attitude of the board chairperson who was refusing or ignoring their repeated calls for information and consultation. 

Elected members have argued that MCAST courses are far from equivalent to engineering courses run by the University of Malta and other European universities. 

The union said on Thursday that, as an employer, the government required a proper system of qualifications “which can differentiate appropriately between different skill sets”.

Without such an objective system, it said, recruitment decisions are likely to end up being based largely on subjective impressions. “This would not be in the public interest.”

It said that the engineering degree courses offered by the University are challenging, as they should be and, in Malta, the reputation of the engineering profession has been consistently and painstakingly built along the years with the warrant now associated with the successful completion of a demanding degree course and the resulting professional ethic.