Five engineering graduates from the Maltese College of Arts, Science and Technology have gone to court, calling upon the authorities to grant them their warrant.

Clint Caruana, Andrew Galea, Ryan Schembri, Brandon Spiteri and Kurt Spiteri filed a judicial protest, saying they had faced  ‘several obstacles’ when requesting the warrant to practice their profession. They said that their repeated calls were met with ‘evasive replies’ but still no warrant.

The protest was filed against the Engineering Profession Board, Transport Minister Ian Borg, Education Minister Owen Bonnici, Mcast and the State Advocate. The judicial act was filed on behalf of 154 students and graduates at the college.

Reference was made to the case of a graduate who, after successfully completing his studies, had applied for his warrant and had been summoned for an interview, as was normal procedure. Yet after submitting copies of his Mcast certificates and after sitting for the scheduled interview, the applicant had been informed that he could not be granted the warrant since he lacked “the necessary qualifications.”

Such a decision was totally “contradictory,” argued the graduates. Why had his application been accepted in the first place and why had the applicant been summoned for the interview?

The law governing engineers’ warrant made reference to a “degree or equivalent” from a “university/college” and Mcast was acknowledged as one of the accredited institutions. This meant that those students who followed an engineering course at the college had a “legitimate expectation” to qualify for that warrant just like their University counterparts.

Even the Malta Qualifications Framework, a referencing tool, was applicable to “both national and foreign qualifications to promote quality, transparency and mobility of qualifications in all types of education.”

The protesting parties asked why the board changed its mind, adding that the reason was “hidden and certainly not comprehensible,” further describing the board’s action as “capricious, abusive, illegal and unfounded.”

Since their repeated calls had been met with a passive attitude, the graduates said they had no option but to take their grievance to court, calling for their warrant application to be processed without further delay, whilst reserving the right to seek further action and holding the authorities responsible in damages.

Lawyer Robert Galea signed the judicial protest.