The following press release was published after UESA’s Extraordinary General Meeting with regards to the issue concerning MCAST graduates’ eligibility of an Engineering warrant:
“Following today’s EGM, 137 UESA members have unanimously agreed on a number of proposals related to the announced changes to the engineering warrant. These points will be discussed and put forward in the coming days during meetings with the Chamber of Engineers, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Engineering Board, the Faculty of Engineering and other concerned parties. The following were discussed and agreed upon during the EGM:
- Currently, there is a lack of transparency as to what the content of the course offered by MCAST is;
- Both Engineering students at the University of Malta and UESA, as the official student representative body, have not been consulted on the upcoming changes to the Engineering Profession Act;
- The Ministries concerned intend to amend the Engineering Profession Act to satisfy the demands of MCAST engineering graduates and students, however they have failed to listen to University of Malta Engineering graduates and students which are to date legitimate stakeholders in the Engineering profession;
- Going forward, we believe that any amendments should be discussed with all stakeholders involved, particularly students which are future professionals;
- To date, there is little clarity as to who will accredit the abridgement course which will allow MCAST Engineering graduates to sit for the Engineering Warrant interview;
The complete resolution agreed upon during the EGM will be published following the discussions with the stakeholders. On another note, UESA would like to express its disappointment towards the comments put forward by the Minister for Education and Employment – the Hon. Minister Evarist Bartolo towards engineering students at the University of Malta. These comments do not augur well for an environment of constructive dialogue.”
Photo Credits: UESA