Does The University Of Malta Live Up To Your Expectations?
The university does not always provide the student with what they need, but is the student always there when they need something?
Earlier this afternoon the University of Malta Debating Union held what might have been the most anticipated and hottest debate of the year. The event was held outside at the quadrangle and tackled an issue that many students have pondered about at one point in time or another; "Does the University of Malta live up to your expectations?’. The structured debate saw six guest speakers divided into two teams; the first team consisted of academics and university lecturers, while the other team was made up of university students.
The task of the guests was to simply discuss, debate, and argue the benefits and disadvantages of the University of Malta. This controversial subject attracted many students and university staff to the floor, even Rector Prof Alfred Vella was present in the audience.
It was Prof Godfrey Baldacchino from the Faculty of Arts who opened up the debate. He made it very clear from the start of his argument that the university does not always meet expectations, sometimes its actually quite difficult to do so. Prof Baldacchino highlighted the fact that the university is “a place that is a part of a world” and that many people have different, sometimes even conflicting ideas and expectations of university.
Prof Baldacchino’s thoughts were immediately accepted and agreed upon by the students who were arguing that the university does not meet their own expectations. Ms Rebecca Micallef used more generic aspects of university life to argue her thoughts about the university.
According to Ms Micallef, the main landmark of any university should be its library. Unfortunately, here at UM this landmark is far from adequate in the services it provides. She highlighted the lack of available space in relation to the student population and the odd opening hours to explain why this is so. She even mentioned how a large number of university students fail to make use of the library as a result of the poor service offered by the library. However, this was countered by Dr Anna Borg from the Department of Labour Studies who pointed out that there are a lot of online resources, and that when a student is making use of HYDI, they are really making use of the library itself. She went on to say that the issue here is not that the library does not provide the service that is expected by the student, but rather, the student is carrying out less readings and as such using the library less.
Ms Micallef went on to highlight what she calls the “abysmal research facility” offered by UM. She argued that it requires more funding and sponsorships, and this is evident in the low ranking of the university and the fact that many students carry out their research in foreign universities. However, UM does carry out a number of research projects and it must be very good at what it does because the Malta Life Sciences Park opened its research labs just a few metres away from the entrance of the university.
A very important aspect that she did manage to mention in her argument against the university is the fact the sports facilities are almost non-existent here on campus. She pointed out how the highest educational institution in Malta has a gravel ground as a football pitch, and tarmac as an athletics track. It is then, according to Ms Micallef, no wonder that Malta has a high obesity rate. The university does realise this and is pushing for the increased amount of sports activities but when the university football team has to train at a local school and not on university grounds, then clearly something is wrong here.
Dr Borg was more successful in presenting evidence as to why the university does live up to expectations. She made mention of three important aspects. The first being affordability, she compared the free-of-debt Maltese student who receives a free tuition and on top of that a stipend paid by the tax payer to the UK student, who during their time of studies, amasses a debt of almost £44,000. Mr Alexander Moses Clayman, originally from the UK, entirely agreed with her. He says that the reason why he’s not studying back home in the UK is because he doesn’t want to collect any debt.
Apart from providing an education, a university must make sure that its students use that gained knowledge to find a job. Dr Borg noted that UM students can be rest assured because 95% of graduating students find a job within 6 months of completing an university degree. This statistic is twice as high as Italy and Greece. It was pointed out, however, that this statistic does not mean much to the student since both Italy and Greece find themselves in a recession. Alternatively, Dr Borg pointed out that this piece of data is as good as German universities. She even noted how UM has a positive gender gap with 94% of female students finding a job after the achievement of a university degree compared to 92% of male students.
Ms Naomi Bugre who views herself as a student, a young person, and an activist, was the most vocal between the student team and was extremely concerned that the university does not meet her expectations, even though she was extremely grateful towards the university and her lecturers. She said that the reason why the university is not where she would like it to be, is because it is too institutionalised as strong bureaucratic rules make it difficult to have a sense of freedom. She thinks that students are not encouraged to carry research and that this institutionalisation makes it difficult for students and lecturers “to go the extra mile”. In terms of student life, the university really has the wrong approach, she says. But it was Prof Dominic Fenech of history who countered her. Although he agreed that university should not be seen as an institution, but rather as a hub of activity. He went on to say that the student may view UM as failing to meet expectations because there is a lack of student life within the university itself. This is exemplified by departmental and student committee elections, and feedback systems. He went on to read out a list of services offered by the university that students do not make use of. He went on to ask “how could the university give you what you want if you are never here?”, clearly stating that the real issue here is a lack of interaction between student and staff, the university after all is not a “monolithic institution”. The opposition agreed completely with what he had to say, Mr Clayman went on to pitch in that if an establishment has met its expectations, then its “dreams are not that high up”. But he did highlight the importance of having to reflect on society and moving forward as not to suffer from complacency, especially since UM is the only university in Malta.
Members of the audience were allowed to ask the panel some questions regarding the topic. One student named Michael, studying IT, highlighted the fact that there may be a misuse of funds within the university as many computers remain unused or have outdated or wrong software installed. Other members of the audience mentioned other reasons as to why UM doesn’t match their expectations, but it was Prof Baldacchino who gave the most compelling counter argument. He mentioned how this year UM is providing fee English language proficiency courses to students who need it most due to the increasing demands for the language within the different job markets. However, students are complaining about this and view it as a waste of time. This, then stands as a metaphor of the attitude of the Maltese student. The university offers a lot of schemes and benefits for the student which are taken for granted, and sadly the student is unable to appreciate what has been laid out for them.
This was the maiden debate for the debating union and it truly gave students and staff a platform to voice their concerns. Most importantly it ensured that young people are given a voice and are given a place and a time to speak their mind. This debate helped students and lecturers appreciate each other’s capabilities, while examining the pros and cons of university life here at UM.
The winning team of the debate will be announced either later today or tomorrow.
