Malta Renews Wartime Temporary License To Ukrainian University For A Second Year
Malta’s educational authorities have renewed a wartime temporary license to a Gżira-based Ukrainian university for a second year.
The International European University (IEU) was set up in Kyiv in 2019 but applied to relocate to Malta, in collaboration with the American University of Malta (AUM) in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) approved the application in 2023, allowing it to deliver Bachelor of Management, Master of Management and Business Administration, and Doctor of Medicine programmes in Malta.
Practical training for the Doctor of Medicine course is undertaken in Poland.
In its initial review, a panel of experts – Robert Cassar, Janet Harvey and Giorgi Munjishvili – appointed by the MFHEA noted that this was a unique application.
It clarified that it had to meet three conditions – namely it must not directly compete with other Maltese educational institutions, the institution must still operate under Ukrainian law, and its Maltese presence must not give it the right to claim it meets European standards.
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The panel recommended a one-year license subject to a number of recommendations.
1. The IEU must make it clear that its Maltese courses are quality-approved by the Ukrainian authorities and any student complaints cannot be pursued in Malta. However, the MFHEA is recommended to establish a way forward with its Ukrainian counterpart in case difficulties arise.
2. The IEU must make it clear on all its platforms that students attending its Maltese courses are joining an institution that may eventually relocate back to Ukraine, which means their right to live and study in Malta may be revoked.
3. The license should be reviewed annually in light of the situation in Ukraine, and the MFHEA should pay particular attention to the provision of residential accommodation, laboratory and classroom facilities, and the provision of staff.
4. The MFHEA should check every year whether the IEU budget forecasting and strategic planning are appropriate and secure
The panel found that the IEU’s principal and staff were well-qualified and experienced, with the Bologna process followed when recruiting staff.
It found that IT provision at AUM is of good quality, while the IEU assured that all material on its Kyiv servers is securely cloud-stored on servers outside Ukraine. However, it found a major shortfall in terms of availability of laboratories for medical students, as AUM premises don’t have that provision.
Today, the MFHEA announced that it has renewed the IEU’s temporary license for another year, until August 2025. However, the IEU has been obliged to undergo a financial and institutional audit by January 2025. If it fails any of those two audits, its license will be immediately revoked.
Lovin Malta has sent the following questions to the MFHEA
-Why did MFHEA decide to extend the temporary license for another year?
-Did the MFHEA receive any complaints by students? How were they tackled?
-What kind of monitoring and compliance exercises did the MFHEA carry out on the IEU over the past year?
-Were any shortcomings found, and if so, how were they tackled?
Photos: IEU
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