Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1078260
24 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 FEBRUARY 2019 OPINION Evarist Bartolo Evarist Bartolo is Minister for Education and Employment 'Plans are useless, planning is essential' I have chosen a quote by Dwight Eisen- hower because sometimes we do not make a distinction between plans and planning. The University of Malta has just organised a Strategic Development Forum for external stakeholders. The UoM is going through a Strategic Plan- ning Process to update its vision for the next decade. A series of eight Fora was organised for around 15,000 members of the University Community. Now they have organised a Forum for high- level executives in private companies, top consulting firms as well as govern- ment agencies and ministries. The strategic plan provides the university with a set of goals and a roadmap of how to achieve them. Core strategic themes reflect educational and academic objectives that will help the UoM sustain and develop further its position as a world class education provider. Core strategic themes include teaching and learning; research and knowledge transfer; societal impact; enterprise and industrial impact; the international outlook and sustain- ability. The National Impact of these themes is of extreme importance and components that were used to initiate discussion included Cultural Herit- age, the economic impact, National competences and capabilities, as well as the Maltese Language. The UoM is also looking at how we can serve the country better. Strategic development processes for the whole country and the sustainability of the kind of society that Malta needs were among the core and enabling strategies present in the plans of higher education institutions. This initiative is most commendable, and we must make practical use of this consultation process. We can- not keep it behind closed doors and universities shut up in their campuses are sick universities. Academics who only talk among themselves are letting themselves down and letting society down. We must apply the four pillars of education – learning to know, learning to be, learning to do and learning to live together – at all times. I have always maintained that the sharing of knowledge is paramount. In fact, my best educational experi- ence has been at Stanford University with top quality teaching, knowledge, vocational experience, skills, knowledge and research. The teaching was geared for work-integrated learning not just employability. We had teaching us pro- fessors of practice coming from the real world who were excellent practioners in their field. Our University of Malta should take steps to ensure that career developments are not based solely on publications in journals but are also engaged with the real world of employ- ment. The worst kind of education is either being too practical or too impractical. In Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, Mr Gradgind says: "NOW, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls noth- ing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!" Simply parroting facts learned by heart is not proper education. In his satirical novel Gulliver's Travels, Jonathon Swift writes about the inhab- itants of Laputa. Laputa's population consists mainly of academics who are fond of mathematics, astronomy, music and technology, but they fail to make practical use of their knowledge. Due to their fervent intellectual pursuits, Laputans are also depicted as becom- ing so lost in thought that they cannot function in everyday life. They often suffer from strabismus: one eye turns inwards and another eye upwards. They build their homes from the roof down – no wonder they collapse. The University of Malta is an indis- pensable asset of Malta. As a country we should also go through a strategic planning process to plan our future. What kind of community do we want? What kind of society should we work towards? How do we balance economic growth with environmental and social sustain- ability? How do we plan to address the challenges that strong economic growth brings with it? By failing to prepare we are preparing to fail. Simply to go on as we are and hope for the best is not a strategy. If we let things happen on their own, they will not fall into place, but they will simply fall apart. Godfrey Farrugia Godfrey Farrugia MP is Partit Demoktratiku Leader Bring back the Constitutional Convention WE all agree that constitutional reform is long overdue. Its amendments are called for on many fronts. Since Independence, our democratic system has been missing the necessary checks and balances, separation of pow- ers, and a rule of law control system. We had transposed the Westminster model of Parliament from colonial Britain with an inappropriate and dys- functional Constitution. In my opinion, it is useless pointing fingers and we must be forward looking and seek a common and immediate purpose. We must determine what kind and type of democracy we want. In this respect Partit Demokratiku has a special and significant role to play. In Parliament we represent a people's seat which highlights national issues that the two-party system conveniently or unintentionally misses. PD has the po- litical will to address the lacunae in our present Constitution with fresh ideas, solutions and best practices. In this respect, we have taken a very pro-active approach in our participa- tion in the steering committee which is ably chaired by the President of Malta. Where appropriate, we called a spade a spade. We do not wish for this opportunity to be lost, in such a way that it leads to deformed constitutional reform. The steering committee's primary objective should be to set the remits, terms of reference and the resources to support a Constitutional Conven- tion. PD will not support backroom deals. Those articles in the Constitution that have stood the test of time should be upheld, others updated and what's missing included. I am of the opinion that the Consti- tution must be backed by a roadmap that steers us through a bottom-up approach by means of a Constitutional Convention so that all stakeholders participate through active citizenship. Political parties should not lead in it. This must be backed up by a technical and specialised committee of local and foreign constitutional experts who will draft the proposed amendments. Partit Demokratiku sees no quick fixes, but a process that takes us with caution through three phases. It is imperative that this convention immediately addresses our dysfunc- tional democracy by focusing on three issues: the supremacy of the Consti- tutional Court, the rule of law control system and the sectorial fixes. This is to be followed by a second phase where the rest of the concerns that are undermining our democracy are dealt with so that we determine what type of democracy befits Malta and the public's interests. At each end-stage, Parliament will approve the amendments. The third stage is a continuous follow-up by the convention to update the Constitu- tion every two years. Throughout the process an informed educational cam- paign, co-ordinated by the convention, must address the general public. It is in the forum of a Constitutional Convention that the input of a vibrant democratic society is cherished. This Convention and the technical and spe- cialised committee must have the time to consider what has worked and what has not, both locally and abroad, and this must be backed by the continued feedback coming from all stakeholders and different sectors. As a sign of goodwill, Partit Demokra- tiku has called on government to ap- point the next president by a 2/3 major- ity, whilst also establishing an advisory Council of State. No official reaction has yet been forthcoming. Partit Demokratiku's vision is for an educated, outward looking and open society, and fosters an environment where the art and science of politics returns to its core roots and values. The only gateway to fix this broken system is to have the good of our country in our hearts.