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SPEECH BY THE HON. DR. MICHAEL REFALO, MINISTER FOR TOURISM, ON THE OCCASION OF THE GRADUATION CEREMONY FOR I.T.S. ACADEMIC STAFF - INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES
pr1808
29/11/2001
29/11/2001
| This is indeed another red letter day for ITS. First and foremost my | most sincere congratulations to the twelve members of our academic staff who, after having followed a course at the University of Malta, obtained their certification in Tourism Studies Education, and graduate today. |
| We are very honoured to have the University Pro - | Rector and the course director Professor Dr. Sultana with us this evening. I wish to thank them both for their good offices as well as for the invaluable help and assistance which the University has given to our Institute, to our students as well as to those who, as from the current academic year, were offered the opportunity to read for a full degree in Tourism Studies at the University of Malta. |
| Perhaps this is a good occasion as any to go back in | time and recall how ITS, founded in 1988, met one of its major challenges: the recruitment of fully qualified academic staff. The original cadre of lecturers and instructors came from the teaching staff of what was previously known as the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. |
| By then, after providing sterling service to the | industry since the late 60s, they had been thoughtlessly relegated to the Mediterranean Conference Centre where they engaged in teaching and training twenty or so students in the centre’s basement and kitchens. Our first move therefore was to transfer staff from the Education Department to Tourism. |
| We immediately realised that to achieve our | objectives and establish a fully autonomous institute, offering much more than the basics, we needed a bigger, stronger, more experienced and qualified academic staff complement. It was therefore imperative for ITS to recruit staff who, besides possessing the required didactic qualities and qualifications, had also spent some time working in the industry. That was no easy task, and as a matter of fact then, quite a tall order. |
| However through the assistance of the European Union | we were successful in identifying SERCO, a UK based company, which provided ITS with a team of highly qualified expatriates to tide the Institute over its first years of operations. |
| Since that time, although ITS has over the years | retained the services of a number of expatriates the Institute has sought and successfully recruited a good number of qualified Maltese nationals. Today the full and part time ITS’ academic staff complement numbers sixty – three, of whom just two are expatriates. |
| The Institute has always felt the need that academic | staff should be given exposure and gain experience through in-service staff development opportunities to help them achieve professional status. Also, that training should be systematic and associated with an institution of higher education. |
| The University of Malta has proved to be the ideal | partner for ITS and I am delighted to confirm that ITS staff very readily recognize and acknowledge that participation in training courses at the University improves their teaching abilities and moreover enhances their career prospects. |
| Therefore in 1999 The Board of Governors commissioned | the Faculty of Education at the University to devise and run a Certificate Course in Tourism Studies. Professor Sultana prepared a course content that satisfies the in-service development requirements of ITS staff members who had never received formal training at tertiary level. |
| Professor Sultana and ITS then proceeded to carry out | a needs survey. Dr. Aeschlimann, previously Director General of the Ecole Hotelier de Lausanne, our external consultant, provided further input and the course was planned on the lines of similar teaching and training courses offered internationally. |
| The course was launched in February 2000 and | concluded in September this year. Fifteen ITS academic staff members enrolled. Twelve were successful. Of the remaining three, two have since left the ITS’ employ and are now engaged in teaching at similar establishments overseas, while the third decided to follow another University course, that leading to the PGCE. |
| I am very pleased to be able to say that all reports | which the Ministry has received from the University have been very positive. The Faculty of Education is highly impressed by the total commitment which ITS academic staff show to their students as well as by their willingness and eagerness to improve their professional standing and qualifications. |
| On a more personal, human dimension, I am told that | staff who attended the course feel that attendance has brought them closer together through their common interest. They have got to know each other better and their experience of University life has served to create a community of professional inquiry and practice. They are keen to share ideas and support mutual effort and individual initiatives. |
| Today’s short but very significant ceremony is a | very merited reward for our twelve graduates. |
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