‘We are the product of those before us’ – MCAST President and CEO celebrate 20-year anniversary

Writing on the Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology’s (MCAST) publication, MCASTlink, President Ian Refalo and Principal / CEO Joachim James Calleja celebrated the college’s 20-year anniversary.

This special edition of the quarterly publication included a look back at the college’s most formative milestones since its foundation in 2001.

“On this special occasion we wish to pronounce a common message of thankfulness and encouragement,” Mr Refalo and Mr Calleja wrote.

“We are the product of those before us who have visualised the future of our workforce by re-creating MCAST in 2021,” they continued.

The institute’s President and CEO outlined MCAST’s humble beginnings, which essentially introduced the British BTEC model to the Maltese islands.

A year after MCAST’s foundation, the Copenhagen Process was signed and in 2004 Malta joined the European Union. These events, Mr Refalo and Mr Calleja highlighted, helped the college experience “a new renaissance in the quality of its general outputs.”

“Today, MCAST has a staff population of more than 1,500 employees and more than 12,000 full-time and part-time learners,” the President and CEO continued.

“The College has over 1,800 industry network partners and almost 1,700 apprentices each year,” they wrote.

Since 2001, MCAST has led to the graduation of 40,000 students from over 100 different countries. This year, it proudly offers its students 43 bachelor’s degree courses and 16 Master Degree courses.

“Twenty years into the life of an educational institution, and having experienced a pandemic, technology is re-prioritised as the new platform for education and training,” Mr Refalo and Mr Calleja wrote.

“We wish to take this opportunity to thank all our predecessors for their strong commitment towards the College and our current staff members and learners for supporting the building of a new learning culture in Malta,” they concluded.