I write in my personal capacity as well as on behalf of EIE (Malta) Ltd in my capacity as director thereof and refer to the article written by Mr Evarist Bartolo, “How Academic Fraud came to Malta – the EIE case”, published on Malta Today.
The contents of the said article are refuted as untruthful and unfounded both in fact and at law, at the same time both myself, and the company which I represent, have instituted judicial proceedings at law against the editor and the author concerned, since the content of the said articles are defamatory and intended to offend our honour, dignity and reputation, or to expose us to public ridicule or disdain.
EIE is an institute licensed by the Ministry of Education to offer higher education courses and offers reputable degrees and qualifications of the highest level. The EIE’
name is associated with Universities of repute such as the University of Leicester, the Institut Universitaire Kurt Bosch (IUKB), and Tbilisi National University ‘Metekhi’ amongst others. EIE also works closely with Cranfield University School of Management, the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.
I also wish to clarify the following points in Mr Bartolo’s article:
1. Stating that Tblisi National University ‘Metekhi’ is (quoting Mr Bartolo) “a shady organization” is not the truth when this university is recognized by its country’s Ministry of Education and the MQRIC within the Ministry of Education of Malta. We have confirmed this by publishing the MQRIC letter of recognition of this university in the local media earlier this week. We are proud to be associated with this university.
2. European University terminated its relationship with EIE in February 2008. No adverts were ever published after this date by EIE. This in accordance with the wishes of European University which made the decision not to operate in Malta.
3. The European University MBA has been given a partial referencing to level 7 by the Malta Qualification Council, meaning that the MBA does carry a recognition which is equivalent to a Masters degree. This is mainly due to the perceived number of contact hours. Currently the MQC is further evaluating the number of contact hours involved in this programme and in the working out of the ECTS. This evaluation exercise was initiated by MQC since other MBAs offered locally, such as the Maastricht School of Management MBA, and the Grenoble Graduate School of Business MBA were, at the time, also not being recognized in Malta by the MQRIC and their holders were facing recognition problems by the government.
4. Accepting to join a higher education focus group committee of the Nationalist Party was my personal decision since I believe that I am a free citizen and I can make decisions regarding myself without the blessing of Mr Bartolo. I believe I can contribute to the development of this sector in Malta and in the changes that the Education Act should undergo to reflect the needs of this sector. This being so, I wish to confirm that EIE has no political affiliation whatsoever.
Antonello Cappitta
Director
Editorial Note:
Mr Cappitta chose to undertake legal action against this newspaper before seeking a right of reply and avail himself of the opportunity to rectify any misunderstandings. This newspaper sought confirmations from the Swiss and Austrian educational authorities on the legitimacy of the educational institutions represented by and connected to EIE, before publishing any news article. EIE’s vexatious libel suit cannot prevent the media from reporting on foreign educational institutions that are not its property.
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