Why is Engineering still the black horse of the local professions?

While in other disciplines there are various lines of responsibility – take the medical profession, there is the nurse and the doctor, in architecture the builder and the architect, and similarly in many other professions there seem to be no clearly defined lines in engineering.? Some people seem to think that the engineer must necessarily be that person who can ‘use his hands’.? This does not imply that Engineers do not have manual work in the course of their job but certainly there are a grade of people who should be trained to do certain manual work (and who will eventually be better at doing this work) than engineers!? An engineer and a technician have different roles and levels of expertise.

Engineers typically have a higher level of education, often holding a bachelor's or higher degree in engineering. They are responsible for designing, developing, and overseeing the implementation of technical solutions.

On the other hand, technicians usually have a more hands-on role, focusing on the practical application and maintenance of technology. They often have a diploma or associate degree and are skilled in performing specific tasks, such as equipment installation, troubleshooting, and repairs.

While an engineer may have the knowledge and skills to perform some of the tasks of a technician, their primary role is usually focused on higher-level design and problem-solving. It's not uncommon for engineers to have a broad understanding of the work done by technicians, but their expertise lies in different areas of the technical field.? Neither it is uncommon and strange that technicians will be better in certain roles of say, maintenance, assembly and testing because of the specific training they received.

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At my time at University, there were excellent streams of engineering education, one run at the Polytechnique (then called MCAST), at at the Fellenberg which created excellent technicians and OTDs and HTDs and the University of Malta which created Engineers.? OTDs and HTDs filled important roles in industry particularly at the Dockyard, and also at the Power Station and at Maltacom.? Engineers filled roles at Enemalta and Maltacom and in other institutions like GI where research work was being carried out.

In the last 25 years, successive governments have demolished this establishment, and have created a new MCAST where few if any technicians are coming out but a new form of Engineer is coming out.? There has been considerable discussion whether this should be awarded the engineering warrant or not.? I will not go into this discussion since when I employ an engineer, I look at the educational background and what role I want him to fulfil.? However, this has led to a situation where University is losing engineering applicants because they may believe that going through MCAST is an easier path, while MCAST is not creating technicians.? So the country has ended up with few Engineers from University, few Engineers from MCAST and no technicians.?

While the simple logic of letting University carry on in its role of creating engineers (possibly elevating the requirements for an engineering warrant to a Master’s level (like what happened with Architects and Teachers), and MCAST focussing on creating craftsmen and technicians up to a high level (similar to the HTD Grade) we used to have is beyond me!

The end result is that at present Industry is neither finding engineers nor technicians to full up the various openings.? Unless this issue is addressed with urgency, the country cannot go on in the Medical, Hospitality, Industrial industry and Service Providers unless we keep employing overseas staff.