How are people who can’t write or think allowed to graduate from the University of Malta?
Typical Labour Party: they spend all their time, money and effort investing in ‘image’ (I had to put it in inverted commas) and forget about the content.
Kurt Farrugia’s office emailed half the nation with a promotional message telling us to log onto therealbudget.com. They even advertised on timesofmalta.com videos.
Then I obeyed, logged on, and what did I get? This below.
I swear to God that I did NOT touch it. I copied it straight from therealbudget.com and pasted it here.
If these are the economists who are carving out Joseph’s and Anglu’s pjanijiet cari daqs il-kristall, mela ha nibda nippakkja.
Eighteen years of thrilling ‘government by trial and error in the hands of chumps and mad people’ in my 47 years of life is more than enough.
I still haven’t recovered from the ordeal and the constant tension, and when I read something this bloody inane written by an ‘economist’ who refers to the government as ‘him’ and ‘his’ and ‘he’, it just brings on a rush of PTSD symptoms.
It’s bad enough that people like this get to graduate the first time, but a master’s degree? Somebody at the university should be shot.
And that (cue weary sigh) is a metaphor.
The Budget – A nice Economic Literature
Here we go again. The 14th of November is the day where the Minister of Finance the Hon Dr.TonioFenech will read his budget for the year 2012. This year’s slogan is “Bix-Xoghol Ninvestu f’Socjeta’ b’saħħita”
Unfortunately if you were to analyse the pre-budget document you can find anything but investment for the strengthening of the society. With our national Debt reaching the €4.5 Billion and a blur future for Europe and the Euro, the Government has a difficult task ahead. This implies that he cannot afford more slip offs. Year after year the Government is formulatingtargets which are never reached. This was also reflected in the report issued by the Economics and Financial Affairs Directorate within the European Commission about Public Finances in the European Monetary Union of 2011.
This report states that pursuing fiscal consolidation is a key challenge for Malta and while previous budgets all have put in place measures to correct the excessive deficit, the Government is having continuous slippages which are hindering the credibility of the Government’s strategy. The commission also points out that a key-weakness of Malta is the non-binding nature of the Budget, which implies that the Government fiscal strategy is a short term one and does guarantee fiscal consolidation for the future. Finally it also states that the Commission is also considering the introduction of an expenditure rule. This will imply that if the Government will continue in the present direction, the European Commission will have no option other than ordering the Government what expenditure is allowed and what is not!
The Government must set his priorities right. These must reflect the need of the Country. The Government must change direction and understand that it is the time to help families and utilize the scarce Government funds and resources to produce sustainable investment. This can be reinforced by cutting costs through efficiency, transparency and accountability, three words that seem to have been disappeared from the present administration’s dictionary.
The budget must be a working document with a defined, realistic and binding strategy and not a nice economic literature to read suitable for a University student reading a Degree in Commerce.
Silvio Schembri,
B.Com Hons. Econ. M.A. Econ., Economist,
Lecturer at the University of Malta
———–
Silvio Schembri is no ordinary economist. He is an economist who is a new Labour candidate on the 6th district, something he fails to mention beneath his signature.
Cunning, eh?
That way, readers of therealbudget.com, which also gives no indication that it is produced, marketed and paid for by the Labour Party, will think that his view is independent and unbiased, given as an economist (who can’t write or think) rather than as a Labour candidate.
Well, here’s our boy.
Silvio, if you’re reading this, and because the lazy and incompetent Marisa Micallef clearly couldn’t be arsed to subedit therealbudget.com (why bother, when she can pick up her pay-cheque whether she does it or not?), unlike Evarist Bartolo I won’t offer to come up and see you, but here’s one very public private lesson.
The government is THEY, because it is composed of several people and not just the prime minister, though when speaking of the government as an entity or body, you can use IT, as I have just done. A government is it. The government is it or they.
Imbasta bl-MA. I’m tempted to hand my degree back to the University of Malta in protest at semi-literate people like this one and Anglu Farrugia being allowed to graduate. There are more, but they are not famous, so let’s leave them alone.
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Reply to Rita Camilleri Click here to cancel reply
You missed “The Needs of The Industry” by Dr Chris Cardona, MP (PL) – a page long lament replete with buzz words, about how government has failed ‘tal-bizniz’ (m’ghadomx barunijiet).
I won’t be voting for Silvio Schembri.
That is why I have been asking – but no answers are forthcoming – how on earth our university dishes out degrees without thinking of the consequences. We have enough LL.Ds who, I am sure do NOT know what the LL.D stands for. I have been asking whether theses might possibly be written by somebody other than the undergraduate?
Juanito Camilleri please take note. This guy’s a member of your organisation.
[Daphne – OMG. Yes. ROFL. LOL. I forgot to mention, in in adequate tones of horror, that he is a LECTURER. I was too caught up in the fact that he was actually allowed to graduate, despite having such poor thinking and writing skills and such infantile reasoning.]
That would be his “key-weakness”. Behold the supervisor economist at the Central Bank of Malta.
——————————
Silvio Schembri
Economist
Location
Malta
Industry
Management Consulting
Silvio Schembri’s Overview
Current
Lecturer – Macro Economics at University of Malta
General Manager at GAL XLOKK
Past
Supervisor Economist at Central Bank of Malta
Education
L-Università ta’ Malta
L-Università ta’ Malta
This confused (and confusing) individual has no right to call himself an economist. He is a total embarrassment to the profession.
He does, however, justify the abysmal world wide ranking of the University of Malta.
I do not think that he is telling the truth. A quick search on the university site did not turn up any Schembri (let alone Silvio Schembri).
[Daphne – There is definitely a John Schembri, because he taught one of my sons (geography), so perhaps there’s something wrong with the search function.]
He might have given one or two lectures by invitation – and thus calls himself a “lecturer” – another way how Labour attempts to fool the gullible.
There are 23 Schembris teaching at university or the Junior College and, thankfully, Silvio is not one of them.
Even part-timers are listed so his “Lecturer – Macro Economics at University of Malta” seems to be a figment of his imagination.
This makes one wonder whether his “B.Com Hons. Econ. M.A. Econ.” and his “Supervisor Economist” (do economists need supervision?) could also be a slight exaggeration.
Incidentally GAL (Grupp Azzjoni Lokali) Xlokk is one of three agricultural organisations set up with EU funds and government help to initiate rural development.
I don’t know how he got the General Manager job but the Xlokk group is run by the mayors of the southern part of Malta so it stands to reason that they would employ a Labour supporter/candidate.
The EU votes huge sums of money to help agriculture but farmers only get a part of this treasure as significant portions are siphoned off to pay people like Silvio Schembri.
I meant on the site of the FACULTY OF ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTANCY.
[Daphne – OK, no need to shout.]
Apologies – did not mean to shout. Just copied the name of the faculty directly from the UOM website and this is in caps.
By signing off this piece as a lecturer at the University of Malta, he is bringing the university’s authority to bear on what he writes. Aren’t there rules about this sort of thing?
All the other articles appear to be by Joe Vella Bonnici, Economist (not the magazine).
I don’t have a degree, allura ma nifhimx but what are “Slip offs” ? Seriously, what did he mean?
“Slip ups”?
Silvio zelaq fin-niexef. He should have said ‘slip-ups’ (mistakes) but I must admit ‘slip offs’ sounds much sexier.
Well at least he can spell task.
If it’s people like Silvio Schembri who are being made lecturers at the university, then it just follows that he will find nothing sub-standard with an economic analysis of this abysmal quality, presented to him for marking by one of his students.
It’s a vicious circle, and although I know plenty of worthy lecturers, it’s a case of bad apples spoiling the crop, and of examiners (assuming they are any better than Silvio to begin with) having to adjust their standards to satisfy cultural or societal expectations on who and how many should graduate, because let’s face it – this sort of rubbish represents a hefty portion of our society.
I think calling someone who writes ‘The Government must set his priorities right.’ or ‘ not a nice economic literature to read suitable for a University student reading a Degree in Commerce.’ semi-literate is actually being very generous.
Efficiency, transparency and accountability, and yet THEY won’t tell us what their plans are.
The present plan is to get as many LL.Ds as possible – to impress the poor, illiterates who venture out to vote for the PL – “Dak avukat taf!!
If the lecturers make about thirty mistakes in five short paragraphs, it is no wonder that their students are barely literate by the time they graduate.
The blind leading the blind. (St Matthew)
“Somebody at the university should be shot.”
Random PL Voter: “Rajta dil-qa*ba Daphne issa anke qed tghidilhom biex jisparaw lin-nies gol-Universita’!!”
Random PN Voter: “U le! Dik kienet metafora…hi stess qalet hekk biex ma jkunx hemm xi cuc bhalkom li jahseb…”
Random PL Voter: “Meta fora??! Din xi **obb tkun?”
I can feel your pain. I cannot come to terms with the fact that postgraduate degrees are awarded after a thesis is reviewed and marked by a board of examiners that includes an external examiner, and yet people like this are still permitted to get through.
The aim of the external examiner is there to ensure that the candidatehas reached the right level.
If an external examiner disagrees with the rest of the board of examiners he has to file a minority report to the rector who, in turn, has to make a final decision. So yes, I cannot understand how such people and our beloved Anglu “taks fors” Farrugia actually got a degree from the University of Malta.
He does not appear anywhere on the university website. Where does he lecture?
Where? Maybe at the university in Gozo. Take a look at this. GUG, the Gozo University Group, is organising a conference this Saturday entitled
‘The role of Gozo in the Maltese Politics’.
[Daphne- I really must clear my diary.]
Let’s gatecrash the conference. I’ll wear a grammar Nazi costume.
Silvio Schembri: A Nice Economic Illiterate
Silvio’s father is Luqa mayor and his aunt is married to Charles Mangion.
Is this Silvio’s father?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100814/local/luqa-mayor-was-not-aware-of-alleged-fraud.322376
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100414/local/no-change-in-popes-route-to-luqa-mayor.302702
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8617305.stm
Yes, he is.
The education system has massive problems starting from the elementary level. I have and still am trying to eradicate all bad writing habits i learned in Maltese schools. Thinking back on it, I don’t think I was thought anything in high school. Sad.
[Daphne – I wasn’t taught English or writing, either, but it’s no excuse. On the other hand, I was taught plenty of Italian, but none of it sank in. Let’s not blame the schools for everything.]
You are right, let us not blame the schools for everything. That said, we have to acknowledge that schools are not doing a good job at teaching students how to write.
They do not like budgets without ‘rohs fil-hajja’ – for example a price cut in tins of pilchards or tuna.
I remember contentious debates in the 1960s all about who did or didn’t put up or down the price of a ton of skalora by a halfpenny. They probably used to eat the stuff themselves.
Silvio is indeed a lecturer at the University of Malta. I I have two hours of economics with him every week.
Visiting lecturer – basically filling in some hours a week – visiting lecturers are not appointed by senate (so do not have a university appointment).
And without a Ph.D. one is really an assistant lecture – so in this case, he should have signed as “visiting assistant lecturer”.
With all due respect, is there someone over here who is really thinking? This guy’s analysis (call it whatever one deems fit) isn’t about the performance of the education sector in Malta, neither about the degree or type of job Silvio has….FYI it is about the economy and how the budget will affect it. (at least that was his target). So for heaven’s sake talk and analyse the substantive of his anlaysis not some word he totally got wrong…for example the fact that we are still talking about a deficit in our economy, when come March 2008 Gonzi said that in 2010 we’ll be talking about a Surplus…please don’t argue the mcuh invalid argument that the international scene ruined the govt’s hopes. in 2008 the recession was already showing its true colors, and it is the govt’s duty to forecast these events before an election and before proposing stuff….a Uni student speaking over here..and yes he is a lecturer of 1st years Bcom…yes I did my homework ;)
Btw….Daphne you have a degree??? seriously I am considering giving up my studies at University of Malta…if laymen can graduate what’s so special about having a degree at UOM???
Silvio needs to learn where and how full stops should be placed within his ‘B.Com Hons. Econ. M.A. Econ., Economist,’.