Studies in Malta and Lithuania

Erasmus studies provide a great chance to study at a foreign university for at least half a year and thus broaden your horizons and get to know a different learning environment. I chose Malta - this island has the only higher education institution (it has 11,000 students - 600 of which come from other countries).

The educational institution is located in the quiet Msida (large university) town. In the first days, I naively thought that this university was similar to VDU. Not really - everything is different here, but I like it, it's much more interesting to study in a place where the learning environment is not like your own - home. And what is different here? First of all, every student who enters the University of Malta receives a one-time payment, which amounts to 600 euros, and then, every month, everyone is paid a stipend of 120 euros just because they are studying, so there is no competition for that. However, there is competition here for good grades, every semester it is announced who finished best and passed all the exams - such persons are awarded one-time scholarships. Also here, students do not tend to correspond, academic honesty is highly valued. If your teacher catches you texting, you will be kicked out of the university and you will also have to pay a fine. In my opinion, this is a very effective tool, because no warnings are needed, you sign off once and you will be told all the best - it's not for nothing that education is free for Maltese people. Also, if you study well, you will be guaranteed a free master's degree, so it's really worth trying here. Another difference: the lectures last two sometimes three hours and not all the teachers take breaks, so sometimes if the lecture is really boring you just sit and count the minutes. Having a computer with you is necessary, at first I was surprised that every student carries it or at least a tablet, but now I always do it myself. Why? Because teachers like to give assignments that can only be done on a computer, all the lecture material is brought to a distance learning environment similar to moodle. I have one lecture, during which the teacher encourages me to write feedback on the topic she has presented on twitter and create my own blogs - all this will be evaluated later, twitter and blog writing in this subject - mandatory. It is also interesting that here students do not have midterms, only an exam. This can be a written and oral presentation or a written work of 2-3 thousand words. I am used to the procedure of VMU, and I am really surprised by the system of this higher education institution, and the oral exam will be a real test for me. Well, one of the biggest quirks was the process of connecting to the university network. After receiving the instructions, I was informed that I would create my user account in 18 minutes, but it took me twice as long. But about everything from the beginning: first I had to read a lot of documents about security, check the boxes that I understood everything and familiarized myself with the rules, then I had to create my login password, which should have one capital letter, a couple of numbers. When I got past this, it turned out that I needed to create a backup password that was much longer and more complex than the first one. After overcoming all this, I found out that I also need to add my mobile number and verify it. Well, finally, I had to install several apps on my smartphone that generate a password when I want to log into my account. I don't know why the IT service of this university came up with this whole long process, it feels like my data and letters from professors are a world-class secret that must be protected in every possible way. So now, if someone wants to hack into this account, they have to have not only my computer and phone, but also my head. Well, the last pleasantly surprising difference is the work spaces and the library, which is very modern. In order to enter it, you must leave all your belongings in the storage room, and you must also have your library card with you. When I visited this place for the first time, I was surprised, everything here is new and modern: many computers, the latest books and pleasant staff. During the session, this library is open till late and even on weekends. If you want to study alone or discuss the lecture with a group of students, there is a separate building for this purpose, equipped with many study areas. Here you can find rooms for group work tasks, which are small rooms with huge TVs to which you can connect your computer. Special workplaces have also been created for art students, future engineers and architects.

This university, for which it is important to constantly renew itself and offer future students only the best conditions for learning, is relatively old and really different from VMU.

AUTHOR: Gabriele Stasiūnaitė