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A dream come true! This is how Mr Anton Tabone, Minister for Gozo, described in a nutshell the story behind the Malta University Centre in Gozo, officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr Eddie Fenech Adami on May 4, 1996.
As early as 1815 the Colonial Officer in London was deliberating making Gozo the seat of "a considerable university which may attract the young men of hte most enterprising Greek and Italian families and become at the same time a lasting instrument for the extension of British moral influence through the Levant and at least the south of Italy."
The idea, however, was turned down to be revived in 1961, when the feasibility of a university was discussed by Dr Anton Tabone, the President of the Gozo Civic Council, and Professor Guze Aquilina, then the Vice-Rector of the University of Malta. Once again, nothing materialised.
The idea was taken up again by the Ministry for Gozo soon after its establishment on May 14, 1987. The first Gozo Minister, Mr Anton Tabone, found the great collaboration of the Rev. Professor Peter Serracino-Inglott, Rector of the University, and of his own colleagues in the Cabinet. Professor Lino Briguglio, and economist, soon became another promoter of such a foundation.
"When the idea of the Gozo centre was first raised, many thought it was just a nice dream and impractical," explained the Prime Minister in his inauguration speech. "But the idea has become a reality because over the recent years we have come to appreciate two things: the importance of university education and the opportunities for education in Gozo."
The University of Malta Gozo Centre was established in October 1992 and courses were held as from February 1993. It is governed by a board chaired by the University Rector and administered by a director, a post currently held by Professor Briguglio. The centre is intended for the organisation of courses, for research, as well as for the promotion of culture.
At present the Centre is organising a five-year part-time course leading to a BA degree, scheduled to end in 1997-98, and a two-year part-time course leading to a Diploma in Commerce. The Centre has also organised certificate courses on various topics.
The university plans to use the centre for socialised research on atmospheric and climate changes in colloboration with German scholars. It has also embarked on a number of research projects concerning Gozo, such as the lace-making industry, agriculture and tourism.
Another function of the Gozo centre is to promote culture and so contribute towards its better understanding. In line with this function it is hoped that the centre will be promoted as a venue for international conferences and for holding courses for foreigners.
The centre is located in a building best remembered by people as Il-Lazzarett, the old isolation hospital of the island. Located in an area known as Tal-Barmil in the limits of the village of Xewkija, it was originally built as an experimental farm in the mid-19th century.
Habitual outbreaks of plague, cholera, smallpox and fever mad the establishment of an isolation hospital ever more pressing. Cases of infectious diseases were previously treated in premises hired ad hoc by the Government, but these were quite unsuitable for the purpose and often criticised publicly.
Hence the decision to open isolation hospital in the former experimental farm. It was eventually remodelled on a traditional Maltese house, with rooms on two floors surrounding a central courtyard, and was officially inaugurated as a hospital on October 21, 1897.
Situated in the midst of Government property, it was enlarged on more than one occasion.
The hospital was not open on a permanent basis but whenever the need arose, a situation that prolonged itself until the 1960s, when it was finally closed down.
Some 20 years later the building was rehabilitated and it served as a mental hospital between October 7, 1983 and January 26, 1995. Since then it was entirely refurbished to house the university centre.
Gozo can certainly pride itself, as Professor Briguglio pointed out, as one of the smallest, if not the smallest, island in the Mediterranean with a university centre.