Learning should take place in a relaxed atmosphere. It takes time for knowledge to sink in and time and space should be given just as when you water plants. The best rain in Malta is the type that falls slowly and steadily. It’s like when you saw a piece of wood: you let the saw do the cutting, you don’t need to force it onto the wood and you need to leave space for the sawdust to fall so the saw is free to do its work.

Curiosity should be one of the drivers of learning. Nature uses curiosity to teach its young pupils and we should watch cats and dogs learning by being playful and curious.

The environment should be healthy, so that good things are caught by the learner. The Catholic Church, an expert with two millennia of experience, teaches by symbols and the atmosphere created as a result. The human mind does not need forceful shocks to learn and to open up to life. Let learning be a way of life. Let us be careful and check whether we are obliterating the sane aspects of the traditions we received which are the foundation for a happy and fruitful life. Are we cultivating the virtues of patience, of discipline and frugality, the satisfaction that comes from a job well done, the seeking of excellence, the virtue of justice and fairness, forgiveness and kindness?

Let us also invest in media education, otherwise it will not be a healthy democracy in which we are living.

Let us show the importance of caring for our natural environment, otherwise we would soon be living in an urban jungle of concrete and in aquariums of glass and steel.

Adding insult to injury, the same people who are pushing for the destruction of our natural environment and our village cores use pictures of our natural beauty and our village cores to lure people to part with their money.

Joe Portelli

Nadur