Mr Galea was speaking during a visit to Siggiewi Government Primary school where an Animal Awareness Day was organised as part of the Skolasajf activities. The first week of this month was dedicated to animal welfare.

The SPCA prepared a varied three-hour programme that included practical interactive sessions intended to educate the children about animal welfare.

Skolasajf 2004 is a programme for government, church and independent schools across Malta and Gozo in which some 4,000 students from year’s 4, 5 and 6 participate.

The programme is run by 260 university students and 130 heads and assistant heads as coordinators. Arrangements are made for children who need facilitators while those attending government special schools have programmes at their schools.

The theme chosen for this year was Growing through Sport Values and the programme aimed to promote the values of commitment and participation, respect and responsibility. Drama, plays, literature sessions, poetry and singing, as well as exhibitions and presentations by students, were held.

The minister said that it is important for children to grow up with proper values. Traditionally, it was the family that taught children about values; now the National Minimum Curriculum is complementing this work with an emphasis on a holistic education rather than a purely academic one.

During his visit to the school, Dr Galea also watched a session of Klabbsajf – a specialised element of the Skolasajf programme for students who are given supplementary education during the scholastic year. In this connection, the minister received a donation of CDs, books and other educational material from the HSBC Cares for Children Fund.