During the last week of November, ALP, Paola Malta hosted 28 participants between teachers and students for the fifth LTT (Learning, Teaching and Training) mobility in the Erasmus+ project called Multicultural aspects in our schools. The countries taking part were Germany (coordinator), Italy, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Malta. The theme of the mobility was History and Politics and the programme of events was created around these two topics.
As regards to politics we obtained permission to visit the Houses of Parliament and apart from an introduction by one of the staff we also had a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Dr Angelo Farrugia, who explained in detail how the Maltese Parliament works. Another meeting was with the director general of Education Stephen Cachia who explained to the foreign participants our education system and the situation with state schools with regards to foreign students. Another interesting meeting was that at Easo with the participation of Meusac. During this last meeting participants discussed the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in Malta with emphasis to the foreign students currently living in our schools. Several workshops were also organised where the discussions focussed on the advantages and disadvantages concerning these foreign students and how these can be tackled.
As to the historical part of the mobility, the group had the opportunity to visit several historical sites. They started with Ggantija Gozo, where they had a guided tour of the place. The second place was the Palace Armoury followed by St John's Co-cathedral. Last but not least they also had a tour of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples. All tours were accompanied by a guide who gave a detailed explanation of the places.
Another exciting activity was the treasure hunt that was organised in Mdina. The students were divided into four groups. Each group, which was composed of students from different countries, were given a set of questions which they had to complete by going around the narrow streets of Mdina. This served as a team-building activity and apart from having fun, they also learnt interesting information about our Old Capital City. Afterwards a certificate was rewarded to each student of the group that obtained the most correct number of answers. During their stay, the group also visited other places like Sliema, Marsaxlokk and Wied Iz-Zurrieq in Malta and Dwejra, Ta' Pinu Shrine and Cittadella in Gozo.
This mobility ended with a dinner in a renowned restaurant during which the certificates for attendance and participation were distributed.
New friendships were created while lovely and enjoyable moments were experienced by the foreign as well as the local participants. After all this is the scope of these mobilities.
A big thank you goes to the staff of the Houses of Parliament, the Ministry of Education, EASO and Meusac, Heritage Malta and EUPA for their support and a special mention goes to the head of ALP and all colleagues who, with their help, rendered this activity a great success.