National Seminar on Development Education in Malta

On 10 May 2010, SKOP, the national platform for Maltese NGDOs organised a national seminar to promote development education (DE). It was held in the capital city of Malta, Valletta at the Mediterranean Conference Centre and was supported by the North South Centre and DEEEP.

The purpose of the meeting was to bring together key Maltese stakeholders in the field and raise awareness on DE among governmental and non-governmental actors. It acted as an opportunity to exchange information, good practice and to explore possibilities of cooperation among relevant stakeholders in development education.
The seminar was attended by teachers, representatives of academia, students, members of NGOs, governmental representatives and the public. During the day there were talks by foreign guests; Alessio Surian, Franz Halbartschlager and Marcos Estrada de Oliviera and by representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education in Malta.

During the workshops recommendations were collected to see what the main issues in Malta are and what should a national DE strategy include to have the biggest positive impact on all. The main recommendations that came out included the need for a resource centre of global education material for the formal and non-formal sector. It was mentioned that students participating in development education projects need to be given more of a voice to express themselves. During the workshop on migration the participants showed their concern for the need of anti-racist education at all levels.

The issue that development education projects in Malta are usually short term was also mentioned; showing the need to bring more people on board, to create training, and get the support from the ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs to make sure DE in Malta becomes more long term with a greater impact. The seminar proved to be a positive starting point for developing a national DE strategy in Malta. Participants realised the importance of such a strategy and voiced their opinion that this is a necessary step that needs to be taken. SKOP believes that through DE, issues of social justice and human rights can be addressed while giving a foundation for people to act in a just, equal, sustainable and humane way.

Information provided by Louisa Attard, SKOP