Gonzi attends class

Students at the new boys’ secondary school in Mosta yesterday proudly showed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi around their classrooms and playgrounds.

As he walked through the school, built on 23,000 square metres of land, Dr Gonzi could see the young men doing science experiments, baking apple pies during home economics lessons and reading at the library.

The state school, which Dr Gonzi officially opened yesterday, forms part of the Maria Regina College and cost €9.5 million to build. It first started taking in students in September 2010 and now has 750.

“There is a lot of space in our school... in fact, it took us a while to get used to getting around and we got lost at first,” admitted Marcus Ciantar, a Form 2 student who hosted a high-tech presentation beamed live in each of the 51 classroom on interactive whiteboards.

He and fellow students explained that the school was equipped with large windows to allow natural light in and the roof housed several photovoltaic panels that generated a third of the energy required to run the building.

Rain water was collected in a large reservoir underneath the building.

The school has nine science laboratories and five computer labs apart from rooms for art, home economics and music lessons.

“Our lessons are not all in the same classroom... We move from one room to the other between lessons... so we don’t remain jammed in one spot,” said one student.

The school’s grounds also include a football pitch with artificial turf, a racing track, a basketball court, a gymnasium and a theatre.

Education Minister Dolores Cristina said this was the sixth new school opened in as many years and the government was also investing in maintaining and renovating existing schools.

Dr Gonzi said that such schools were the nurturing spots for Malta’s future generation who were being brought up with an environmental conscience and surrounded by technology.

Dr Gonzi unveiled the official school plaque bearing a sculpture by artist Paul Haber.

Mr Haber explained that his work, featuring cacti of various heights, was inspired by the theme of development of the school itself and the students.

The school will be transformed into a Christmas village tomorrow and Sunday when it will be open to the public between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.