San Anton School hosts Comenius conference

San Anton Middle School has acted as host to a number of participants involved in a Comenius project entitled "Tourism, Jobs and the Euro". The visitors came from schools in Austria, which is acting as a project co-ordinator, Germany, Ireland, the Basque Country and Hungary.

The San Anton team, consisting of teachers and pupils under the leadership of the head of Middle School, Alfred Buttigieg, and the project Comenius co-ordinator, Angele Calleja, prepared an extensive programme of activities and excursions all directly related to the project.

Participants visited a number of educational institutions providing courses that prepare students for different jobs in the tourist industry and other related industries. They found these visits of particular interest, especially those they made to the Institute at Targa Gap, the Institute of Tourism Studies and also MCAST, since they were able to compare them to similar institutes in their own country.

The visitors were also made familiar with the tourist attractions what Malta and Gozo have to offer. The Crafts Village at Ta' Qali, a tour of Valletta and a nighttime excursion to Vittoriosa were included in their programme as well as visits to the Hypogeum and the temples at Tarxien. The latter two sites, in particular, made a very strong impression. In Gozo they visited the Cathedral and Gozo Heritage. They were also taken on a boat trip to Dwejra, where they were able to view the Azure Window and Fungus Rock.

A wine-tasting session at the Marsovin Wineries was one of the highlights of the week's conference. The visitors were able to savour and sample Maltese wine and other local delicacies while being given a brief overview of the history of winemaking in Malta.

As regards the project itself it was agreed, in the course of a lengthy discussion among all the participants, that each school would prepare a pack highlighting different aspects of its country's cultural heritage.

The completion and exchange of these packs will conclude the work of the project, which will be signalled by the holding of a Euroday. San Anton School is planning to hold its annual cultural evening on the same day as a way of celebrating the event.

On leaving, all the participants expressed their appreciation of how well they had been looked after and all declared that they would be taking back with them very favourable impressions of Malta and of Maltese hospitality.

San Anton School is proud of having been asked to host such a conference and looks forward to other similar requests in the future.