MEP wants overseas trips to be mandatory for schools

Labour MEP says visit abroad should be part of national curriculum of primary schools 

Marlene Mizzi
Marlene Mizzi

Incumbent Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi has said she will be lobbying for funds from EU education programmes in a bid to make overseas visits part of the national curriculum for primary school children.

Mizzi said this will be one of her re-election themes.

“I believe that primary school children should be taken for an educational, age-appropriate and well planned visit abroad as part of the national school curriculum. I believe that education goes beyond reading and writing. Our children should be exposed to other cultures arts, languages and traditions of other countries.

“Education is an investment in our children and exposing them to what exists in other countries beyond our shores is mind opening. Such visits, at an appropriate age before going to secondary schools, will whet the appetite for further learning,” Mizzi said.

The MEP said that not all parents could afford to take their children abroad. She said that funds from the current programmes for EU education funds such as Erasmus, Comenius, Leonardo da Vinci and Grundtvig, so that all the children of Malta and Gozo will have the opportunity to visit another country as part of their education.

“Given that we live in an island, exposure to other cultures is of particular importance for the formation of ambitions and love of learning.”