A series of programmes organised by NSTF - the National Student Travel Foundation (Malta) - are injecting new life into science as an attempt to make the subject more appealing to students.
Alexandra Scicluna, the NSTF's head of educational and cultural affairs, said the science projects were intended to complement the educational syllabus and facilitate career choices.
The programmes have gained in popularity and success and a team of 11-year-olds from St Augustine's College have made Malta proud after placing first in the Expo Science Mediterranean last month.
The team of five students - Sander Grima, James, Borg, Ambrose Galea, Gabriel Ellul and Neil Bugeja - tackled air pollution as a subject and attempted to come up with a scientific solution.
Another Maltese team of students from De La Salle, who placed second at the NSTF Science Week, also attended the Expo Science Mediterranean.
NSTF was founded by public deed in 1977 with its main objective being to develop educational, cultural, social travel and exchange for students.
It is a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation which is directly in touch with a large number of Malta students through the various educational programmes it organises every year.
NSTF has also been instrumental in sending three students to the interactive London International Youth Science Forum which kicked off this week.
A youth exchange programme in Poland is also planned for later this month, while two students will be flying to Dublin next month to take part in the prestigious EU Contest for Young Scientists.
Ms Scicluna said one of the foundation's major programmes was the NSTF Mini European Assembly which has been organised for the past 15 years to raise awareness on European affairs. This is a simulation of the European Parliament where students from post-secondary and first-year tertiary institutions work together as a team representing the interest of different European countries. Each year 70 - 80 students take part.
Another interesting programme is the NSTF Contest for Young Students, with the winners going on to take part in the Expo Science Europe. "When I first took on this job two years ago, my first experience was a science expo in Bratislava. What impressed me most was the enthusiasm and knowledge the students, as young as 10, had. This encouraged me to introduce new projects," Ms Scicluna said.
Ms Scicluna has just been nominated on the board of the newly set up European branch of MILSET (Mouvement International pour le Loisir Scientifique Et Technique).
She said the board was working to establish some form of cooperation between European entities that organised science-related events so as to tap their expertise and get students to take part in such activities.
Ms Scicluna said Malta had received a proposal from MILSET to host the Expo Science Mediterranean of 2006 but this depended a lot on financial support. "If we find the necessary backing to do it - it costs about Lm15,000 to organise it properly - then it would be an attainable feat," she said.
Speaking about the programmes organised by NSTF, Ms Scicluna said she had received a lot of good feedback from students but felt it could achieve much more if it had more funds at its disposal.
She said the major expense that NSTF faced was sending the students abroad but it received a lot of support from Air Malta, among others, over the years.
NSTF pumps about Lm15,000 into about six major projects every year and the organisation welcomed any help it could get from private entities that wished to sponsor any of the activities.
Ms Scicluna said the programmes helped students to widen their the horizons and also served to make their career choices easier. "It is a major joy when students come back and tell us how much they have learnt. They are so thankful for the chance to experience such activities," she said.
"On the other hand our biggest frustration is getting sponsors to support our activities. They may not get anything in return but at the end of the day they are helping our future generation - these students could very well be tomorrow's leaders," she said.
For more information on the NSTF programmes call on 2558 8241 or send an e-mail to sscic@nsts.org.