Dun Karm commemorated by Zebbug Boys Secondary School

Zebbug Boys Secondary school held its annual commemoration of Malta's national poet Dun Karm Psaila last month.

Special guests present included Dr Cecilia Borg, director-general of Education, Paul Attard, college co-ordinator, Paul Mifsud, deputy A/DE i/c Area 4, Robert N. Borg, former head of school, Brian Bonnici, mayor of Zebbug, Ms T Apap, head of Primary B, Zebbug, Ms J. Galea, head of Primary A Zebbug, Mr R. Cutajar, FES representative, the poet Noel Fabri, and members of the school council.

The short commemoration ceremony was held in the school grounds. Mr I. Aquilina, acting head, gave a short speech highlighting how proud he felt about Dun Karm and remembering his childhood recollections about the poet.

He stressed in particular two concepts: patriotism and humanism which he feels have influenced him greatly. He also urged the teaching staff to promote our national language and to instil in our students a love for reading and writing Maltese.

Following Mr Aquilina's speech, a fourth former, Kurt Vella, read out a poem he wrote in honour of the poet.

Mr Bonnici read a short message highlighting Dun Karm's love for his country, also mentioning other prominent people from Zebbug, such as the sculptor Antonio Sciortino. He then referred to the various monuments in Zebbug and explained why we should take great care of them.

A selection of patriotic poems were read by various students and a biographical outline of the poet's life and his works was given by Noel Fabri.

The ceremony continued outside the school where students and teachers accompanied Mr Aquilina and various guests to the town square, where two bouquets were placed on Dun Karm Psaila's monument.

The group returned to school where refreshments and an exhibition about Dun Karm was held. Concurrently in the school hall there was a public exhibition of Antonio Sciortino's works set up by Zebbug council.