National Youth Day at MCAST

The mission of the student council is to be the voice of the MCAST student body.

National Youth Day, celebrated on March 21, is a very important day in the MCAST students' calendar. On this day, state authorities not only give recognition to the vital role young people play in society but also create awareness of youth issues and interests.

In this regard, the MCAST student council, the National Youth Information Centre and Sedqa have joined forces to organise a series of activities to celebrate National Youth Day. The events took place on the MCAST Main Campus at Paola.

It was a day where all students from the nine MCAST Institutes joined together to promote their work, exchange ideas and bridge the different student initiatives in a pro-life environment.

MCAST students not only had the opportunity to demonstrate their potential but also to contribute to the creation of a positive ethos and public perception of the college. The students actively participated and shared their wealth of experiences with other students while learning about the opportunities available.

From the early hours of the day students gathered on the main campus. Over 350 students showcased their work on stands and others took part in activities such as a street soccer tournament, music bands, celebration of the Holy Eucharist, break-dancing displays, demonstration by the St John Rescue Corps and Logos II. The area was set up to look like a village with white gazebos all round.

The theme for this year was "All Different All Equal". This theme was chosen for the European Youth Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation. The "All Different - All Equal: Be the change you want to see" is one of the founding principles of the European Union and fits in quite well with the MCAST student council values.

MCAST students also participated in a youth debate entitled "Fighting racism, favouring diversity". The panel also included Paul A. Attard (chairman of the MCAST board of governors), Frank Edwards (MCAST principal/CEO); and American Ambassador Molly Bordonaro.

Several organisations, namely ETC, Solv it, Malta dev, Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment (Youth Section), National Youth Agency's Youth In Action and the Health Promotion Department set up information stands.

MCAST students also set up stands to display their work and projects. It was very interesting to see the different stands that portrayed a diverse college that offers different courses to students from different social backgrounds, different needs and different cultural backgrounds.

The National Youth Day at MCAST is now a permanent special day for all MCAST students. It concretises our motto of MCAST students: Different Needs, One College.

In this regard we wish to thank HSBC, Maltacom Group, Apple IMC, NSTS, Bookmark and Softual Solutions.

National Youth Day would not have been a success if not for the support and collaboration of the MCAST Institutes.