Federation of Maltese schools set up in Australia

A unanimous resolution to establish a federation of Maltese schools was approved at the first national conference on the teaching of Maltese in Australia and New Zealand held in Canberra last weekend.

The conference was convened in the wake of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's visit to Australia a few weeks ago.

The conference, held at the Malta High Commission, was opened by High Commissioner Francis Tabone, who read out a message from the Prime Minister.

In his message, Dr Gonzi reiterated an undertaking made during his visit to "set up a specialised unit of experts of the Maltese language and culture whose main purpose will be to support the promulgation of Maltese in countries like Australia".

Frank Scicluna, conference organiser and convenor, said that "with 35 participants from six states in Australia and from New Zealand, it was a resounding success".

The conference motto was "communication, coordination and collaboration" and a key message from the conference was the need to harness the energy of the participants in a concerted effort to make the best use of available resources and ensure the survival and continued improvement of the existing initiatives.

The conference participants were deemed founding members of the newly-set up federation and Mr Scicluna was appointed to draft the federation's constitution.