The recent inauguration of the Fortunato Mizzi Political School by the Nationalist Party in Gozo is a positive step as there is a great need for political education in the Maltese islands.

By "political education" I do not understand political indoctrination, of course, but the inculcation of the values of democracy and tolerance in students and the examination of each particular political party's ideology with reference to the fast-changing world we live in today.

Unfortunately, many people still equate political education with brainwashing.

Political education has been given a very bad name by aberrations of it such as the Nazis' Hitler Youth movement and the Communist totalitarian governments' political re-education programmes.

This is far from being the case in democratic countries where political education programmes can play a most important role in improving the quality of a country's politics and also help to mould future political leaders of a certain calibre.

All of the major political parties in Malta have a tradition of organising political education activities.

In the case of the Labour Party (PL), for example, one finds that, as long ago as May 1952, the Labour League of Youth (forerunner of the modern Labour Youth Forum) had held a political summer school at Marsascala.

Among the items discussed were the history of the Labour movement in England as well as aspects of international events.

A source of some controversy has been the very existence of the Brigata Laburista (Labour Brigade).

Unfortunately, the connotations of the name have misguided many people into thinking that this entity simply serves the function of indoctrinating innocent children in order to mould them into staunch Labourites.

This is far from being the case. Indeed, the declared aims of the Brigata Laburista are to cultivate a national conscience among children and to assist them in their educational and cultural development as well as in the field of sports. All this is to be based on the principles of social democracy.

In fact, all those who are familiar with the work carried out by the Brigata Laburista know that, for several decades now, the work of this branch of the PL has concentrated only on education, culture and sports. The recent reforms within the PL will see these very positive aspects reinforced and the very name Brigata Laburista will soon cease to exist and this entity will be incorporated as a section of the new Social Democratic Foundation Ideat.

One thing that I would like to see in political education courses organised by the different political parties is to expose students to "the other side of the coin". If we want to improve democracy and political tolerance in the Maltese islands, I believe it is essential to invite speakers from other political parties. This would be ideal in the case of former Prime Ministers and ministers.

Why should the Nationalist Party not invite Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Alfred Sant to expound their version of political events to students, especially the years when these leaders were in power?

Why should the PL not invite Eddie Fenech Adami (when he retires in several weeks' time) and Guido de Marco?

This has sometimes been done in the past but it is still the exception not the rule. I am referring here to political education courses and not to public discussions where such a practice is common.

To conclude, I believe that, contrary to what many people think, we need more and not less political education in this country.

However, we have to put a stress on the word "education". If by "political education" we simply understand presenting students with a vision of the world that glorifies the particular political party organising the course and continues to glorify anything associated with the party, then that is surely not "political education" but, instead, "political indoctrination", which we can do without.

If by "political education" we understand education of students in the values of democracy and political tolerance and the presentation for discussion and appreciation of different political viewpoints then, yes, we need more and more of such political education in this country. This kind of political education leads to better-quality politics and to more valid politicians. At a time when many people are disillusioned with the state of Maltese politics today, this is an ideal that we should aspire to translating into reality.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.