A group of second-year Sixth Formers from De La Salle College, Cottonera, recently took part in a Euroscuola activity at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Euroscola events are organised several times throughout the year in which all EU member states send delegations of approximately 25 youths.

The participants from Malta were chosen through a competition organised by the European Parliament office in Malta for all second-year students of the college.

The winners were divided into teams that were each assigned a theme on which they had to prepare a research document for their day at the European Parliament.

At the start of the visit the students were briefed about the EU and current issues and were later split into teams with students from different countries to took part in a ‘Euro Game’. This was an opportunity for the students to socialise with their European counterparts and learn more about their culture, their education system and values.

The students were later split into six other groups, according to the themes researched prior to the event. They had an hour-and-a-half to discuss the topics researched, after which they had to choose and present the best arguments put forward.

At the end of each debate, all students voted, using the electronic voting system used by European Members of Parliament, to determine whether the policies brought forward by the various groups should be adopted.

The last activity was the final of the Euro Game, which was contested by four finalist teams, two of which included a Maltese member – Jessica Pavia and Cristina Cefai respectively. Jessica’s team won and she was awarded a medal.

During the visit the students were accompanied by the college headmaster John Portelli and History and Systems of Knowledge teacher Melanie Megawer.

While the students were taking part in the event the teachers held a meeting with their counterparts during which the benefits of such programmes for students were discussed.