I refer to Michael Bonnici's letter Dun Karm 1871-1961 (November 16) and other correspondence that ensued.

In his letter Mr Bonnici complained about the commemoration being given to this great poet. I fully agree with Mr Bonnici that, as very often happens in such cases, Dun Karm can and ought to be given higher consideration.

As the president of Zebbug Primary A School council, named after another great national hero, Dun Mikiel Xerri, I am really pleased by the way our school commemorates our national poet. In fact, our year three children have been commemorating the dates of birth and death of Dun Karm every October since 2001.

This commemoration consists of a walkabout around Zebbug entitled Fuq il-Passi ta' Dun Karm whereby, starting from his monument, the children walk to the parish church where he was baptised, down to the houses where he was born and grew up and then over to the school where he took his first education. The walk includes streets named in his honour and then to Wied Qirda, where the children read the sonnet bearing the same name of the valley. The walk ends at the cemetery chapel where he lies buried and where the children sing the national anthem. During this walkabout they are given a printed handout and worksheet prepared by their class teachers which they fill in situ.

Incidentally, 2004's walkabout was filmed and broadcast on various local TV stations, including Education 22. Moreover, other schools are occasionally invited to join our students in this walkabout. This was also featured in Eduforum, an Education Division publication, and in the annual school magazine Mill-Primarja.

As a final comment, our school focuses on a holistic educational approach and, thus, it tries to merge even such a commemoration of our national poet with an excellent and interesting learning experience.