St Thomas More College’s Alternative Learning Programme, Paola, is embarking on a new three-year Erasmusplus project called Multicultural Aspects in our Schools. The project is aimed at providing assistance and the tools necessary for migrants and refugees to integrate in the participating schools. A school in Germany is coordinating the project and the other schools involved are from Italy, Romania, Greece and Turkey.

Erasmus projects school coordinator Emanuel Zammit commented: “Sometimes these migrants experience frustration, aggression and even rejection and find it very hard to feel part of the community. The causes are many, including racism, intolerance, religion and culture, among others. During the project we will instil and strengthen the value of tolerance, empathy and being supportive, and at the same time explore new ways of teaching intercultural coexistence. There is also need to exchange ideas and to make sure that the best teaching practices are disseminated among the schools.”

Teachers and students from each school taking part in the project will travel to the six respective countries for a week to hold meetings with, and be hosted by, fellow teachers and students. The first of these travel exchanges will be held in Marigliano, Italy, in December. Eventually the Paola school will also be hosting participants in the project.

Such Erasmus projects are aimed at building “strategic partnerships between schools for the exchange of good practices” and have been taking place for some 30 years under different names. The EU invests billions of euros in these projects and millions of teachers and students have benefitted from them over the years.

Malta’s European Union Programmes Agency (Eupa) is supporting the Paola school’s participation in this and three other ongoing Erasmus projects.