On the second day of her State Visit in Ukraine, President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, together with the First Lady of Ukraine, Madame Maryna Poroshenko, visited English Language School Nr 155, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
School Nr 155 is a long-term partner of St Elias College in Malta, since 2011, on an e-Twinning Project of the European Union, whereby students and teachers hold regular video-conferencing session between both schools to work on biology and chemistry topics.
Since 2011, some 250 Maltese and Ukrainian Students have participated. Ten teachers are also involved in the project, which so far has seen 18 co-teaching lessons of Biology and Chemistry take place, as well as 29 video-conferences. The aim of this project is to create a learning environment for students, that incorporates international educational experiences.
The President of Malta said that she was truly overwhelmed to visit school Nr 155, and to meet Ukrainian students, as well as to virtually meet Maltese students, who followed the entire visit via Skype. She also thanked the students for the marvellous welcome.
She said that this project is a true example of Educational Diplomacy.
“When students meet in this way, enhancing their knowledge and meeting students, thanks to the internet, it is also a wonderful way to work for peace,” The President said, whilst adding that such projects must continue to be promoted, so that “our children can come together.” She said that this project should be evolved further to turn into a student exchange project, whereby Maltese students visit Ukraine and vice versa.
President Coleiro Preca said that thanks to this project, students do not only have the opportunity to exchange information and knowledge about the scientific subjects, but they also have the chance to get to know each other, and build and sustain friendships. “In this way,” she said, “they are also building respect for each other, and when we respect each other, we would be working effectively to achieve peace.”
Lastly, the President urged Maltese and Ukrainian students to continue being the activists of peace today, so that they will be “the effective leaders of tomorrow.”