The Foundation
for Educational Services (FES) has worked together with the Migrant
Learners’ Unit (MLU) since 2018, to organise 12 Making Friends Bringing
Friends (MFBF) Clubs in 6 different Klabb 3-16 Centres. The MFBF Clubs were
an afterschool creative initiative with the aim of providing an opportunity for
newcomer learners to work together and strengthen the relationship between
different cohorts including EU nationals and the hosting community.
On 10th
November 2021, MLU organised the LLAPSI + Project Conference, where the various
actions within the LLAPSI+ Project were discussed, including the MFBF Clubs.
Guest speakers on the day were the Minister for Education, the Hon. Dr Justyne
Caruana, and the Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds, Hon. Dr Stefan Zrinzo
Azzopardi. Both referred to the importance of education, which translated into
the Language Learning and Parental Support for Integration (LLAPSI and LLAPSI+)
Projects.
 |
|---|
The LLAPSI+
Project Conference has helped to further appreciate the importance of the
service offered by FES with the MFBF Clubs, as part of a much bigger project
with far reaching benefits. These benefits do not refer only to the number of
students reached, but also in terms of the educational and social impact on the
students and on their families. The LLAPSI and LLAPSI+ initiatives provided
also leverage for the schools in the path of creating a integration programme
for the migrant students. The educational aspect of the students who attended
the MFBF Clubs was facilitated and enhanced by peer socialisation within a
sphere of transcultural exchanges of ideas and traditions. The mingling of
different cultures and beliefs within this club helps to drop differences by
the wayside, and builds a common ground of understanding and appreciation. The collaboration between FES and the Migrant
Learners' Unit thus proved useful at promoting inclusion between Maltese, European,
and Third Country Nationals. A total of 213 students took part in this
initiative.
Ms Jane Farrugia Buhagiar and Mr Daniel Meilak, delivering their presentations about the Project Actions
The MFBF Clubs
were just one of the actions within the LLAPSI+ EU
co-funded project which sought to provide opportunities and services to support
the inclusion of learners and their families coming from migration. In fact,
the MFBF Clubs were part-financed by the European Union through the project LLAPSI+ (MT/2016/AMIF/4.01). The
key speakers Ms Jane Farrugia Buhagiar, Mr Daniel Meilak, and Ms Miriam
Consiglio gave extensive presentations about the Project Actions, focusing on:
- Language learning as a means of Inclusion and Integration
- The summer intensive language courses titled ‘Language to Go’
- Teaching and Leaning Resources
- The MFBF Clubs
- The Community Liaison Team and Psychological Support
- The refurbishment of the MLU building
 Ms Miriam Consiglio delivering her speech about the ‘Language to Go’ initiative, focusing on the summer intensive language courses. |
|