Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/509499
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 MAY 2015 Opinion 22 T here is an important correlation between arts and education. An arts education is not just about teaching arts, it also provides opportunities for those children that learn differently and helps build the creative skills among those children who are at risk of dropping out of conventional schooling. This past week my ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malta Arts Council to further strengthen the ties between art and education. The funding programme Kreattiv aims to bring creative practitioners – visual artists, writers, poets, musicians – into schools to work with teachers and students to inspire, learn and create in a collaborative and innovative way. Our students will once again have the opportunity at school to engage with creativity and the arts as Arts Council Malta has just launched a fresh call for applications for Kreattiv. In the three years since the inception of Kreattiv, there have been 54 completed projects – an average of 18 activities per year – with a seven months' duration. Around 5,400 students have participated from 50 schools. Over 600 staff members have contributed and student audiences have exceeded the 8,000 mark. A total of 94 artists have also participated in the various projects. A sum of €75,000 has been allocated to this year's programme, which is managed by the Arts Council Malta, in collaboration with the Culture Directorate. A maximum of €5,000 will be awarded to every selected proposal, which amount is to be used over a 12-month period. The fund is competitive and eligible projects will be evaluated by an independent board appointed by Arts Council Malta. Few would argue that creativity is essential for growth. But, increasingly, the arts are also becoming viable employment options. The figures speak for themselves. According to the Creative Economy Strategy Report 2014, the Culture and Creative Industries directly contribute around five per cent of GDP and employ more than 10,000 persons. More and more – it becomes clear that art isn't an extra but an integral part of the education system. The programme is not about one-off arts projects, however. It's about getting children to participate in creative activities, changing their mindset, providing a space which is not result-driven. Art helps children to make sense of the world, it encourages questioning and debate, comment and thinking. Most of these will stay with children throughout their lives, ensuring that when the project is over, a creative legacy will remain. The purpose of the agreement is to clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of each party in relation to the implementation of the Framework for the Strategy for Education in Malta 2014-2024, and the Mission Statement of the Arts Council Malta. Together, the Ministry for Education and Employment and the Arts Council Malta will jointly or collaboratively engage in a number of activities, including workshops and training seminars, conferences, seminars, presentations, EU-funded projects, job exposure opportunities for the students, curriculum development, learning and assessment outcomes frameworks, and teacher training and development. An arts education provides added value to civil society. It helps bring in new jobs and opportunities. The Kreattiv programme is part of our overall commitment to teaching and diversity and we support and encourage such initiatives. Evarist Bartolo is Minister of Education and Employment Raphael Vassallo Evarist Bartolo Culture industries contribute around 5% of GDP and employ more than 10,000 persons… it becomes clear that art isn't an extra but an integral part of the education system Needed: arts to disrupt rigid schooling The Wonderful T here is (let's face it) 'no place like home'. I imagine that would be true enough whatever the place one calls 'home': be it the dust plains of Kansas or the technicolour wonder that was the Land of Oz (at least in the 1939 musical starring Judy Garland). But when your home happens to be Malta, the truism immortalised by Frank L. Baum over a century ago seems to take on a whole new dimension of meaning. Malta is quite literally a unique place to live, you know. We might lack the sparkle, enchantment and Munchkin happy-clappiness of Oz … but all the same, there can be no doubt that Malta is by far the more 'magical' of these two fantasy lands. The sort of things that happen here would in fact be considered too far-fetched even by classic fairy tale standards: and something strange and magical certainly seems to have happened to the Labour Party since getting elected to government two years ago. To appreciate this miraculous transformation, you only have to cast your minds back some 10 years… when the Labour Party was still in opposition, and the Nationalist government was embarking on a series of initiatives that had the more environmentally-minded of its own supporters almost literally howling from the rooftops. Some of you may recall former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's decision to 'rationalise' ODZ boundaries in 2006… effectively increasing the proportion of developable land in Malta by around 16%. You may also recall the large-scale protests that this initiative sparked… and maybe even some of the people who descended upon Valletta armed with placards and banners, all chanting slogans such as 'Stop the Rape of Malta' and – more pointedly – 'ODZ means ODZ'. And this is where the magic begins. For among those people were a few who are now ministers and/or MPs militating within a government that has: a) just 'reformed' MEPA to weaken existing restrictions on ODZ development, and even to allow for the retroactive sanctioning of a wide variety of illegal developments… including some which the Labour opposition had campaigned against just a few years ago, and; b) has just earmarked a parcel of 100,000 square metres of ODZ land at Zonqor point (90% of which is government-owned) for the development of a university campus, complete with residential facilities for 4,000 students. OK, perhaps the time has come to spell out what the acronym 'ODZ' actually stands for. Here goes: O is for 'Outside'. D is for 'Development'. Z is for 'Zone'. Simple, huh? If a parcel of land is 'O' the 'DZ', then no 'D' can take place in that 'Z'. Not to build apartments, not to build hotels, not to build airports, not to build Smart Cities… and not to build university campuses, either. It's really not that difficult to understand: in fact, all those Labour MPs – who will now obviously all approve this latest violation of the ODZ principle, when it comes to a vote in parliament – understood it without difficulty at the time. That includes today's Environment Minister, Leo Brincat, and parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes, who back in 2005 had issued a joint press release arguing that: "It is very difficult not to believe that there are no ulterior motives with regard to the Nationalist government's policy on building and planning..." (How easy is it, then, to believe that there are 'no ulterior motives' behind the Labour government's policy to sanction ODZ development today… and even to engage in a little itself?) Four years later, in 2009, the same assortment of Labour opposition MPs also organised and attended a similar protest under the slogan 'Stop the Ruin of Bahrija' (in response to the development of an ODZ villa by the former PN president, Victor Scerri). This is how it was reported at the time: "The protest was attended also by Labour MEPs Edward Scicluna and Joseph Cuschieri… various Labour MPs including environment spokesman Leo Brincat [and] Rabat mayor Sandro Craus..." But then, Malta being the ineffably unique and magical place it is… fast forward to the present, and hey presto! There the same Labour officials all are, holding hands as they skip merrily down the Yellow Brick Road to the tune of: "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of ODZ!" And with the simple flick of a magic wand, all that was considered awful and reprehensible when it took place under a Nationalist administration, miraculously becomes perfectly acceptable and even laudable under Labour. Of all the Labour officials who protested against ODZ extensions in 2006, only one – who is now the President of the Republic – seems to still remember what it was they actually fought against back then. This is from her recent speech at the inauguration of the new Emerald Parliament building in Valletta: "I realise that our future generations are concerned about urban developments that are leaving them with no recreational space to enjoy the environment… It is MPs' duty to ensure the safeguarding of our