The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights Anton Refalo as well as the Minister for Education Justyne Caruana were present at St Thomas Moore College, for the launch of two educational publications with the intention of being distributed to fourth and sixth year primary school students.
At the launch, Minister Refalo said that he was very satisfied with the publication of these two books and also thanked the former commissioner Magistrate Dr Denis Montebello and his team who took care of these publications. He added that, “We need to continue this synergy and cooperation both on the part of education and on our part as a ministry”. These books will be distributed free of charge in all primary schools in Malta and Gozo in state schools, in church schools, and in independent ones and will also be available in the public libraries of the Maltese islands.
Minister Justyne Caruana said that it is important that the education provided in schools is holistic and covers various subjects, and explained how this particular subject – the proper treatment of animals – has become a vital part of the curriculum forstudents in their PSCD lessons. There are also ongoing discussions to extend these lessons to third year high school students in the future to reach a new student niche.
Both educational publications are part of the dissemination campaign carried out by the Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare with the aim of serving as a platform to educate the public, particularly students attending the fourth and sixth years of primary school, on animal welfare as well as on regulations and laws that form an integral part of the Animal Welfare Act. The Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare has been in place since 2014.
