Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici and Minister for Education, Sports, Youth, Research and Innovation Clifton Grima launched the 2024 Culture Pass together with the Directorate for Culture, Arts Council Malta, and the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation.
Culture Pass is a scheme designed to provide high-quality professional cultural and artistic experiences to students, from kindergarten to postsecondary schools, as well as to educational institutions which provide education up to MQF level 4. In this manner, the value of cultural education as a curricular subject will increase while also touching upon trans-curricular themes. The scheme also helps creative practitioners to create and develop new work for young audiences, while also increasing the programming capacity for longer periods with the aim of adding both artistic and non-artistic disciplines to the students’ curriculum.
Minister Owen Bonnici noted that Culture Pass is another example of how the government is solidly investing in the artistic and cultural sectors of our country. “We are once again launching Culture Pass for the scholastic year which has just started in order to encourage students to participate in the arts and creativity. For this scholastic year, there are 47 recommended projects. This government always insisted on the importance of including projects and cultural and creative activities as part of our educational processes. By investing in experiences such as those provided by Culture Pass, we are promoting the full potential of the arts when these are creatively melded with education”, Minister Bonnici said.
From his end, Minister Clifton Grima insisted that over the years this initiative gave and is continuing to give access to Maltese culture in an artistic manner which leads to informal teaching in our country’s education sector. “We have to raise our youths to not only appreciate culture, but to also encourage them to possess within themselves an appreciation for artistic expression, and in that manner increase the creative potential of students. Through these cultural activities, we are helping our children to recognise that education is not just that which is delivered in classrooms, but also something which goes beyond the curriculum, a means through which students can explore their abilities. This is the holistic education that we want to continue giving to our students throughout their educational journey which helps them in their eventual career journey”, Minister Clifton Grima said.
Mary Ann Cauchi, Chief Operations Officer Funding and Strategy within Arts Council Malta, said that the Council is continuing to give priority to education in the arts and that through collaborations with artists, youths’ exposure to arts is continuing to increase. She continued saying that the Culture Pass is once again continuing to recognise cultural and artistic education at all levels, while continuing to ensure accessibility for artistic accessibility.
Alex Farrugia, Director of Culture, spoke about how the success of Culture Pass is evident from the fact that every year there is an increase in the number of producers, as well as in the number of productions and interest which this programme is generating, so much so that every year it is reaching an ever-increasing number of children and youths.
The 2024 Culture Pass complements the National Curriculum Framework, while also increasing the value of arts education and other curricular subjects. From its launch, it is estimated that tens of thousands of students benefitted from the Culture Pass programme. For more information visit www.artscouncilmalta.mt.
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