As a result of my discussion with Dr Louis Galea, Malta's Minister of Education, last July I believe that now the time is ripe to call for a conference to study the viability of Maltese schools/classes in Australia and to air our common successes and problems. The target aim is to establish a common agenda for improving school standards and students' outcomes. The Minister has shown great interest in the teaching and learning of the Maltese language and culture in Australia. He would like to establish links between his office, the Education department and the Maltese schools here in Australia.

There's a lot of people, especially the second and third generation Maltese/Australians, who are seeking to learn Maltese as a second language as part of their school curriculum. They know of the great benefits of speaking another language other than English in multicultural Australia.

We believe that teachers of Maltese in Australia have rendered their services to education with little or no recognition and they have struggled on in isolation and sometimes in despair due to lack of appreciation, direction and professional assistance. Several and complex are the problems Maltese schools in Australia are faced with. Thank God, many dedicated and enthusiastic teachers share the same aspirations and goals and they soldier on in spite of the many difficulties they encounter.

It leads me to think that job satisfaction of teachers in these schools needs to be given more attention than it has been. It is so difficult to retain qualified teachers who are prepared to give of their time and expertise in the teaching and learning of Maltese language, culture and heritage.

A development and implementation of common Maltese curriculum and professional development of teachers are to be placed on top of the agenda. The formulation of a 'behaviour management policy' and the rights and responsibilities of teachers who teach in Maltese schools are also important factors in properly administering these schools.

We should put in place plans to use the Internet to establish far more effective links between our schools that currently operate in Australia. New technology could, and should, play an important part in maintaining the sort of personal contacts with other teachers of Maltese in Australia and overseas, especially in Malta.

This could be used to enhance and exchange lessons, share idea and resources to aid teachers in learning from each other.

Now, we have the agenda, which I am certain we all agree upon. The next step is to activate such a plan and make it happen sooner rather than later.

We should be in a strong position to keep working together and move forward with renewed hope, renewed faith that really can raise standards for all students.

If we were asked to find a theme for the conference we will choose the three Cs - Communication, Coordination and Cooperation. The date and location of the conference will be decided when and if we will be able to attract enough stakeholders to assist in fulfilling this dream.