Prof Charles Farrugia
Chairman

Contact details
The Maltese National Comission for UNESCO
Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,
Great Siege Road,
Floriana, Malta
Contact: here

Professor Charles Farrugia spent most of his working life as a teacher educator (1967-1996). For fourteen years he served as the founder Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. In 1996, he became Pro-Rector of the University, in which role he co-ordinated the Institution's first five-year strategic plan. He chaired the Quality Assurance Committee, which piloted the University's first internal academic audit.
Professor Farrugia's special area of academic interest is teacher education and educational planning in small states. He undertook numerous assignments in the latter field with the British Commonwealth Secretariat and UNESCO and published extensively in both areas. He participates in many community activities particularly those related to education. He has been Chairman of the Maltese National Commission for UNESCO since 1996. He was appointed Ombudsman for Maltese tertiary education institutions in 2008.

Physiotherapist by profession since 1989, he has worked predominantly in Management since 1990, when he joined the Corinthia Group as a Health and Leisure Centre Facilities Manager. Following a brief return to clinical practise between 1995 and 1998, Victor assumed the role of Head of Secretariat to the Parliamentary Secretariat in the Ministry of Education and later to the Minister for Youth and the Arts, a post he held for seven years. He later moved as Policy Coordinator (Sports) within the Ministry of Education, between 2005 and 2007 and was later assigned to the Pre-Opening Public Relations Department of the Mater Dei Hospital until the opening of this state facility. In the meantime, he was also Board Secretary to the Malta Sports Council since its inception in 2003, a post he held till 2008. Late in 2007, Victor was entrusted with the coordination of the migration of Clinical Facilities from Zammit Clapp Hospital to Karen Grech Hospital, where he occupied also the post of Migration Coordinator. During this period, up till December of 2009, Victor was also Project Coordinator of the Refurbishment Project of Karen Grech Hospital. Meanwhile, in May 2008, Victor was appointed to the current post, which makes him responsible to the day-to-day running of a 280 bed rehabilitation hospital with overall responsibility for all support services.

Contact: victor.battistino@gov.mt

Mr. Albert V Rutter commenced his career as clerk (1954-1965) with the Air Ministry Section, U.K. Services (Malta) where he became Vice-President of the Royal Air Force Sports and Welfare Committee. In 1965 he joined Enemalta Corporation where for over 12 years he assisted in the running of District Offices and for six years was engaged as Personal Assistant to the Chairman as well as Secretary to Austrian Maltese Solar Energy Research Centre. From 1987 to 1995 Mr. Rutter was the Head of Public Relations. In 1995 he was appointed officer in charge of the Malta Community Chest Fund and Secretary of the Board of Directors; a year later he became Personal Assistant and Head of Public Relations with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1986 he was appointed Hon. Consul for Colombia, a post he still holds. In 1969 Mr. Rutter founded the UNESCO Club (Malta) which he still chairs. He became a member of the Maltese National Commission for UNESCO in 1974, and its secretary in 1999.

Mr Philip Borg

Mr. Philip Borg is the Director of Libraries within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment. He has been assigned this position since 1998. He is to provide support and advice to his Permanent Secretary and through him to the Minister, on all matters relating to the Libraries Department. Mr. Borg provides leadership and management to the staff of the Department, including supervision, training, development, performance evaluation, promotion, recruitment, discipline and delegation of authority. He develops policy options with regard to libraries and also initiates new library services and programmes to better serve the community. He has attended many international conferences and regularly participates in the Conference for European National Librarians (CENL) and the International Federation of Libraries Association (IFLA).

Lino Bugeja was educated at the Lyceum and at the Malta College of Education. In 1960 he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship and continued his studies at Edinburgh College. He furthered his studies at the University of London where he followed a course on comparative education at the Institute of Education. He held several posts in the educational sphere including that of headteacher, and part-time lecturer in the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta. He is a visiting lecturer in Olympic Studies at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia (Greece). Mr. Bugeja co-edited 'Birgu ' A Maltese Maritime City' (1993) and 'Melitensium Amor' (2003). He also published several papers in academic journals. He is a regular contributor to the Sunday Times on Malta's historical and artistic heritage. He also writes and lectures on the cultural history of sport.

Ms Cilia was trained at the Mater Admirabilis Training College and served for some years as a secondary school teacher until 1966 whenshe joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Malta's first woman diplomat. She served in different positions in New York, Canberra, Geneva, Brussels and Paris where in 1977 she was appointed Malta's first Permanent Delegate to UNESCO,(residence in Paris) and concurrently as non-resident Permanant Representative to UNIDO(Vienna). She worked in the UNESCO Secretariat in different positions, the last two being Chief of the Evaluation and Coordination Unit in two sectors and Executive Assistant to the respective Assistant Directors General.

Ms Mary Rose DeBono has been involved in the education sector as teacher, assistant head and following a Diploma in Education and Management, as head of school. She is presently working as Service Manager on Projects and Initiatives in the Student Services Department within the Directorate for Educational Services in the Ministry of Education. Her remit includes EU and International Relations, Student Exchanges, Skolasajf, School Library Services, etc. She is chairperson of HELP and sits on a number of committees. Throughout her career Ms DeBono has visited schools in a number of European countries and participated in conferences and seminars locally and abroad in line with her work in the education sector. She has conducted courses and organized local and EU projects. Ms Debono was a member of a team who wrote the Primary Science Worksheets in use in schools for a number of years.
Currently she is the focal person of the Commonwealth of Learning, a member of the Steering Committee of Education in the Council of Europe and the link person of UNESCO. Locally, she is a member of the Malta Association of Science Educators, the Malta Geographical Society and also a member of the Association of the Old Students of the Mater Admirabilis College of Education.

Dr. Reuben Grima is Senior Curator of the prehistoric World Heritage sites managed by Heritage Malta. He has worked in the sector since 1992, mainly in the fields of site management and underwater cultural heritage. He holds a first degree (Malta), an MA (Reading), and a PhD. (London), the latter funded by a Commonwealth Scholarship. His research interests include the landscape context of prehistoric monuments, and making archaeology accessible to wider audiences.

Ms Jean Killick has worked as an administrator at the University of Malta since the mid-1970s. She helped to set up the University�s International Office, which was instrumental in forging links with overseas universities and attracting foreign students to Malta. She is an active member of the National Council of Women. At present she is also Honorary Secretary of the English-Speaking Union of Malta and Secretary to the Board of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Marlene Saliba B.A. (Hons.) M.A. has taught English literature and language in schools and at the University Junior College, and English literature and human-rights education at the University of Malta. She also worked as Assistant Librarian at the University of Malta Library and as Research Officer at the Foundation for International Studies of the University of Malta where she co-founded the Peace Education Programme. Her publications include papers and book contributions mostly on peace and human-rights education, and a collection of poems entitled 'Time-Faring'.