Feature

Connecting Classroom School Cluster Partnership Project

Najmus Sehar

CONNECTING classroom is a linkage programme between Bangladeshi schools and schools in the UK. It is envisaged that eventually there will also be linking with other countries in the region under the same project. This project supports collaborative curriculum projects, exchange visits, professional development of teachers, leadership development and intercultural exchanges between the schools participating in the project. To run the project the British Council has been giving full support to schools in the UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Bangladeshi schools which have been selected by an assessment process to participate in the programme have formed different clusters. These clusters will work together to design and implement curriculum-based projects with their UK counterparts. In doing so the projects will encourage mutual understanding of different cultures, explaining the importance of active citizenship and encouraging skills for employment. Not only that but also these schools' links will help prepare young people for life and future work and lead them to be complete and confident human beings.

Under this project from 2008 different clusters of different districts of Bangladesh have been connected with different cluster schools of UK. In June 2008, some teachers from Bangladesh went to UK to form this partnership through contact seminar where they met their partners in a 3-day seminar and there was partner schools' visit afterwards. Now they have grown partnerships and started collaborative activities.

As a part of exchange visits to partner school's country, recently 6 teachers of Isle of Wight, UK visited the Cluster Schools of Dhaka 1. The 5 schools of Dhaka 1 cluster are Wille's Little Flower, Agrani, Udayan, Govt . Laboratory and Viqarunnisa Noon School. These schools are now jointly working under this project with Greenmount Primary School, Mayfield Middle School and Ryde High School of Isle of Wight UK. On 12 February 2009, a representative team consisting of Helen Isaacson, Nicola Woodford, Natasha Brookes, Gillian Green, Michele Brookes and Julie Tortajada has visited Viqarunnisa Noon School and College. In the morning, the visitors were welcomed by guard of honour . They observed classes, exchanged views and opinions with the teachers and talked to the students . Later an enchanting cultural show was performed by the students of the institution. Principal Mrs. Rokeya Akhtar Begum, Assistant Headmistress Mrs. Shameem Jahan Ahsan and other teachers were present on the occasion. Teachers of both the countries were of the opinion that it was an effective visit. As a cluster co-ordinator of Dhaka 1 Cluster I think that Connecting Classroom Project has created a new dimension in the field of development of Education.

Senior English Teacher,
Viqarunnisa Noon School and College