Animated discussions show mutual concerns over environmental issues

An international videoconference allowed students from the UK and Yemen to have a face-to-face discussion  on current issues affecting their countries.

For the first time, under the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme, an international video conference took place earlier this month in Sana’a and in UK between students from the two countries to discuss what they could do as responsible global citizens in preserving the environment, how they could change things for the better in their own countries and what they could learn from each other.

Fundamentally, the conference didn’t only serve tackling environmental topics but it also represented an endeavour in filling gaps between the two cultures. This video conference happened for the first time and it is a result of a school partnership between schools in both countries. The partnership happened long time ago as a cultural exchange activity.

 As part of the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme, the video conference, entitled ‘The Future, Our Future’, was international conference between two schools, from Yemen and UK. 10 Yemeni students from Baghdad School for Boys and Rabeia Al Adawiyah School for Girls, in Sana’a discussed with students from Ysgol Dinas Bran in Wales issues they had agreed in advance. The issues consisted of what the students could do as responsible global citizens at protecting the environment and how they could be more conscious about today world’s environmental issues.

Mutual concerns over environmental issues were behind the students’ discussion; however underneath their conversations a burning desire to know about each other was there. Across the continents, the students were excited to interact with each other, discussing global matters. The conference took one hour and when it ended the students in Yemen showed a great deal of joy because they successfully got the chance to exchange thoughts and opinions with Ysgol Dinas Bran’s students. “I felt how genuinely friendly Ysgol Dinas Bran’s students were and I wish the conference’s duration has been longer. I hope we could communicate with them more often, even without video conferences,” said Arwa Qahtani, one of Rabeia Al Adawiyah School for Girls’ students who participated in the video conference.

Yahya al-Mutwakel, one of Baghdad School for Boys’ students who participated in the video conference, expressed his delight to be part of this programme and wished for many other programmes of this kind.

This video conference is the latest activity in a series of joint school projects undertaken by the Yemeni and Welsh schools since their international school partnership was formed in 2005, as a way to help build greater understanding and trust between the two societies. The school partnership had a real connection between the two since students from Raba’a Al Adawya’a and Bagdad schools travelled to Wales, last summer, at the invitation of Ysgol Dinas Bran to take part at the World Youth Skills Challenge, where they gained a firsthand insight into each other’s cultures.

Since the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme was introduced into the Middle East in 2006 more than 300 schools in the region and the UK are now exchanging knowledge about their respective cultures through international school partnerships, which includes 45 schools in Yemen. Teachers say this dynamic and real world learning opportunity doesn’t only motivate students to learn about the world, but also indirectly motivates students and encourages them to learn a little more about their own culture. This also helps at raising standards in schools and provides teachers with opportunities for professional development.

Michael White, Country Director of Yemen at the British Council, expressed the significance of such programme, “initiatives such as this video conference are an exciting new way for students in Yemen and the UK to work together to build greater understanding about each others’ cultures. It was clear that all the students were learning something from the opportunity to see and talk to each other even though they were separated by thousands of kilometers. Their animated discussions showed how committed these young people are to making a positive contribution to building a better world for their future.”

Connecting Classrooms is just one of the British Council’s global programmes which contribute to its core purpose of building engagement and trust for the UK and other countries, through the exchange of knowledge and ideas. It works world-wide particularly with people face to face, through education and culture in the world’s most challenging places like Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Burma.

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