Global Gateway

[John Simkin]

Education Secretary Charles Clarke has today urged all UK schools to build partnerships with other schools around the world, to help boost international understanding.

Under the Government’s new strategy, every UK school will be twinned with an overseas school within the next five years. In addition to increasing children’s understanding of the world, the intention is for schools to be able to exchange the latest ideas in education, offer educational support programmes to developing nations and maximise the contribution of education to the UK economy.

“Our vision is that the people of the UK should have the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to fulfil themselves, to live in and contribute effectively to a global society and to work in a competitive, global economy,” said Mr Clarke. “This begins with understanding the world in which we live, the values and cultures of different societies, and the ways in which we are increasingly dependent upon one another.”

The Department for Education and Skills is publishing ‘Putting the world back in world class education’, a report setting out the ways in which schools can work together, using a mixture of new technology, such as video conferencing, and more traditional methods, including penpal schemes.

A new website, ‘Global Gateway’ has also been set up to act as an international introductory agency for schools, with sections for teachers, students and local authorities.

http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/