UNRWA wins six awards at British Council’s Connecting Classrooms Initiative

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Wednesday 07 Oct 2015 - 16:51 Makkah mean time-24-12-1436 Amman, (IINA) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) bagged six top awards at the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms Initiative this year in Jordan. The aim of the initiative is to connect schools in the Middle East with schools around the world, which helps young people develop knowledge, skills and values to contribute responsibly at local and global levels. The Director of UNRWA Education Department Caroline Pontefract said: “It is a real honor for the UNRWA education system to be recognized, and it’s a fitting way for us to mark World Teachers’ Day, with these six top awards in Jordan”. She also thanked the teaching staff, saying that the UNRWA got the award thanks to the efforts of 22,000 teaching staff in Jordan, and the numerous staff numbers 677 schools across the Middle East. The Connecting Classrooms Initiative has enabled UNRWA schools that are registered on the platform to connect with other schools in order to exchange culture and classroom practices. Schools and teachers also benefited from a variety of online classroom resources available on the platform. “At a time of rising extremism and increased refugee flows out of the region, a fully functioning and funded UNRWA education program delivering education services here in the Middle East is particularly important”, said UNRWA Deputy Commissioner General Sandra Mitchell. The Deputy Commissioner General added: “Just weeks after we nearly had to suspend the start of our school year for lack of funds, these awards send a powerful signal to the donor community that UNRWA is a worthy recipient of its support”. UNRWA has been participating in the Connecting Schools Initiative since 2010. The Agency’s education staff has greatly benefited from the contact with education specialists from around the world and the teaching materials available on the platform. AG/IINA