Elgin High School from Scotland recently ventured out to Africa to visit Mbeya High School in Tanzania as part of the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms initiative.

Connecting Classrooms partners schools in Africa with schools in the UK. This allows for intercultural dialogue and teaches children about other cultures, thereby encouraging them to be global citizens.

Mbeya High School and Elgin High School are part of Umoja (meaning ‘togetherness’), a partnership that was established in 2007 at a Connecting Classrooms conference in Addis Ababa.

Umoja involves clusters of schools from Elgin in Scotland, Mbeya in Tanzania and Mukonchi in Zambia. Each cluster comprises a secondary and two primary or upper basic schools.

In 2007, teachers from Zambia and Tanzania visited Scotland. The following September parties of 12 students and teachers from Tanzania and Scotland spent a week in Zambia and this September similar numbers from Scotland and Zambia were in Mbeya, Tanzania.

Elgin High School head teacher Andrew Simpson says that, for his school, being part of Connecting Classrooms has been a challenge to stereotypes and generalisations.

‘Instead of thinking of “Africans” we now think about people as individuals. Those who have been privileged to be part of the visits remember friends that we have made and others in our schools have heard us talking about individuals with names who have similar interests and feelings to ourselves.'

Simpson says the partnership has boosted his school’s global links and awareness.

‘Pupils in the three countries have the opportunity to learn together and appreciate each other as individuals. As well as learning about cultural differences, pupils are also learning about human similarities and the huge amount that they share in common – wherever they come from.

‘The advice and experience of the British Council staff has also added to the quality of what we have been able to achieve as well as giving a reassurance to the parents of pupils taking part in visits to Tanzania and Zambia,’ he says.

Simpson says communication between the schools has remained strong, even resulting in the production of a newsletter.

‘The secondary schools have produced a newsletter with contributions from students writing on the same theme. This has covered issues such as the environment, families and pride in our countries.

‘There are also frequent text messages and e-mails being passed between students and staff as well as the more traditional letter,’ Simpson says.

He adds that it is vital for young people not just to learn about the global community but to experience direct and personal links with people of their own age group.

‘This will help them not just to challenge stereotypes but also to recognise the potential of other parts of the world and of partnership between people from different places.’

Simpson says his school is keen to develop sustainable partnerships with the cluster schools.

‘We are already exploring ways of improving communications so that the links are embedded in the curriculum and happen naturally as pupils learn about each other and their countries and also learn with each other about common topics.’