What is Connecting Classrooms?

Connecting Classrooms is a school partnership project between UK and Pakistan which works to build relationships between cultures, bring a globalised context into school education and contribute to national reforms in teacher education and school leadership.

The Connecting Classrooms project works on three components:

• Inter-cultural Dialogue
• Active citizenship
• Skills for Employability

It aims to prepare young people for a better life and work in a globally inter-connected word, raise their aspirations, and play an active role in their communities. Internationalism and dialogue between cultures are at the heart of all activities.

The programme involves Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UK.

Why Connecting Classrooms?

In an increasingly interconnected and intercultural world it has become essential to bring global issues to life for young people and promote a respect for the differences between countries and cultures.

This project aims to:

• To significantly increase the interaction between students of both countries to enhance their work skills through experiential learning, cultural awareness and creativity.
• To provide a unique platform for the sharing of educational developments and reform in the school sectors in the UK and Afghanistan/Pakistan/Bangladesh.

How are partnerships formed?

Schools work in clusters: each cluster comprises of 5 schools in Pakistan and 3 schools in the UK. The difference in balance reflects the level of demand and availability of schools which are likely to participate. An uneven number also allows schools in the clusters to work together rather than pair off into individual partnerships.

The majority of schools taking part in Pakistan are government schools but private schools and madrassahs are also part of many clusters.