It's Good to Talk!

Education is a very important component in the relationship between the UK and Malaysia so I spend a good chunk of my time talking to, and visiting, schools and universities. The High Commission works closely with the British Council here in Malaysia and I really enjoy being given the opportunity to explore some of the different initiatives that they are involved in.

Whilst in Penang on my Suffolk House visit I paid a visit to St Christopher’s School in George Town.  This British-curriculum school has been serving the Penang community for over forty years.  And for twenty of those years, it has been headed by Mr Jones, a Welshman and proud of it!  I was delighted to hear that the school is thriving and that the Board of Governors has recently agreed to construct a new teaching block, work on which began the very day I visited!  Mr Jones knows the name of every single child at St Christopher’s and the evident eagerness of the children is a marvellous tribute to the great work he, the teachers and the Board, put in.  I heard that Year 5 had been visiting a local hospital.  When asked what they had seen, one little boy answered “Dracula’s Bank”!

I also dropped in on The University of Science Malaysia. Designated in 2008 as the Malaysia’s “Apex” university, it is also soon to be home to the British Council’s English language operation in Penang. The Vice Chancellor expressed his delight to me that the teaching of English, so critical to the success internationally of Malaysia’s young people, would be so accessible to his students. We also discussed opportunities for research collaboration and ways in which we can take advantage of funding offered under the UK Prime Minister’s Initiative (PMI)*.

My last stop was a local school, SKM Dato’ Onn. I met the winners of a Global Citizen competition, which had brought participating staff and children to a grand final in Taiwan.  I was shown Christmas and Hari Raya cards, which children had prepared while learning about the meaning of different festivals and traditions. The school was also hosting a web conference with schools in Bromley (near London) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). This link-up is part of the British Council’s excellent “Connecting Classrooms” programme – designed to bring children from the UK and Asia closer together. I found the pupils enthusiasm to be utterly infectious! I was particularly struck by the real potential of  “Connecting Classrooms” and I hope that it succeeds in its aim of building lasting partnerships between pupils from different cultures. Find out more at http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms.htm

*PMI: The UK Prime Minister’s Initiative has made funds available for research as well as providing opportunities for British students to spend time at Malaysian universities. There are some 12,000 Malaysian students at UK universities, but only a handful of young Brits in Malaysia.  We are doing what we can to achieve a bit more balance.

*Connecting Classrooms: This innovative programme is designed to build lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and others around the world through web conferences, facebook and other online media. These ‘virtual’ relationships are then strengthened with real ‘live’ visits!