CAIRO: The Goethe Institute Cairo hosted a regional conference as part of the German government's initiative “Schools: Partners for the Future,” bringing together directors of 37 partner schools. The conference aimed at consolidating networking between partner schools in the region and ensuring the sustainability of the program. The “Schools: Partners for the Future” initiative was launched in 2008 by German Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier with the aim of establishing a global network of schools that provide students with access to the German language and culture. The program entails 1400 partner schools around the world, including 52 schools in the Arab world, 15 of which are in Egypt. The program offers German language teachers in partner schools with training and scholarships. In addition, it enhances the German language teaching by introducing new techniques and offering the students the opportunity to participate in international language camps in Germany over the summer. German Ambassador to Egypt, Michael Bock, said in a press conference held on Wednesday, that the conference was very successful and that the program had a positive impact on students in many aspects. “Learning a new language enables children to broaden their horizons,” said Bock, “not only is being multilingual an asset later in life, [but] it also promotes interest and understanding of other cultures,” he added. Simon Jore, project manager of “Schools: Partners for the Future” at the Goethe Institute in Cairo, said that the project's foundations have been laid in the last three years since its launch and that it has already produced satisfactory results. “We are very pleased with the successful development of the “Schools: Partners for the Future” network in the region and particularly in Egypt in the last two years,” said Jore, “it shows that there is an increasing interest in Germany and the German language in the Middle East,” she added. Nadia Morsy, the director of King Fahd Experimental School, one of the project's partner schools in Egypt, said that the program has succeeded in increasing the percentage of students who choose German as a second language in her school to 50 percent. “The activities that the Goethe Institute prepared for the children presents the language in a non-conventional way and makes it fun for the kids to learn,” said Morsy. Jore said that the project aims now to improve the quality of teaching and foster the networking of partner schools amongst each other and with schools in Germany. “We strive to improve the quality of teaching German as a foreign language at our partner schools and contribute positively to the school's overall development,” said Jore.
