Plenary, 19 Jan 2005

Meeting date: Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Official Report 431KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, which is led today by Jim McColgan, head teacher at Echline Primary School.

As you may know, many schools in Scotland study their local environment and extend their knowledge of Britain and Europe. We decided to expand our studies to a developing country, to appreciate fully the contrasts within our world. Chogoria Complex School in Kenya and Echline Primary School became partners as part of that compare and contrast project. The Chogoria head teacher and his depute came to Scotland to study our techniques, development planning, assessment, technology, behaviour management, pastoral care and special educational needs, as well as the content of lessons. They supplied us with artefacts, materials and information from Kenya.

I visited Chogoria as part of a reciprocal programme. As well as learning from their teachers, pupils in both countries were able to meet and speak to a number of visitors working in Scotland or Kenya, often with medical or church backgrounds. The pupils wrote open letters to their counterparts and read more than 80 letters every year. The detail gives fantastic insight into life in each country, teaching them what is really important. My first question from a Chogoria pupil was: "What is the main cash crop in Scotland?" I had not done my homework. We learned that about 95 per cent of the pupils there had no running water or electricity. Most cultivated a shamba—a croft that often provided food for the whole family. It certainly altered our pupils' perspective on their priorities, which until then had been computer games and DVDs and so on.

School trips in Scotland, unless to a safari park, have never involved me in risk and assessing dangers such as crocodiles swimming towards a rickety bridge, or the lions that lived in our compound at Nakuru. However, you have to question why, with an infant crying as a result of malaria, you are the only the inoculated person in the room.

We have strengthened our links. Schools throughout our local authority have a friendship and co-operation agreement with Meru South Province, an area 15 miles from the summit of Mount Kenya. A number of Edinburgh schools have created e-mail or written links and made staff visits. Currie High School and Queensferry scout group are both to visit Kenya soon. At last year's conference of Commonwealth education ministers in Edinburgh, each Commonwealth country was represented by two students. Kenya's were both from Chogoria. Jane Ngari, district inspector from Meru, is currently in Scotland as part of an educational fellowship, and in fact is with us today. There is clear interest in Scotland and our political system. David Mbae, the Chogoria head teacher, having already met the Presiding Officer, wondered why the Presiding Officer had moved to Northern Ireland. We pointed out that there were two Mr Reids in high office in politics in the United Kingdom.

Travel and technology continue to bring the peoples of our countries closer and closer. These are the words of two Chogoria students, Evans and Kelvin:

"We are motivated by the link, we want to work hard, without education, you cannot go to Scotland";

and

"I'm working hard—I would like to do Science at a University in Scotland."

We hope that our work will help students in both Edinburgh and Meru to be more effective citizens of our modern world.

Before business today, members will wish to welcome to Parliament the President of Serbia and Montenegro, His Excellency Svetozar Marovic; Mrs Marovic; the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vuk Draskovic; the Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, Predrag Ivanovic; and the accompanying delegation. [Applause.]