TEACHERS from Pakistan and Bangladesh have visited 10 Blackburn and Darwen schools as a three year project to promote cultural understanding gets underway.

Organised and funded by the British Council, the Connecting Classrooms project involves schools from all over the UK and aims to bring their pupils and those from Asian and African countries together, enabling intercultural dialogue.

In Blackburn and Darwen, seven primary schools and three secondary schools are taking part in the scheme and they have been divided into three clusters that will each work on shared projects with their counterparts in Pakistan.

The clusters are Pleckgate High School Maths and Computing College, Hawthorns and Lammack primary schools; Beardwood Humanities College, St Matthew’s, St Thomas’s and Daisyfield primary schools; Darwen Vale High School Engineering College, Avondale and St Stephen’s (Tockholes) primary schools.

The nine teachers, eight from Pakistan and one from Bangladesh, representing state, private and madrassah schools –those which provide boarding and education for poorer parts of society – arrived on Tuesday, and began their visit with a tour of local landmarks including Blackburn Rovers and the Cathedral.

They spent Wednesday and Thursday visiting the school clusters to meet pupils and help plan projects, which could include anything from art and drama to shared learning on topics such as climate change.

Each partnership is entitled to £15,000 per year, for up to three years, to fund study visits, to purchase materials, and meet other costs.

The teachers also visited Pleckgate City Learning Centre to see IT facilities and have dinner with the Mayor, Coun Mohammed Khan.

Coun Chris Thayne, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “We’ve had a great response from our schools and they’re very excited by this opportunity.

“It’s not only about working with schools in Pakistan, but also working more closely with each other.

"The schools will come out with an International Schools Award at the end of it, but we hope the connections will continue beyond the three years of the project.”