KUCHING: Lodge National Secondary School and Tochigi High School, Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on March 28 to further their collaborative work.
Lodge National Secondary School in a statement today (April 1) deemed it a very important and meaningful moment for both schools as the effort marked the third year of working closely together.
“With the signing of the MoU, the schools are committed to making sure that the bond developed would be further strengthened,” it said.
The MoU was signed by the principal of Lodge National Secondary School Yunus Apok and the principal of Tochigi High School Ohkawa Naokuni.
It was witnessed by the programme advisers from the University of Utsunomiya Professor Ohkubo Tatsuhiro, Faculty of Language and Communication University Malaysia Sarawak Associate Professor Dr Soubakeavathi Rethinasamy and Lodge Group of Schools Director Su Hiong Ai.
The school said Tochigi High School is a school designated as a Super Science High School under a programme by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
“The collaboration which started as a simple and friendly online sharing three years ago has allowed the students to learn from each other through various projects and presentations and enhance their communication skills while exposing them to each other’s culture.
“Also, the global classroom programme allows them to see and experience the learning values in both Malaysia and Japan, giving the students a rich opportunity to develop their mind and understanding of different cultures and perspectives,” it said.
It also said that before the ceremony, the two schools had a sharing session on their latest research.
“Tochigi’s student representatives presented ‘Ultrasonic Cleaning Effect on Bean Sprouts’ whereas Lodge National Secondary School presented, ‘The Art of Rocket’ and ‘Cluster Homes,” it said.
During the signing ceremony, Professor Ohkubo expressed his hope that the effort would continue for many more years to come as the sessions that were organised throughout the programme benefitted both Tochigi and Lodge.
Meanwhile, Dr Soubakeavathi said that the collaboration between the two schools played an important part in Unimas being nominated for the coveted Asia Education Award via the Unimas EduTour programme with Utsunomiya University.
She also hoped that the success of the collaboration between the schools should encourage other schools to try global classroom learning because the ones who gain the most are the students.
