Jordan Times
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
'World Heritage in Young
Hands'
By Jumana Bississo
AMMAN — UNESCO opened a three-day subregional teacher-training course on Tuesday
to instil and promote intercultural learning in secondary schools in the
Kingdom, which are participating in the project.
The second Arabic version of the World Heritage
Educational Resource Kit is set to educate teachers in the Arab region, working
in UNESCO's Associated Schools Project network (ASPnet), on ways “to safeguard
humanity's tangible and intangible heritage, which include oral traditions,
customs, music, dances, rituals, festivities and traditional medicine, which are
at risk of disappearance,” said UNSECO Amman Office Director Wolfgang Reuther.
The UNESCO special project — titled “World Heritage in Young Hands” — aims to
“encourage young people to become involved in heritage conservation, promote
awareness... and develop effective educational approaches and materials,”
according to the UNESCO practical manual for teachers.
“I have seen hundreds who have been transformed into `young heritage guardians.'
They have developed a keen awareness of the importance of their local, national
and world heritage. Their own identity has been reaffirmed in the turbulent wake
of globalisation, and they adhere to unity and diversity,” said Reuther.
“This second phase of the World Heritage Education project came after a pilot
project in 1998/9 in 70 ASPnet schools in 12 Arab countries,” explained Eman
Qaraeen focal point for ASPnet in the region.
“It was one of UNESCO's most successful projects. We held 10 national workshops
and three regional ones to train teachers using the World Heritage Education
Kit,” she added.
The project aims to focus on six main areas: Enhancing the use of the kit in
fostering a culture of peace; charting the future of the second phase of the
UNESCO special project; adapting and mainstreaming the kit in secondary school
education; preparing and producing a series of new educational resources; school
twinning in promoting World Heritage; and pre and in-service teacher training.
“[Such a project] can be a tool for discovering where we each come from and to
gain self-esteem, which is very important when communicating with others and
developing universal values,” said Reuther.
The ASPnet was established in 1953 and constitutes more than 7,000 schools
worldwide — 562 in 17 countries in the Arab region and 62 in Jordan.
The second Arabic version of the World Heritage Educational Resource Kit for
teachers was financed by the Dutch Funds Interest.