School Trip to Zimbabwe Planned - to 'Improve English'

From the Metro:

Children as young as ten are set to head to Zimbabwe... to improve their English.

The party of primary school pupils and teachers will spend a week visiting schools near the capital of Harare – despite the on-going troubles in the southern African state.

President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly blamed Britain for many of his country's economic woes. Inflation is rampant, there is an Aids crisis and crime is spiralling.

But despite this, the eight children, from three schools in Liverpool, are due to spend a week lodging at a boarding school in Marondera, about an hour away from Harare.

Head teacher Ruth Frain said the exchange trip was also a chance to learn from the hosts' approaches to ICT, recycling and literacy.

'We want to look at what we can learn from them, then use it when we teach English,' she said.

'It will be life-changing. We want to mix with other cultures and build understanding, and the only way to do that is by experiencing it.'

The trip, due in November and funded by the British Council, would only take place if it was safe, she said.

Today, the Foreign Office warned the situation in Zimbabwe remained tense: 'It could deteriorate further without warning.'