NNA - Under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and in the presence of Mr Fady Yarak, the Director General of the Ministry of Education, and President of CERD, Dr George Nohra, the British Council held the Virtual International School Award (ISA) ceremony on Friday 28 January from 12:00 till 1:00 p.m.

The event celebrated the success of the 46 Lebanese public and private schools (including 7 UNRWA schools) that have achieved the prestigious Full International School Award and accreditation as official ISA schools in addition to two schools that completed the Intermediate level of the ISA award.

The International School Award celebrated the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life work in today’s world.

The Full award is an acknowledgement from peer group of educators, the Ministry of Education and the British Council of high standards of international work. It is given to schools which have worked over at least a year, to develop an international dimension to their schools’ policies and activities.

The International School Award (ISA) is a globalaccreditation scheme recognizing good practice in incorporating the international dimension into schools through inter-curriculum activities that make the process of teaching and learning more interactive. This improves the necessary core skills needed for the students to become critical thinkers, creative and locally and globally aware and engaged. Successful schools are accredited for three years.

The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:

• An international ethos embedded throughout the school
• A whole school approach to international work
• Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
• Year-round international activity
• Involvement of the wider community

The 46 schools joined over 10,000 schools worldwide, which have received this award since 1999, when the scheme started, joining around 300 accredited schools in Lebanon, and this year we are celebrating the 23^thanniversary for the ISA globally.

The International School Award (ISA) component falls under the umbrella of the Connecting Classrooms Education Programme.

The schools accredited are (listed according to the alphabetical order):

Public schools that participated in “River Of The World” project:

==================British Council