Czech students visited the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates
1. 11. 2019
In his palace in Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received the Commissioner General of Czech participation at the EXPO 2020 in Dubai along with students from Jan Neruda Grammar School. On this occasion, which is a part of the preparations for the national participation at the first World Exhibition in the Arab world, Jiří F. Potužník gave him a richly illuminated hand-made copy of the Latin fragment of the Chronicle of Dalimil on Parchment.
"The so-called King's Chronicle reflects the exceptional position of His Highness, it also symbolizes Czech history and finally, it speaks of the cultural and intellectual potential of the Czech lands," says the General Commissioner František Potužník, explaining the importance of the gift. "And our participation at the EXPO 2020 is primarily based on the presentation of education, science, and culture."
Czech students from Jan Neruda Grammar School in Prague were making a return visit to the students from the Future Leaders International Private School in Abu Dhabi (FLIPS). The cooperation between two different bilingual grammar schools is part of the project initiated by the head of the Al Mazrouei Group - Saif Mubarak Fadel Al Mazrouei and by the Office of the General Commissioner of Czech participation at the EXPO 2020 in Dubai (KGK).
"The theme of the EXPO is "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future", which can only be a nice-sounding phrase, or it can mean connecting cultures in a good way - and that is exactly what we are trying to do," says the General Commissioner Jiří František Potužník. "We started the project a year ago and today, it is under the auspices of the Ministry of Education in Abu Dhabi on the one hand and the Department of Education of the City of Prague on the other.
The students from FLIPS visited Prague in March and, following the current visit of the Czech students to Abu Dhabi, the management of the two participating schools will decide in what form the cooperation will continue. However, several other schools on both sides have already expressed an interest in joining the project.
“This collaboration gives students the opportunity to get to know a different culture, a different mentality, a different way of teaching, all on their own, in personal experience – that is an invaluable life lesson.” Comments Jana Wittbergrová, a professor at the Jan Neruda Grammar School.
In addition to the partnerships between the grammar schools, the General Commissioners team is encouraging and negotiating cooperation at the level of universities and scientific institutions. This should ideally continue even after the World Exhibition and that is why the KGK invited the Embassy of the Czech Republic in the UAE to join in on the project. The EXPO 2020 starts on the 20th of October 2020 and runs until the 10th of April 2021. The Organizers are expecting over 25 million visits.
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