March 2016
German Omani Students’ Exchange

In March, nine female students from the Salzmann School in Thuringia, Germany and their teacher visited their Omani partner school, the Al Amal School in Barka, for the first time.

This student exchange took place as part of the UNESCO student program to promote cultural understanding. The Al Amal School is one of five PASCH-schools in Oman. The Salzmann School is a high school in Thuringia that has a special focus on foreign languages. The pupils there can choose Arabic, Japanese or Chinese as their second foreign language.
During their ten-day stay in Oman, the nine German students learned Arabic at their partner school, took part in German classes, but also in physical education and other subjects, and of course made many trips into the heart of country to better become acquainted with the country and its culture.
A visit to the Goethe-Institute Muscat and another PASCH-school, the Barakat bin Mohammed Boys’ School Barka, was also on their program. For the Omani boys' pupils, the visit of the German girls’ pupils was something very special, because boys and girls are normally separated in this stage at the Omani schools. The German students particularly impressed the Omani students and teachers with their good knowledge of Arabic, their excellent pronunciation and their interest in the culture of Oman.