‘Commonwealth Class’ is an integral part of the ‘Connecting Classrooms’ project. ‘Commonwealth Class’ energised young people around the world in the run up to the Commonwealth Games UK this year, inspiring them to find out more about each others’ nations, each others’ ways of life and work, each others’ languages and sports.
Under ‘Commonwealth Class’ in Bangladesh more than 8,700 schools were inspired by the ‘Commonwealth Games 2014’ to take part in different interactive competitions including Commonwealth Quiz, ‘Spirit of Sports’ artworks, field athletics, classroom activities and online debates. More than 20,000 students (aged 7-14 years old) were involved with the online debate. Each competition and activity celebrated the Commonwealth Values including Tolerance, Respect, Understanding and Inclusion.
The British Council hosted the Award Giving Ceremony of ‘Commonwealth Class’ on Saturday 15 November 2014 at the newly refurbished British Council Library in Dhaka.
The 9 overall winners of these events were presented with digital tablets and certificates by the His Excellency, Robert W Gibson CMG, British High Commissioner. Ambassador Syed Shahed Reza, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Olympic Association, and Abdullah Hel Baki, Bangladesh Silver Medal Winner for Shooting at Commonwealth Games 2014 were also present. The British Council’s increasing focus in all its cultural programmes 2015-18 will be ‘Inclusion’ as a legacy of this Commonwealth Class project.