Welcome
Joint ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of Schools: Partners for the Future (PASCH) and opening the World Congress of German Schools Abroad
The Schools: Partners for the Future (PASCH) initiative was launched by the Federal Foreign Office in 2008 and is this year celebrating its 10th anniversary. PASCH serves as a network for more than 2000 schools in some 120 countries throughout the world and is one of the most important programmes of Germany’s cultural relations and education policy. On 6 June, an anniversary celebration will be held in Berlin to pay tribute to the initiative. The event will be attended by Federal Minister Heiko Maas, who emphasised the importance of the 10th anniversary of Schools: Partners for the Future:
Only a few weeks ago, I myself visited a PASCH school in Tanzania. The partner school initiative is a great project. It helps young people gain a new perspective on the world and build networks across borders. Thanks to PASCH, we are not only forging strong ties between brilliant minds and Germany, but also deepening our relations with societies around the world.
In cooperation with the Central Agency for Schools Abroad, the Goethe Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service and the Educational Exchange Service of the Secretariat of the KMK, PASCH has made a difference for and brought together more than 600,000 pupils and alumni around the world since 2008. The aim of strengthening the PASCH network, and thereby also German Schools Abroad, is part of the coalition agreement. This is because the initiative is a good investment in the future of young people who, by acquiring the German language, maintain strong and long-term ties with Germany.
The success of the initiative will be celebrated on 6 June at a festive event attended by more than 850 guests from the spheres of politics, business and education. Federal Minister Heiko Maas will deliver the opening speech.
This will be followed by a panel comprising Ulla Schmidt (Member of the German Bundestag), Dr Reinhold Festge (Managing Partner, Haver&Boecker), representatives of PASCH schools in Estonia, Thailand and Spain, as well as PASCH alumni. This panel discussion will highlight both the breadth of the initiative and the wide ranging background of its supporters. The anniversary celebration will also be an important stop of the PASCH mobile, which is touring Germany between February and December 2018, making 30 stops at PASCH partners throughout Germany. The PASCH mobile will be present at the anniversary celebration in Berlin.
On the morning of 6 June, a career fair will be held at WECC for more than 200 PASCH alumni. At the event, alumni, businesses and cooperation partners will showcase what they are doing for, and in cooperation with, PASCH. The anniversary coincides with the opening of the three-day World Congress of German Schools Abroad, which is co hosted by the Federal Foreign Office, the World Association of German Schools Abroad and the Central Agency for Schools Abroad.