Duchess visits Jordanian school

The Duchess of Cornwall in Jordan Amman - Arabstoday Queen Rania of Jordan has accompanied Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall on a tour of Mahis Secondary School for Girls, as part of Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife's state visit to Jordan. The school, part of Phase 2 of the Madrasati (My School) Initiative officially opened in 2009. The educational tour revolved around several programmes instituted by the initiative in the areas of education technology, health awareness and volunteering which are geared towards providing an environment that promotes learning. The Queen and Duchess spoke to the pupils about the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI) and its use of technology in learning. JEI Deputy CEO, Rana Madani, gave a brief presentation on the initiative's Discovery Schools project, which allows institutions to use information technology to develop pupils' personalities and help them acquire practical skills that would ensure their success as leaders of the future Launched in partnership with the World Economic Forum in 2003 and Cisco Systems, JEI explores how technology can be effectively used to encourage innovation in both teachers and students. It involves the development and implementation of several e-learning curricula in public schools across the kingdom. Queen Rania and the Duchess took part in an interactive session about diversity and tolerance, where students explained how diversity enriches communities and helps them progress, adding that Jordan is distinguished because of its open-mindedness, tolerance and ambitions. The Queen and the Duchess also checked on some activities implemented by the Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS), which was established in 2005 and has been collaborating with Madrasati to improve hygiene, health, fitness, and nutrition among Jordanian children and their families. RHAS Director General Enaam Barrishi gave a speech about the Healthy Schools programme, which sets standards for schools to reach in order to foster a healthy environment for living, learning, and working. Her Majesty and the Duchess also stopped by Katie’s Readers group, a programme founded by one of Madrasati's volunteers. It encourages students to learn English from native speakers who spend at least 2 hours per week in various Madrasati schools reading stories and playing games with the students. The Queen and the Duchess also watched part of a basketball game organised by IRMAH, an independent youth initiative which aims to bring students together from private and public schools once a week to play basketball.