Schools chosen for scholarships
LEARNING a language not only opens up the door to career opportunities but other ways of perceiving the world, and two Dunedin schools hope signing an international agreement will encourage more pupils to take on the challenge of learning German.
Dunedin schools Columba College and John McGlashan College have joined forces to become probably the southernmost schools in the world to sign an agreement giving them access to scholarships and other resources provided by the German Government via the Goethe Institut.
The institute partners with about 1000 schools around the world, providing fullyfunded scholarships to both teachers and pupils to study in Germany.
The two Dunedin schools will be the sixth and seventh in the country to join.
The institute’s national German adviser, Heike Papenthin, travelled to John McGlashan College to sign a memorandum with both schools on Tuesday.
Ms Papenthin said the Goethe Institut only partnered with schools that had ‘‘shown their excellence’’, and believed they were the southernmost schools in the world to be involved.
There would be at least one scholarship for a pupil and one for a teacher per school, and schools did not have to compete against one another for a place.
It also comes with a range of other benefits such as pupils being able to take internationally recognised language exam the GoetheZertifikate.
Columba acting principal Jenness Riethmaier said the agreement ‘‘really opens up opportunities’’ for pupils.
The school had always pushed languages and all year 9 and 10 pupils were required to learn a second language, such as French, Chinese or German.
John McGlashan principal Neil Garry said the Goethe Institut did not usually allow singlesex schools to sign up to the agreement, so it was a ‘‘real honour’’ for John McGlashan to be able to join alongside Columba.
‘‘It’s fantastic for our boys.’’