New School Partnership between Bruno H. Bürgel Elementary School in Berlin & Taipei Municipal Rixin Elementary School
On Wednesday afternoon, March 29, 2023, Jens Otte, the principal of the Bruno H. Bürgel Elementary School in Berlin, and Lutz Bassin the vice principal, welcomed Ms. Zeng Jing, director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany, and Ms. Melanie Faber from the same division, to in Berlin, Germany. The two visitors took part in a meeting with approximately twenty teachers, during which Mr. Otte and Mr. Bassin presented details of an opportunity for their school to begin a partnership with Taipei Municipal Rixin Elementary School.
The Bruno H. Bürgel Elementary School has had a partnership with a Chinese school in Beijing for about twenty years, but their partnership has more or less come to an end as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. For this reason, Mr Otte reached out to Ms. Zeng, asking for help to find a new partner school in Taiwan. Ms. Zeng established contact with Rixin Elementary School which was looking for a German partner school, and the two schools started discussions about a future partnership online. After the initial discussions, Mr. Otte and Mr. Bassin visited Taipei Municipal Rixin Elementary School in March 2023.
During the afternoon meeting, Mr. Otte and Mr. Bassin spoke with the teachers about Rixin Elementary School and their visit to the school. Their presentation highlighted the qualities of Rixin Elementary School which specializes in technology and bilingualism. They also explained what the ongoing process would involve. Their enthusiasm about building a productive exchange programme which would benefit both schools quickly infected the teachers there. The teachers asked many questions about the school in Taipei and about the Taiwanese education system, which Ms. Zeng answered.
Bruno H. Bürgel Elementary School in Germany and Taipei Municipal Rixin Elementary School in Taiwan are going to begin their educational cooperation by having lessons together online on a regular basis, and collaborating on project weeks. Then in March next year, students at the Berlin school will go on an exchange trip to Taipei, and their school will welcome students from the school in Taipei to Berlin a few months later, in June.
