Baroness Nicholson opens the 4th Stirling Schools ICETS conference in Erbil

Baroness Nicholson, IBBC president, opened the Stirling Schools ICETS conference that extends on person and online during this week.

This is the 4th International conference on Education and teaching (ICET) 2024 and hosted by Dr Umed Aruzery, head of ICET board and chairman of Stirling Schools Iraq.

The conference is a significant event for the improvement of teaching in Iraq and is supported by key organisations, including IBBC, Cambridge Education and Stirling Schools.

In her opening speech Baroness Nicholson congratulated Stirling schools for thirty years of teaching in Iraq, adding value to so many young people, through difficult times, to give Iraqi people the best in class that an international British education has to offer.

‘Stirling Schools stands proud with its commitment to all aspects of quality education, driven by your dedication to and training your staff, the engagement with your local communities and an innovative approach to all pupil centred learning. This all adds up to excellence across all 8 of your schools in Iraq.’

She made special mention of Andrew Bizley, the British Consul General in Erbil, to Professor Mohammed Al Uzri who leads IBBC education members, to Dr Alan Hama Saeed, Minister of Education for KRI, for his unwavering support and commitment to fostering educational development and innovation in our region.” and the Ministry of Education of Iraq for their ongoing support.

The Baroness was delighted by the performance of the AMAR Yazidi women’s choir during the previous night’s Gala dinner and is touched by Stirling Schools generosity towards those less fortunate than them from the local IDP camps of Dohuk, where they have taken the Yazidi girls under their wing, to help teach them English and support the development of the AMAR Yazidi Women’s choir.

AMAR initiated music lessons for camp children and a choir for those girls most affected by ISIS capture.

‘Making music has had a remarkable effect on everyone, especially the choir singers.’

The ICETS conference itself engages over 3,500 participants and in Iraq, 18 International and 31 national institutions, 39 online sessions (12 English, 19 Kurdish, 8 Arabic) with 25 universities and 49 speakers covering a wide aspect of subjects and levels from primary to higher education teaching.( further information here ) https://icet.stirlingschools.co.uk/.

IBBC has a growing education sector membership, and universities and schools groups are welcome to apply to join.