The British Council in Pakistan hosted the International School Awards (ISA) ceremony on 7 November 2017, which recognizes and celebrates finest practice of internationalism in schools. 222 schools (159 Government, 63 Private schools) from across Punjab received the accreditation this year at a formal Awards Ceremony held in Lahore.
The ISA certifications which are endorsed and supported by the Ministry of Education, Punjab were handed over to school representatives by Minister, Punjab Schools Education Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan. The minister said during his opening remarks, "We are delighted to work with British Council to facilitate both public and private schools across Punjab. British Council International School Award ceremony is a tribute to the hard work of school principals, teachers and staff. The government of Punjab is keen to work with partners to equip educators with necessary skills to lead and develop an international dimension in our schools.
The International School Award is an annual British Council accreditation scheme rewarding schools with a notable global element in their curriculum. The ISA was launched in Pakistan in 2013 and so far over 450 schools from across the country have won the Full award. The range of schools participating in the British Council International School Award includes both public and private sector schools from main urban cities to rural areas and schools for the less advantaged communities.
Applications from interested schools are called in every year and are selected on the basis of their application. The accreditation helps schools to enrich learning and improve teaching by guiding international learning activities, from introducing international education into the curriculum to embedding it within school's culture.
During the implementation of ISA activities, schools establish professional partnerships with schools from UK and many other countries. These schools creatively use digital media to deliver various projects in partnership with international schools to improve the classroom teaching, student learning outcome and cross cultural learning. A through assessment is done by trained accessors of the British Council to gauge the impact of the work done.