We were recently visited by officials from the Kurdistan region of Iraq in order to share good practice and to swap ideas on how to raise standards of education in young people.
The team have recently introduced a system for the external evaluation of every school in the region which sees the deployment of school supervisors to work with schools as ‘critical friends’ to support improvement. Equally, they are introducing a system where Headteachers are responsible for appraising the work of teachers in their schools.
These changes are potentially ground-breaking, transformational changes in the region and the team were fantastic to meet and work alongside:
Mr Burhan Argoshy, senior adviser to the Minister of Education, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Ms Shilan Khalil, Director General of Planning, Ministry of Education, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Mr Ammar Tariq, Programme Director, capacity-building programme, based in Baghdad.
Ms Mariam Madhat, Deputy Programme Director, capacity-building programme, based in Baghdad.
Mr Handren Tofiq, local consultant and co-ordinator, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Mr Birzo Abdulkader, local consultant and interpreter.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “This was a fascinating experience and one that we thoroughly enjoyed being part of. Sharing ideas is such an important concept in the world of education and it is amazing however different the region and language, the experiences of working in schools and with children are remarkably similar. We would welcome the group back into school anytime – it was a pleasure to spend time with them”.
