School Exchange Dorsten – Ballyclare

Since 1989, a yearly exchange between Ballyclare High (Newtownabbey) and the Gymnasium Petrinum ( Dorsten) takes place, so that the pupils can form new contacts, find out something about the country and learn about different languages.

Northern Ireland is in contrast with Germany in that it is densely forested; it is all green and very rural. One needs a long time to travel to a nearby town (e.g. Belfast). The schools are also very varied, they are indeed equally big and have roughly the same number of pupils, but in Northern Ireland the school is very advanced; there is modern technology everywhere, like for example computers. In Germany there is only very limited modern technology in schools. Pupils in Northern Ireland must wear a uniform and different subjects are taught. The Northern Irish families are hardly very different from German families. I hope that in the future there will still be the exchange between Dorsten and Ballyclare.