By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A LITTLE bit of Malaysia was brought to Fountain Gate Secondary College this month.
Students from Fountain Gate Secondary’s Malaysian sister school – SMK USJ 4 in Selangor – travelled to Australia to spend time with their Casey counterparts, staying with the students’ families during the last fortnight.
Fountain Gate Secondary College principal Vicki Walters said it had been fantastic to have the Malaysian students visit Victoria and strengthen the bond between the schools.
A student group from Fountain Gate will be travelling to Malaysia later this year.
“It certainly forms global connections in education,” Ms Walters said.
“We also have teachers that are involved in the exchange and certainly our sister schools take it very seriously. The Malaysian principal has visited our school twice.
“A lot of the children who visited were Muslims, and it’s amazing in Narre Warren and Dandenong how many companies have halal meat.
“Having the students visit is also a learning experience for the families.”
During the two-week stint in Victoria the Malaysian students were also treated to visits to Phillip Island and Healesville Sanctuary.
“This time around we had a visit to Healesville Sanctuary, where they have very different animals to those in Malaysia,” Ms Walters said.
“In Phillip Island, we learnt the history of the town. The Malaysian students were able to immerse themselves in our culture but we also learnt about theirs.”
Fountain Gate Secondary’s relationship with SMK USJ 4 also reminded Ms Walter how fortunate Australians were when it came to education.
“We’re very lucky in Australia with education, even in state education,” she said.
“They’ve only just got a number of computers at our sister schools, and they’re reliant on families having computers.
“They also have classes of 40 students and they come here and the classes have 25 students.”
