62 YEARS OF SCHOOL EXCHANGE BETWEEN MADRAS COLLEGE AND KIELER GELEHRTENSCHULE

Motion Text

That this House congratulates Madras College, St Andrews, and Kieler Gelehrtenschule, Schleswig-Holstein, in celebrating 62 years of The Kiel Exchange or Schottenaustausch, believed to be the oldest uninterrupted exchange programme between two schools in Scotland and Germany; marks the fact the exchange was set up by two historians Dr John Thompson, Rector of Madras College, and Carl Dietrich Erdmann, Professor of Modern History at Keil University, resulting in the first exploratory visit to St Andrews by Dr Oswald Hauser, of the Kieler Gelehrtenschule, in 1956, followed by the first group of German pupils to Scotland in 1957 and a reciprocal trip made by 28 Madras College pupils in 1958; commends both schools in their approach to the exchange involving both S6 and S5 pupils ensuring the link continues; notes that on the 50th anniversary of the exchange in 2007, the two schools were the first recipients of the UK-German Connections Celebratory Fund and again received support from the Fund on the 60th anniversary; and welcomes pupils and teachers visiting St Andrews between 15 and 23 June 2019.