A media release from Australian Embassy in its official website said the participation in BRIDGE would bring the total number of Indonesian schools in the program to 65 across 8 provinces.
The Asia Education Foundation and the Provincial Office of the Ministry of Education signed an agreement of participation in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday.
Three other agreements with Jakarta, Banten, and Surabaya provinces were signed last week.
Sixteen teachers from Indonesia will travel to Australia in May 2011 to build partnerships with Australian schools, improve their English language skills and receive training on incorporating Information and Communication Technology into their teaching.
"I`m very pleased to see more Indonesian schools join the highly successful BRIDGE program. It provides a wonderful opportunity for Indonesian and Australian teachers and students to appreciate each other`s culture and customs. This leads to enduring people-to-people links and strong school-to-school partnerships facilitated through internet-based and face-to-face communications," said Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty.
The BRIDGE program (Building Relations through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement) was initiated in 2008 by the Australia-Indonesia Institute and is funded by the Australian Government and the Myer Foundation.
The Asia Education Foundation is delivering the program with the support of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
The new schools participating in 2011 from South Sumatera include SMA Kusuma Bangsa and SMPN 9 Palembang.
Other selected schools are SMPN 19 Jakarta, SDN 2 Cilegon, SMAN 2 Cilegon, MTsN Satu Atap Balaraja, MTsN Nurul Huda Banten and SDN Menanggal 601 Surabaya.
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Editor: Bambang
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
