Persian culture to be celebrated in UK Schools

The FINANCIAL — To mark the global celebrations of Nowruz, the traditional Persian New Year, the British Council has produced new resources to help UK primary school teachers in cultural and social education around ‘Nowruz’ – the secular New Year festival which is celebrated across large parts of the world, from China to North Africa.

In the UK several million people celebrate Nowruz each year. Nowruz is celebrated by more than 300 million people world-wide, and officially marked in 17 countries across the Middle East and Asia, according to the British Council.

Danny Whitehead, the British Council’s Country Director Iran, said “This education pack brings the richness of the Persian world and its cultures to life in the classroom. We’re delighted to support schools and teachers build understanding of different cultures among UK children, particularly of a part of the world around which there is much misunderstanding. I hope this resource can support our teachers in preparing the internationally minded and globally conscious citizens of the world that the UK needs in the 21st century.”

The resources include assembly and lesson plans, and activity sheets to allow British children to gain an insight in to the traditional and modern day celebrations. Links to Iranian music are included, and letters from children in Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, the UK, and Uzbekistan explaining how they celebrate Nowruz in their home country.

Nowruz or ‘New day’ in Persian is a thirteen day New Year celebration which is tied to Zoroastrian and Persian traditions, dating back at least three thousand years. It begins on the first day of spring in the solar calendar, around the 21st of March, a date that marks the New Year for many and is a national holiday in a number of countries.

The new schools pack has been produced as part of the British Council’s UK-Iran Season of Culture. Between January and April 2015, the British Council has led a series of activities focusing on the cultural links between Iran and the UK.

Through nationwide exhibitions, performances, discussions, workshops, and seminars, the UK Iran Season of Culture will explore Iran’s cultural heritage and vibrant contemporary creativity, enabling the people of the UK to experience and re-interpret Iran.