KOTA KINABALU: Students of New York-based Think Global School have arrived in Sabah for a two-month educational journey on the state's rich culture and biodiversity.
They comprised 34 international students aged between 15 and 17, from the world's first travelling high school.
The students are here to acquire fresh experiences and even possibly incorporate them into their lives back home.
The school aims to bring students to live and study in a different country every semester, engaging in place-based and project-based learning pertinent to the nations they visit.
The school's principal, Adnan Mackovic, said the goal of their visit was to help the students and teachers better understand Sabahan culture, especially its biodiversity.
"I've personally visited Sabah twice to attend conferences. That's how I became aware of Sabah. We made preparations to travel here with a group of students right before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
"We wanted our students to experience what we have learned and what we know about the cultural and natural diversity in this state.
"We believe Sabah would be the ideal location for some of them to encounter cultures that are different from their own and to understand how such a diverse culture could co-exist," he said.
The students arrived in the state on July 5, accompanied by 11 Think Global teachers.
The students hail from various locales such as the Middle East, the United States, Canada, South Africa, Northern Europe and Asia.
During their sojourn here, the group have so far visited the Mari-Mari Cultural Village in Inanam for cultural immersion. They also hiked Mount Trus Madi in Tambunan, the second highest mountain in Sabah.
They also participated in activities with local villagers to learn about rice field cultivation.
In addition, they also learned how to cook using traditional bamboo and jungle survival skills such as identifying edible wild plants.
Mackovic said the students would get to visit the forest reserve, wildlife rehabilitation centres, and an opportunity to go diving, among others.
Yesterday, the Sabah Tourism Board hosted a dinner for the Think Global School group. Also present was its chief marketing officer Tay Shu Lan.
Its chief executive officer Noredah Othman, in welcoming the group, encouraged the students to gain as much experience as they could and to share what they had learnt with their families as well as peers once they return home.
"Think Global School's presence in Sabah means a great deal to us since it promotes our state by allowing students to learn about local places, local history, the many ethnic groups and their way of life.
"While we continue to promote Sabah as an eco-tourism hotspot, we also want visitors to see it as a place where they may expand their horizons via education," she said.
Sabah Tourism Board supports activities that teach young travellers useful lessons, she added.
The students' schedules will include a learning session on blog and content writing with the Sabah Tourism Board Communications and Digital Unit.
The purpose of this session is to teach the students how to communicate what they have learnt and how they may contribute to the promotion of Sabah.
On Aug 30, the students will deliver presentations at which they will discuss what they have managed to learn throughout their trip and their individual projects.
The public are welcome to attend the sharing session at the Sabah State Library in Tanjung Aru.
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