Balclutha primary school principals Chris Morris, from Rosebank Primary School, and Paddy Ford, from Balclutha Primary School, spent a week in Singapore on an Asia:NZ scholarship for principals to extend their knowledge of how the education system in Singapore operates.
Both said the experience was extremely rewarding and they were now hoping to infuse "Asian awareness" in the community through their classes.
Both principals said it was important to be aware of the wider influences that affected children, and the goal was now to work together with other principals and community leaders to develop a South Otago strategy on how to make the community more aware of Asia.
This would hopefully be achieved through teacher exchanges, using Asia:NZ as a foundation resource and following up on person-to-person contacts, Mr Ford said.
Mr Ford and Mr Morris were both impressed by the level of people they were introduced to in Singapore.
"We made a lot of quite significant contacts we can follow up on.
"We were dealing with the people at the top - ministry officials, training officials and schools that were well up there.
"They were quality people, making informed decisions," Mr Ford said.
