Teachers from Bradford are unable to go ahead with their planned visit this week to their twin school in Rawalpindi as a result of insecurity in Pakistan.

Bradford head teacher Elizabeth Pratt (left) had planned to travel to Pakistan this week to develop the links with teachers and pupils in their partner school in Rawalpindi.

The teacher's trip was planned to follow on from a visit of two Pakistani teachers to Bradford in June (pictured) as part of their joint curriculum work on recycling funded by the DfID Global Schools Partnership scheme.

But following the bombing of the UN compound in early October, Bradford governors asked the Head to change her plans.

This is not the first time that visits between the twin schools have been affected.

The Bradford teachers cancelled their visit last year when the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was bombed.  Suggestions of a visit earlier in the year had also been shelved as a result of the unrest surrounding widespread demonstrations known as the 'long march'.  This latest disappointment is their third attempt to visit Rawalpindi.

Schools throughout Pakistan were closed by the government last week following a suicide bomb at Islamabad University. 

Bradford head Elizabeth Pratt is waiting to hear from her counterpart in Pakistan. 

She shares her story with BBC World Class: 

I did email [our twin school in Rawalpindi]. I can imagine our Head saying, "Our school never shuts!"   I'm hoping to get a reply back from them.

As soon as Pakistan comes on the News, I'm there. The News is very very real.  I think the teachers here are feeling empathy.  We're all teachers -  whether we are in Pakistan, or Zanzibar, or Uganda. 

I feel really really disappointed [not to go] but the governors have made the right decision. If they [militants] can bomb the UN, it is not a good idea for us to be out and about.

Our partner school are the most fantastic lovely people. All they want is peace and the children to grow up in safety.

It's difficult to know what their life is like.  They desperately want it to be normal.  When I said we aren't going we got emails back straight away saying how upset they were.

I still think the [school twinning] project can survive this. Email is wonderful and immediate. So long as there is good communication in other ways we can still have successful partnerships.

The Rawalpindi school has a lot to teach us about aspirations for their pupils and giving them opportunities.  The Head is an amazingly ambitious woman for her pupils and she's been an inspiration. 
                                            

How did they do this?

The Bradford Rawalpindi school partnership is now in the third year of its DfID Global School Partnership grant.  Their joint projects focus on the environment and recycling. 

Find out more about Pakistan on the BBC News website and for schools the BBC World News for Children, provides a weekday audio bulletin for 7-14 year olds.

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