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Pupils from the North East have told of their
extraordinary meeting with the president of Pakistan.
Five talented pupils from Ponteland Community
High School met President Pervez Musharraf as part of a 10-day tour
around Pakistan which took in sights such as the historic Khyber
Pass, the Himalayas and local schools.
The trip was awarded to Year 10 geography
students Charles Dickinson, Michael Skelly, Martin Spurr, Philip
Overbury and David Hindle after they impressed judges with their
work in this year's annual Experience Pakistan Project.
The students were invited to London, where they
outlined their research on diversity and unity in Pakistan to judges
in a 15-minute multi-media presentation.
They were selected along with five other UK
schools to go to Pakistan as part of the project, aimed at
counteracting Pakistan's negative image as a country troubled by
oppression, terrorism and violence.
The president, an ally of the West, talked openly
to the students about the issues affecting his country and told them
killing militants was not the way to fight terrorism.
The students returned from their visit late on
Saturday with a few dodgy stomachs but many great memories.
David Hindle, 14, from Ponteland, is looking
forward to helping to change people's views about the country as an
ambassador of the country.
He said: "President Musharraf was very down to
earth, he answered all our questions.
"We asked him about his life, the assassination
attempts, Pakistan relations and the cricket. He answered them all
honestly and openly.
"There were lots of great sights. I went to the
Himalayas and saw the third highest mountain in the world. We went
in a Hercules transporter and I got a great view from the
cockpit.
"The most surprising thing was how nice the city
of Lahore is.
"We will be changing people's perceptions of
Pakistan by writing in the school news letter and telling all our
friends about it."President Musharraf told the students the answer
to terrorism and beating groups like al Qaeda was to address
economic deprivation and ignorance.
The discussion remained friendly and President
Musharraf went on to talk about his education plans for Pakistan,
saying he wanted high-quality teacher training, new text books and
curriculum covering all pupils.
The president also spoke of how two assassination
attempts last December have effected his life.
He said: "I used to be quite independent, going
to hotels after dinner for hot chocolate, but my security people are
not happy about that now.
There was also talk of encouraging equality
between men and women, and the president praised former headteacher
Zubeida Jalal, who is now his education minister.
Launched in 2001, Experience Pakistan is financed
by Pakistani-born business man Prof. Humayun Mughal, chairman of Akhter
Computers, based in Harlow, Essex, and one of its aims is to create
ambassadors for Pakistan in the UK. | 
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