Some children are learning very special skills, which they hope will help them build a career in the future. Glass-working in Italy, construction in Cuba, and whistling in Spain are some of the unusual skills that children around the world are being taught.
Italy: In the glass room
In 1291, fearing a huge fire in Venice, the authorities moved the glass blowers onto a nearby island called Murano. Since then, the name has become a byword for excellence and now, the industry employs 1,000 people in 260 production centres. There is even a glassworking school where young people learn the skills needed to enter the profession.
The ‘Abate Zanetti’ school was founded in 1862 and aims to keep Murano’s glass-working skills alive. Here they offer teenagers a taste of the glass working world.
For more information see
http://www.abatezanetti.it/
Cuba: Revamping Havana
Havana, long overdue for a makeover, is currently getting a facelift. The economic crisis is biting here as much as anywhere else, but restoring the country’s architectural heritage is seen as one way towards a better future. And the pupils at one school are studying the building works and learning new skills.
Pupils spend half their time studying practical skills, such as masonry, and the other half doing academic classes such as maths and Spanish. It is very popular, every autumn, the school receives four applications for every place.
For more information see
http://www.ohch.cu/_menu_1/info.php?cat=Talleres&iditem=185&id_Cat=6
Spain: Whistle Me a Poem
Whistled languages are found all over the world although they are increasingly rare. In the Canary Islands Whistle, or Silbo, is perhaps the best known of them. Gomeran Whistling is a way of communicating over long distances.
Daniel and Regina are two of the youngest whistlers on the island. Thanks to their teachers they are learning a traditional language which was recognised as part of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.
Depending on factors like the wind, whistling can be heard up to three kilometres away. So young people practice it in the Garajonay National Park, the oldest forest in Europe. Twenty years ago, Gomeran Whistling was near extinction. Nowadays, all schools offer classes every week.
For more information see
http://www.canariasahora.es/noticia/133969/