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The Queen of Jordan gave out her annual Excellence in Education today at the Applied Science Private University in Amman. Since 2005, Queen Rania has been awarding her country’s teachers, and in 2009, began awarding principals as way to improve education in the Hashemite Kingdom.
 Click here to see more photos This year, 25 teachers and 7 principals received their Excellence in Education awards.
“Change for us is an opportunity,” Her Majesty told those at the university’s the conference center. “An opportunity to learn from the past, and set modern plans for our future.”
“Teach them responsibility,” The Queen told the teachers and principals. “Teach them how to transform their love for Jordan into constructive work, so Jordan and they can grow together.”
The ceremony for this award included a screening of a couple of documentaries which showcased what is expected from a Jordanian educator.
The Teacher’s award began in 2005, and the Principal’s award is biannual. This year, nearly 2,000 applicants for teachers and 282 applicants for principals came in from all over Jordan.
Source: Petra
The annual Queen Sonja School Award was given out Friday, and this year’s recipient was the Malakoff High School in the Oslo neighborhood of Moss. It was the first time a high school received the honor.
 Click here to see image gallery The institution won because it “developed a comprehensive training and support program for a diverse group of young people” and “[t]he school places great emphasis on the individual youth are protected from their premises … The effort to provide young people with a diverse multicultural background good future, continues throughout the school’s work program.”
Another reason why Malakoff won could be because 11 of its students were present during the Utøya massacre back in late July. One student died while two others were injured.
At the same time, Malakoff is located near the government buildings which were bombed on July 22nd. One student lost his mother then.
During the ceremony, Her Majesty Queen Sonja met with several of the students. She had this to say about her meeting: “It is an unimaginable tragedy that has been hard on us all. It seems that Malakoff has been very good to help and follow up on it students who are affected here. The students told me that they were satisfied with the way they have been taken care of.”
She went on to say, “It’s a terrible situation to be in, but all we have to continue in life. You have to build brick by brick, trying to do this in the best possible way.”
“It is obviously difficult for the individual, but I believe that the young people I met here today will do it,” said the Queen.
Sonja was given a tour of the high school, which had her see its library, technical and medical classes, and basic classrooms.
Source: NRK, Kongehuset
The Queen of Jordan spoke Wednesday about the need for education at the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth High Level forum on Aid Effectiveness in the South Korean port city of Busan.
 Click here to learn more “We are in a constant continuum of change which is altering the context of development,” said Queen Rania while stressing the need for smart aid towards education.
“Education is more than a right; its a resource,” she said. “It can combat almost every global humanitarian challenge today.”
The Queen went on to say how 67 million children worldwide are unable to attend classes, there are too few teachers and outdated curricula, and many students graduate without the skills needed for a fast changing world.
Rania also highlighted that women need to be encouraged because they “contributed more to global GDP than either new technologies or the emerging economies of China and India.”
Also on Wednesday, Her Majesty visited a teacher’s college and an elementary school in Busan. Kim Sang-young, president of Busan National University of Education, told her about the admissions process, training courses and operations.
Queen Rania was certainly impressed by the South Korean system. “Korea is a prime example of how the power of education can transform a nation,” she told Kim.
“We, Jordan, are facing similar challenges that Korea experienced decades ago. I strongly believe that the single most important element in education is the quality of the teachers.”
She also expressed her envy over how popular and competitive it is to be licensed teacher in the country, whereas in Jordan, teaching is not too many students’ desire.
The Queen was in South Korea for the 4th High-Level International Forum on Aid Effectiveness. She was one of the VIP guests along with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-moon, and for British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Sources: Petra, Korea Times
The Princess of Monaco made a tour of the tiny principality’s schools Friday. Princess Charlene did most of the visits on her own, though in the beginning Prince Albert II was at her side.
 Click here for the original article Their Serene Highnesses began by stopping by the Nursery of Monte Carlo, where they met with three and four year olds. Both Albert and Charlene spent a few minutes playing with the children.
For the next school, where Charlene went to alone, there was no protocol as the Princess requested. She just wanted simplicity. When she arrived at St. Charles School, the students greeted her by saying, “Your Highness, we are very proud to welcome you to our school.” They spoke to her in French, and Charlene answered in the same language. There had been some controversy over her French skills prior to her July wedding to Albert.
At the school, the Princess visited a kindergarten class where the students recited several nursery rhymes. When she left, she was given a notebook full of drawings of none other than princesses! Charlene also received a T-shirt, sweatshirt and cap for St. Charles School.
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene had made it clear early on that the Princess would ease her way into royal duties rather than dive into them instantly.
Source: Monaco Matin
There’s a new university in Norway, and Thursday saw it being officially opened by Crown Prince Haakon. The University of Nordland, located in Bodø, began classes in January, but was inaugurated today. It is the eighth university in the country.
 Click here to check out more pics In his speech, Haakon emphasized the importance of the university’s High North strategy, and their cooperation with Russian institutions.
“As a nation we must also protect the interests towards our surroundings, “said the Crown Prince.
He emphasized the importance of having good social basis for a good learning environment.
“We must not forget that as a student, it is important to have fun too. These studies provide room for the big issues, testing of ideas, opinions and arguments. It is important to not only care about the subject, but also to have fun while studying,” Haakon said.
Among the audience was a journalism student named Ane Sunniva Tvete, and she liked what her future King said about attending a university.
“The social aspect is equally important to get a nice study. It’s not just the academics who design you as a person, the more you learn very much of the social as well,” said Tvete.
The new University has facilities for Bioscience and aquaculture industries, Graduate School of Professional Studies and currently has about 600 employees and 5800 students.
Nordland is a county in northern Norway, just above the Arctic circle, and Bodø is its largest city.
Sources: Kongehuset, NRK
The Queen of Jordan went to the southern governate of Tafileh Monday to check in three school that are part of the her Madrasati initiative. Queen Rania launched Madrasati, or “My School”, in 2010 as a way to improve education and school buildings in Jordan. A total of 96 schools in Jordan’s southern region are part of the initiative.
 Petra News Agency The first school she stopped by was Al Qadisieh Secondary School for Girls. There, Rania – along with Madrasati Director Dana Dajani – toured its computer lab. The lab was created under Madrasati and the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI).
Later on, the Queen sat in on a Madrasati sponsored workshop called, “The Art of Storytelling Through Photography”. She even took a look at the school’s art gallery and visited some classrooms.
Next, Her Majesty went to Fatima Al Zahraa Elementary School for Girls, where she toured its sports hall, which was renovated by Madrasati. Rania was told that even though the school had very little sporting equipment, its students managed to compete for the King Abdullah Physical Fitness Award and win gold and silver medals.
Queen Rania also met with math teachers who told her about the skills they’ve developed under the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA). She also chatted with the students about their hopes for their school. The girls told her about volunteers from Denmark whom helped them create a wall mural on one of the outside school walls.
For her final stop, the Queen went to Farwa Elementary Coed School, where she inspected the structural and renovation work that took place, and watched a sports activity conducted by a Madrasati community organizer.
Source: Jordan Times
The Queen of Jordan emerged Wednesday after keeping a rather low profile for the past two weeks. She went to two Amman schools to see how they are benefiting from Madrasati, Rania’s organization aimed at improving education and school buildings.
 Petra News Agency The first school the Queen visited was Abu Nseir Elementary Co-ed School, where six teachers told her about the programs and benefits the institution has received since becoming part of Madrasati. Those programs include a math network, sports for development, and extra curricula activities. Some of the students are even participating in the King Abdullah Award for Physical Fitness.
Later, Queen Rania sat in a kindergarten class and got to know the students. The teachers in that class told her about the early childhood development programs.
The next school for Her Majesty was the Safout Secondary School for Girls, where she again was told how the institute has been doing under the Madrasati initiative.
Source: Jordan Direction
 Henrik Garlöv/Kungl. Hovstaterna Six promising postgraduate students in Sweden were awarded scholarships to continue their studies directly from Queen Silvia on Tuesday at the Palace. It was part of the Queen’s Jubilee Fund, set up on her 50th birthday in 1993, to encourage further research on children and the disabled.
Each year there is a certain priority in the research area. This time the theme was “Physical and psychological well-being disorders in children and adolescents”.
The recipients of the scholarships were: Charlotte Lindfors, Emma Arvidsson, Snjólaug Sveinsdóttir, Marja Tengvall, Bjorn Nodlund and Martina Abelius.
Source: Kungehuset.se
 Toussaint Kluiters/Getty Images On Saturday, Princess Maxima of the Netherlands went to school…to open another branch of a weekend school for children, that is.
The Weekend Academy is a program that allows Dutch students to attend classes on Saturdays and Sundays to improve their academic performance, as well as take part in sports and leisure activities. Opening in 2006, about 500 children across the country participate in the program.
For today, Maxima was in Amsterdam to open the academy’s fifth branch at Marcanti College. She met with dozens of its students, who wore colorful graduation caps. The children threw their caps in the air after the Princess officially opened the branch.
Source: AT5.nl
The Queen of Jordan finished up a two day visit to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Monday. She was there to promote her Madrasati Palestine initiative, and also on behalf of the non-profit organization inJAz, which Queen Rania is patron of. 
During Monday, Rania was at a special students’ assignment organized by inJAz Bahrain as part of the “Banks in Action” program at the Citibank headquarters in Bahrain. She was joined by Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, who is the inJAz Bahrain Executive Director.
About the “Banks in Action”event, Queen Rania said this: The ‘Banks in Action’ competition shows INJAZ at its best. Teaching our children the value of money, the spirit of business, and the rewards of hard work improves not only their future prospects as job seekers but our future prosperity as a region. I want to thank INJAZ and the Kingdom of Bahrain for their inspiring example, and all the competitors for their impressive skills.”
Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa expressed her satisfaction with the event, stating “We are very delighted and grateful for Her Majesty Queen Rania’s attendance, a gesture which exemplifies her personal involvement and caring passion for the development of youth across the Arab world. We also thank Citibank for providing this unique, innovative learning experience and for the ongoing support of its employees who volunteer their time to mentor young Bahrainis students and provide them with valuable work-readiness and financial literacy education.”
Teams from three boys’ and three girls’ schools took part in the competition. The students take roles of being managers to learn how to work through a successful bank simulation program.
Queen Rania congratulated the winning team and wished the others all the best.
 INJAZ was started as a project by Save the Children with funds from USAID. In 2001, it spun off to become an independent not-for-profit organization. INJAZ is an International Member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the leading global youth organization.
Monday evening saw the Queen take part in a dinner to raise money for Madrasati, which is Arabic for “my school”. It is meant to improve schools and education in the Palestinian Territories.
Sitting with Bahraini Crown Prince Salman, Rania saw a few auctions take place in order to raise funds for the initiative, as well as a Bahrain charity, Alia School for Early Intervention.
Tomorrow, Queen Rania will go to Kuwait for a one day visit.
Sources: Bahrain News Agency, Ammon News, INJAZ
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