FIFTEEN-year-olds from UK schools have the chance of a lifetime to win a guided tour of Pakistan next Easter. “Experience Pakistan 2003” is a project sponsored by the Akhter Education Trust aimed at promoting understanding between young people in Britain and Pakistan. It asks Year 10 students to research an aspect of Pakistan history or culture such as polo and its origins, the Indus Valley civilisation, arts, crafts and folklore, and then produce a creative, multimedia-based 15-minute presentation. Teams of up to five pupils and a supervisor should register by December 15.

Last year’s winners took tea with the President, General Musharraf, watched polo and visited major historical sites. On their return the teams met Prime Minister Tony Blair to tell him about their trip.

Ben Litterick, one of the winning team from Impington Village College, Cambridgeshire, said: “It has made me think differently about Pakistan. And about the treatment of ethnic minorities in England.”

www.experiencepakistan.org