Remembering the past to help change the future

The Irthlingborough school was one of four selected to be part of the exciting programme, having previously worked closely with the charity Remembering Srebrenica to teach their students about the need to tackle hatred through commemorating the genocide and doing workshops to learn the lessons from it.

The visit is part of a year-long programme that aims to educate young people about the Srebrenica genocide - the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

The students attended workshops before and after the visit, as well as the four-day visit to Bosnia.

The group learned about the genocide in Srebrenica which happened 22 years ago, when Ratko Mladić and his Bosnian Serb forces marched into the town and murdered 8,372 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. They heard from survivors of the genocide.

Huxlow Science College’s head of sixth form, Jackie Holmes, travelled on the delegation and reflected on what she’d learnt: “I think it is important to never forget, belittle or downgrade what happened in the 1990s to enable reconciliation, to move forward and ensure a peaceful future.”

Student Ashleigh Massingham added: “It’s so important that we remember this is still happening today; generally we associate genocide and hatred with the past. As the younger generation we can hope to change things for the better.”