Israel
President Shimon Peres, 9,000 Students Break Guinness World
Record For Online Civics Class
Guinness
World Records senior vice president Marco Frigatti (left)
presents Israeli President Shimon Peres with a certificate.
By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem
--- February 7, 2014 ... Israeli President Shimon Peres, delivered
an online civics class to over 9,000 high school students across
Israel yesterday and together they broke the Guinness World
Record for the Largest Online Civics Class.
The
civics class, which was delivered from Cisco Systems headquarters,
was broadcast live to classrooms using Telepresence technology.
Over 8,500 students heard President Shimon Peres live and many
had the opportunity to ask him questions.
President
Peres told the students: "I'm excited to see you all this
morning and to be your teacher I'm also jealous that
you are all still pupils. Israel is a small country and as young
people you are in competition with young people all over the
world, you have to excel. Each of you has more potential than
you realize. If you study you will soon learn your qualities
and that you can achieve things you never thought possible.
As citizens of Israel the most important thing is to preserve
your values it is easier to love the other than to hate."
President Peres answered questions from pupils in Tel Aviv,
Beer Sheva and Kuseifa and stressed that Israel will do all
it can to protect equal rights between all citizens and to connect
the periphery to the center.
Guinness
World Records Senior Vice President Marco Frigatti announced
the record: "We immediately liked this new record idea
for three reasons; first because talking about civics and talking
about democracy is relevant for everybody in the world and the
contribution we make is so important a topic for the young generation.
The second important aspect was that we had a special feature,
a person who has seen the country from its origins to today
and who better to speak to the students. The third part was
about the technology, a web based solution that can be used
within education to keep everyone connected and informed. The
number to beat for this record was 5,000 participants and so
far we've counted over 7,000, which means the president of the
State of Israel and all the students are Guinness World Record
holders." Guinness World Records Senior Vice President,
Marco Frigatti added, "I have an interesting surprise because
you're holding two records; not only have you taught a wonderful
civics lesson but you're also the oldest head of state in the
world." Since the announcement the official number has
risen above 9,000 students.
After
the record was announced, President Shimon Peres thanked Guinness
World Records, Cisco Systems and most importantly the pupils
at the Amal Schools across Israel.
"This
record should really be for all the Israeli students who participated,
they created this record. We have to spread education; this
is about encouragement of that goal. The more that can participate
in these sorts of lessons the better. What we have to do is
invest at least as much in education as we have in entertainment
and make it approachable to all pupils."
President
Peres smiled and said: "About the second record I suggest
people start earlier and not to wait until my age."
At
the beginning of the class Cisco Systems Israel CEO Boaz Maoz
said:"Cisco Israel, at the initiative of its Chairperson
and CEO Mr. John Chambers, has been working closely with the
Israeli government over the past year and a half in the fields
of education, healthcare, infrastructure, communications and
cyber. The cooperation is aimed at transforming Israel into
the world's first digitized country. The initiative aims to
boost economic growth and reduce inequality gaps using technology
and communication. As part of this effort we invited you, Mr.
President, to teach the largest online civics class ever to
over 200 classrooms and 8,000 students. The class will be broadcast
using the most advanced technology which will bring leading
experts to every classroom in Israel."