Munster fears at swaps move

YORK's twin city in Germany has called for action after York cancelled this year's school exchange visits.In the 40th anniversary year of the twinning arrangement, Mnster has blamed York for making the exchange scheme prohibitively expensive.And it called on the City of York Council actively to promote the programme to ensure it does not disappear for good.Education chiefs at the City of York Council said low numbers meant the Easter trip to Mnster was not financially viable. Only 12 pupils in York wanted to go.But in Mnster, more than 60 pupils had enrolled, and enthusiasm was as great as ever, according to the city's external relations office.Spokeswoman Ina Schierwater said: "In Mnster, the people were not only surprised but also deeply concerned when York informed them (that the exchange was cancelled), especially because York's response had at no time been expected, for there had not been any problems at all."The pupils and teachers in Mnster do very much regret that there won't be any exchanges this year."She said one of the problems was that parents in York were asked to pay considerably more for each pupil than in Mnster. She called on York to reduce the cost.Another problem, which has been recognised by the City of York Council, was that schools were increasingly organising their own exchanges, based on sport or other activities.Ina Schierwater said: "This problem could be overcome somehow, for example by promoting the exchanges more vigorously in schools."The withering of the school exchange programme with Mnster comes as York tries to promote itself as a European city in the run-up to the Ecofin conference.Coun Janet Looker, chair of York's Education Committee, said today she was also disappointed the exchange programme had collapsed this year.She admitted it had come at a particularly bad time with the Ecofin conference just over the horizon.But she said York had not given up on the programme for good.