President Shimon Peres on Thursday morning 6 Adar I 5774, delivered an online civics class to over 9,000 high school students across Israel and together they broke the Guinness World Record for the Largest Online Civics Class.

The class, which was delivered from Cisco Systems headquarters, was broadcast live to classrooms using Telepresence technology. Over 8500 students heard President Peres live and some had the opportunity to ask him questions. President Peres told the pupils, “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, Beersheva 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 and said, “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 5000 participants and so far we’ve counted over 7000, which means the president of the State of Israel and all the students are Guinness World Record holders.”

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 9000 students.

After the record was announced President Peres thanked Guinness World Records, Cisco Systems and most importantly the pupils at the Amal Schools across the country and said, “This record should really be for all the 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 added, “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 8000 students. The class will be broadcast using the most advanced technology which will bring leading experts to every classroom in Israel.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)