Price £1.00 ISSUE SIX€¦ · Teaching Profession for example, there is now a genuine potential for linking the debate on improving education systems in developed countries with

TheSTEVESINNOTTFOUNDATION

Vision: To secure primary

education by 2015 foreach one of the 61million children who

are out of schoolacross the world

ENGAGEPrice £1.00 ISSUE SIX

Education for All: Make a day of it in 2013

“Something that can have a profound effect on shaping our future world” Richard Garner

Foreword

The STEVESINNOTT FOUNDATION

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Welcome to Engage 6 which builds on the theme of ‘investmentnot aid’ initiated previously. The Foundation is grateful to busypeople who have freely given of their time to write contributionsfor this twice yearly publication.

In this issue, Brendan Barber and Christine Blower argue forpolicies that encourage investment in education and skills aroundthe world. They also share their views on the importance of theactive involvement of Trade Unions in supporting MillenniumDevelopment Goal 2, by expressing solidarity and working incollaboration with their colleagues around the world. PhilRedmond makes a strong case for education as a tool for peaceand tolerance and why it should not be seen as a charitable gift.This issue also brings together examples of exemplary work beingdone around the world to secure Education for All, from OECDpolicies to experiences of volunteers and from grassrootsinitiatives in Africa to campaigning by the Steve Sinnott YoungGlobal Ambassadors in the UK.

The Foundation is pleased to announce that it is about to embarkon an exciting new project that involves a major campaign withUK Schools and celebration of an ‘Education for All’ day. Thiscampaign is designed to build awareness about the MillenniumDevelopment Goals among young people in the UK andencourage them to link with young people around the world.

As 2015 rapidly approaches the focus also needs to be on howinternational commitment can be reinvigorated towards theachievement of education MDGs and to begin a commitment toexpand the aspiration of quality universal education for all.

A sincere thanks to all our many supporters who have helpedkeep the Foundation vibrant with an increasing impact. If youare new to the Foundation please visit the Foundation website atwww.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk to keep up to date with allour activities and the growing online community and also spreadthe good word about the Foundation’s work.

Jerry GlazierChair, The Steve Sinnott Foundation

Visit the discussion forum at www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk to comment on this article

This magazine could not be published without itsdesigners and printers at Paragraphics and at RuskinPress. Their expertise and patience is extraordinary.They do not just do the business for us, they arefriends of the Foundation and supporters of ourwork. Ongoing thanks to them.


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FROM THE PROJECTMANAGER’S DESKSam Tiwari, Steve Sinnott Foundation

Nepal: Four schools are now beingsupported by the Foundation’s partneredproject with Manisha Child WelfareFoundation & Manisha UK in West Nepal,helping approximately 400 children fromthe poorest families to access qualityeducation, With excellent infrastructure,basic amenities such as food and medicalaid and best possible resources, theschools have pushed up enrolment by ahuge percentage in the region.Partnerships between schools in Nepaland the UK continue to grow and we willbe seeking many more partner schools inthe UK this year.

Sierra Leone: The thirteen SierraLeonean teachers who participated in aweek’s CPD course with our educationteam in November 2011 are nowdelivering similar CPD programmes inSierra Lone for other teachers. At the endof March this year, not only had thesethirteen teachers pulled off four verysuccessful training programmes, involvingteachers from various subject areas buthad also managed to reach out to themost secluded and remote schools thatfind it difficult to get support fromgovernmental and non-governmentalorganisations.

We have also set up links with theSierra Leone Teachers Union and lookforward to their participation in theproject.

Education for All Day: Building on thesuccess of our school partnershipsbetween Nepal and UK, this year we areannouncing a major campaign with UKschools, to build awareness about theMillennium Development Goals amongyoung people. In the first phase between2012 and 2013, we anticipate partneringwith 50 schools to organise an ‘Educationfor All’ day in the summer term of nextyear and then onwards each year until2015 and possibly beyond. Besides theday itself, the campaign will involve linkswith schools in developing countries anduse of the Foundation’s innovativeresource materials for global citizenshipeducation in your schools.

This is a great opportunity to get involvedwith the biggest campaign for educationand play your part in achieving theMillennium Development Goals. Pleaseget in touch if you would like to getinvolved.

Shipping books & education relatedequipment: Many of our onlinecommunity projects need books andresources for their schools and we areworking hard to establish shippingarrangements for transporting books tothe locations where they are needed. So,if you have books that you can spare,watch this space.

Online community: The online communityat www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk iskey in the Foundation’s efforts to build aglobal education movement. There are1500 members in the community nowand more than 200 education projectsfrom around the world. If you are not apart of this community yet, please registerand participate. Out of the 200 initiatives,at least one will surely inspire you. Youcan then, with our help, liaise with theproject leader and consider ways tosupport them. A number of them look forvolunteers. If you are planning to spendtime abroad, volunteering for a charity,this is an excellent platform to engagewith projects around the world.

Request a speaker from theFoundation: We trust that most of you are now familiar with the Foundation’s work and hope that you will be inspired to getinvolved, participate and support theFoundation, if you have not done soalready. Write to me [email protected] you wish to invite a speaker from theFoundation to your meetings.

I look forward to working with many ofyou in the next couple of months. Pleasefeel free to get in touch.


PAGE 4

The Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) were and are the most optimisticand exciting objectives for the developingworld to be agreed by the world’sGovernments. That the deadline toachieve them is in trouble is a starkreminder of the financial crisis that the so-called developed world is in. That theMDGs remain as the key legitimate goalfor all governments, promoted by the UNand UNICEF and campaigned for by avast range of NGOs, gives grounds forhope that they will be achieved.

Indeed many are now thinking abouthow the goals can be extended anddeveloped beyond the initial deadline of2015. This debate is energising manywho are now reflecting on how the goalscan be strengthened and deepened.Nowhere is this debate more intense thanin relation to the Education MDG-universal access to education for allprimary school aged children.

Many organisations such as the GlobalCampaign for Education are now urgingthat the original approach of education forall has to be returned to by putting qualityteaching and learning at the centre. Inshort the argument is that theachievement of the MDGs relies not juston achieving access to education but onensuring that education makes aqualitative difference to children’s learning.

It is a debate that raises some fascinatingand vital questions. Up until now globalorganisations representing the developedworld such as the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development(OECD) and those with a prime interest inthe developing world such as UNICEF haveappeared to be ships that pass in the night.The sub-text has been that the debates on

how to achieve school and systemimprovement-how education systemsmight become ‘outstanding’- are entirelythe prerogative of industrialised societiesand that UNICEF and the NGOs that haveconcentrated on achieving universal basiceducational access have not beenparticularly interested in quality. Is this a fairdescription? Have the MDGs for Educationbeen undermined by the ‘never mind thequality, feel the width’ description?

The danger is that the Education MDGs’prime focus on access, vital as it is, couldmake it vulnerable to global privatecompanies which offer off the peg,educational programmes on-line as asubstitute for trained teachers anddecent schools.

Cheap privatisation as a way of achievingthe MDGs is certainly an approach thatEducation International, as the globalunion federation for all teachers, rejects. Its400 affiliated teacher unions at its recentWorld Congress unanimously agreed anEducation statement which argued thatthe common features of all effectiveeducation systems included for example;qualified teachers, teacher control of theirown learning and their profession andteacher engagement in the developmentand implementation of education reforms.

Recently, through the establishment ofthe annual International Summits for theTeaching Profession for example, there isnow a genuine potential for linking thedebate on improving education systemsin developed countries with the samedebate in countries which are developing.These Summits have been jointlyconvened by EI, OECD and a hostgovernment-previously the US and nowthe Dutch Government.

Funding education is fundamental, butthe way to convince organisations such asthe World Bank and the IMF that cheapprivatisation routes are not the way toembed quality education is to convincethem that what for works successfulsystems also works for developingsystems. This is where OECD itself, withits educational research programmes suchas its Programme for InternationalStudent Assessment (PISA) and Teachingand Learning International Survey (TALIS)comes in. Countries as diverse as Brazil,Peru, Jordan and Kyrgyztan, for example,now take part in OECD’s Programme forInternational Student Assessment (PISA)as well as OECD members.

I am not arguing that the only way theEducation MDGs can be achieved is forthe OECD model of system improvementto be adopted. I am arguing that theinternational agencies responsible for theMDGs engage with the OECD and allnational and international institutions in adebate on how to sustain and embedhigh quality education systems in allcountries. In short the industrialised,developed countries need challenging oneducational as well as economic groundsabout how countries with high levels ofpoverty can be supported in developingquality education systems. I believe thereis a greater likelihood of the 2015 targetbeing achieved if this approach isadopted.

John Bangs is Chair of the Trade UnionAdvisory Committee’s Education, Trainingand Employment Policy Working Group atthe OECD.

FROM ACCESS TO QUALITY: THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSFOR EDUCATIONJohn Bangs


PAGE 5Visit the discussion forum at

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EDUCATION IS THE BESTINVESTMENT WE CAN MAKEProf Phil Redmond CBE

There are few charitable acts greater than tohelp people achieve a better education –helping people to read, write and learn, thethree tools of communication that allow us toprogress through a better understanding ofwhat we do as individuals; what we canachieve together; understand what motivatesothers, and, at times, the need for tolerancewhen different cultures come together. For me,education should never be seen as a charitablegift, nor a right, but an investment.

Yet, despite “education, education, education”having been a political and social slogan sincethe 1870 Education Act set down thefoundations for a state funded schools systemin Britain, we still don’t seem to have quite gotto the point of agreeing what educationshould be about. Is it about better preparingpeople for the world of work, as it was in theindustrial 19th Century, when the increasinglycomplex factory machinery needed a moreliterate workforce to operate it? Does thatsound familiar?

Or, is education really about developing the‘whole person’, offering a rounded educationto bring out the best in people and give thema better understanding of the world itself, andthe key driver in the post-industrial 20thCentury? I happen to think it is both. Mostpeople, if asked, will readily agree. I happen tobelieve it.

However, most people, if pushed, will hedgetheir bets. Some will put education for workfirst. Others, education for its own sake. Thelatter group, usually, are those already secure.Those that have already acquired a goodeducation and a good job and the lifestyle thatgoes with it. Education, for them, is a self-reinforcing process. The same education

reinforces the same values. And there isnothing wrong with this. We all progressthrough inheriting our present from our past,both of which shape our future. It is the socialas well as the socialisation power of education.

Those not so secure though, may feelinadequate or disconnected from mainstreameducation and its inherent values, but most willlook first and foremost toward schooling tobridge the gap. In some cases that disconnectcan breed disillusionment to the extent thatthey will ‘opt out’. They may seek alternativelifestyles and, in more extreme cases, historyhas shown us that those seeking totalitariancontrol first seek to destroy education andthose already educated.

This is why I believe strongly that educationshould never be seen either as charity or as aright, as that implies some form ofdependence of one section of society onanother. If we wish to work together, tocollaborate together to make progresstogether, which again history has shown to bethe more productive route, then we have toview education as an investment in all ourfutures. If we wish to avoid the mistakes of thepast, social unrest, racial and religiousintolerance, perhaps even conflict, theneducation must be the tool we reach for first.

But there is a caveat. It is found in the wordtolerance. If we are to teach people to read, towrite and to learn, then that implies we learnfrom each other. We learn why we aredifferent. We learn that different cultures existand why they came into being. We learn wemust respect that. Just as we must learn torespect each other. That is why education is soimportant. It is why it should, always, be seennot as charity, but a sound investment.


Prof Phil Redmond CBE isthe creator of Britain’s longestrunning drama programmes;Grange Hill, Brookside andHollyoaks and is currently aregular columnist for theLiverpool Daily Post. For overtwenty years he also ran hisown independent productioncompany; Mersey Television,before selling it in 2005. Hehas chaired several prominentorganisations includingMerseyside EntrepreneurshipCommission, NationalMuseums Liverpool and theInstitute of Cultural Capital.


PAGE 6

A FORCE FOR GOODRichard Garner, Education Editor of the UK national newspaper The Independent,remembers Steve Sinnott's passion and reflects on his legacy

I will always remember Steve Sinnott as theGeneral Secretary of the National Union ofTeachers who brought a more globalperspective to the union’s work. To someextent this was fashioned as a result of thespell he had as Deputy General Secretarybefore taking up the reins as leader of theUnion.

The Deputy General Secretary was oftenresponsible for looking after the Union’sinternational relations but in Steve’s case hebrought a passion to that side of his work thatexceeded that of many of his predecessors.

During the time that he spent on internationalaffairs, he was not afraid to run the gauntlet ofsome of the world’s most oppressive regimes –particularly if they were threatening the workof teacher trade unions. That is why I find thework that the Foundation has done in theyears since his tragic and untimely death couldnot have been a more apt tribute to what heachieved in his lifetime.

I have had little involvement with the day today working of the Foundation; picking updetails of what it has been achieving throughconversations with Union stalwarts likeGraham Clayton and Jerry Glazier.

I was most impressed by a scheme that I hadheard almost a year ago whereby 13 teachersfrom Sierra Leone came to the UK to undergoa week’s high quality training over here as oneof the beneficiaries of the Foundation’sinvolvement with education abroad. Whatimpressed me about it was that it went beyondthe so called “missionary” visit to teachers in a

foreign country to laud their achievements inadversity and perhaps lay a plaque or donatemoney for a new classroom.

No, the Foundation felt that it would be a farmore worthwhile experience if there were to bean exchange between the two countries whichwould lead to the Sierra Leone teachersbenefiting from training opportunities in the UK.

Of course, the Foundation is also anenthusiastic supporter of the Global Campaignfor Education – which proclaims that educationis not only a human right but the fastest routeout of poverty for citizens of many countries.The campaign also runs the Steve Sinnottaward for the Young Global EducationAmbassadors of the year. The winners in 2010,Ronan McKenzie and Rhiannon Kruse Edwardsboth travelled to Ghana to investigate thebarriers faced by those seeking educationthere.

There is no doubt that schemes such as thesewill help greatly in fostering internationalunderstanding between teachers and pupils ofdifferent countries.

That is something that can have a profoundeffect on shaping our future world; a force forgood that will probably have more impact thanany of the sundry initiatives that came floodingout of our Department for Education at therate of.... I don’t know. I lose count.

www.independent.co.uk/

www.independentonlinesolutions.com/advertisingGuide/

www.nla.co.uk/

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With less than three years to go, whilstmuch has been done to address some ofthe MDGs, there are still many Goals thatare far from being achieved by 2015 andwill continue to be challenges that canundermine community cohesion andeffectiveness. Clearly governments have ahuge role to play but there are otheractors who must engage in the agenda.Business is one such critical actor.

Mobilising business for good

Business success and thrivingcommunities are inter-dependent. Toinvest in the stability of communities isincreasingly understood by business andeducation is central to all aspects of theagenda for both business and society.

Business in the Community (BITC) , a notfor profit membership organisation thataims to mobilise business for good on thecorporate responsibility agenda,passionately believes in the critical role ofbusiness as an engine for good

Business can deliver a positive impact onthe MDGs generally and educationspecifically and in a variety of ways, butthe most sustainable way is to developprogrammes, partnerships and modelsthat are intrinsically linked to the corebusiness functions, models, skills,expertise and value chains of the business.

Examples of Business Action

Businesses have demonstrated throughaction the many ways in which they canpositively contribute to addressing theMDGs as identified through the BITC’sInternational Award for Excellence. ThisAward recognises and celebratescompanies which are positively impactingone of the MDGs. Examples includeAnglo American, Citi, FreshfieldsBruckhaus Deringer, GSK, IBM, KPMG,Tata Consultancy Services, ThomsonReuters, Unilever to name but a few. Allhave demonstrated the power of businessto address the MDGs through innovativeand impactful programmes based on aclear understanding of the enlightenedself interest; on the business and socialcase for action. Education in its broadestsense is often a core element of theseprogrammes. Here are a couple ofexamples

Guardian Newspaper Group,Barclays and AMREF: This jointly runKatine project is a partnership betweenBarclays, The Guardian Newspaper Groupand NGO AMREF (African MedicalResearch Foundation) which supports the25,000-strong population of Katine, an

area of north-eastern Uganda. It isstructured around 5 key components:health, education, water and sanitation,income generation and empoweredcommunities. Access to inclusiveeducation is core to the programme andhas seen more disabled children, orphansand girls join schools, with a 21%increase in enrolment in schools,improved attendance, particularly for girlswith disabilities. In addition more than4,000 textbooks have been supplied toKatine’s 15 schools. Consequently, 10schools are meeting the district andnational standard of textbook to pupilratio of 3:1 and 1:1 respectively.

The Redbush Tea Company is thesmall company winner of the Business inthe Community International Award forExcellence 2012. Through their packagingand cause related marketing strategy, thecompany have partnered with theKalahari People Fund to raise fundsthroughout the year dedicated to thesupport these indigenous people ofKalahari. Everything is done involving thecommunities, where the ownership stays.The programme has included choosingwhere to build a well and where toconstruct a school, training local staff andtranscribing projects to preserve ancientstories in their language.

So much to do, so little time

The potential of companies to positivelyimpact the MDGs and the provision ofeducation through their business isenormous. The challenge is to acceleratethoughtful engagement and sustainableaction. Innovation, collaboration andsustainability are the key. The issues aresignificant, the mutual benefits evident.There is so much to do and so little timeand herein lies both the challenge andthe opportunity.

Sue Adkins, [email protected]

SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME!The role of Business in addressing the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Sue Adkins, International Director, Business in the Community


Visit the discussion forum at www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk to comment on this articlePAGE 8

‘A DAY IN THE LIFE OF’Reece Beale & Hannah Copeland

THE MOST POWERFUL WAY TO END POVERTYEilidh Naismith & Billy Davidson

Being a part of the global ambassador campaign was anamazing experience. We feel strongly about the developmentof education in low income countries so we couldn’t wait tograb the opportunity with both hands and get the most outof it.

We had such a range of ideas that we couldn’t wait to collatethem and show them to others. One of our main ideas wasthe idea of ‘raid your couch’ which is a charity prospect thatinvolves people to look in their handbags, in their couchesand various other places for any loose change that they do

Eilidh Naismith and Billy Davidson, both 15 from HutchesonsGrammar School, went on a fact-finding mission to Malawiwith ActionAid, after winning the Steve Sinnott Young GlobalAmbassadors Award this year. Investigating barriers toeducation in Malawi, where less than half of children finish even basic primary education, they spent time withchildren on the streets in the capital Lilongwe and in the villages. They met politicians, charity workers and youngcampaigners.

They spent time with several local children ; Mphatso Njovuwho is 12, lives with his grandparents , working in the fieldsand weaving palm mats, envying children who can go to schooland 13 year old Stanwell Mwanza who spends his day pickingthrough filthy rubbish, looking for the odd bit of scrap metal tosell. “If I don’t go to school, I am worried I will end up being auseless person”, says Stanwell.

Eilidh and Billy found out that although primary schooling inMalawi has been free since 1994 there are many hidden costssuch as uniforms, pens, and notebooks. Other hidden costssuch as ‘school development funds’ can be as costly as fees.The quality of education is very low with only 10% of childrenmanaging to read and write by Standard 4 (aged 10) and soparents who are poor often don’t see education as a goodinvestment. Even for those who manage to go to school, thereare a number of barriers to learning such as lack ofinfrastructure and overcrowding in classrooms.

As winners of the Steve Sinnott Award, they are now spreadingthe word as part the Send My Friend to School campaign. Theyspoke about their experience at the National Union of Teachersconference earlier this year. They will encourage more UK pupils

to remind world leaders of their millennium promise to makesure every child can get to school by 2015.

They say, “our experience in Malawi has been life changing andeye opening. We have had an opportunity that very few peopleever get. Going out to Malawi has helped us to gain moreknowledge about the barriers to education, which will allow usto campaign more effectively here in the UK for change. Thechildren that we have met throughout our trip have been sopassionate about education, they are aware of the problemsthat stop children from going to school and were even comingup with their own solutions.

It is so important that the Malawian government andgovernments from around the world work to make sure thatevery child in Malawi gets an education. This is the mostpowerful way to see the end of poverty, that the economy growsand families have better health. From what we heard we thinkthat the younger generation’s positive attitude towardseducation will have the biggest impact on the future of Malawi”.

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Visit the discussion forum at www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk to comment on this article.

Macmillan Education is a proud supporter of the Steve Sinnott Foundation.

Macmillan Education is a global publisher of English Language Teaching, Curriculum, Digital and Online materials.

www.macmillaneducation.com

not need. Students and staff managedto raise over £150 just from loosechange! Hannah and I realised that£150 covers the cost of sendingaround 160 children to school in a lowincome country.

We were short listed to the final 4however, we unfortunately didn’t win.Winning wasn’t everything, so despitecoming runners up, Hannah and I stillwanted to make a change. Discussingsome charity ideas we were especiallydrawn to the ‘A day in the life of’charity idea, which involves us and afew helpers working in one of ourDesign and Technology classrooms, onjobs such as carpentry and woodwork.

We would only get a 5 minute break inthe day. We would get sponsored fromfamily members and any other peoplewho want to help. This will enable usand others understand how children inlow income countries sometimes haveto live, without education and workinghard all day. Not only will this idea raisea large amount of money, it will alsoraise awareness of the issue at handand many people will find out just howlucky they are to have the educationthat they get.

Overall the experience has been veryenjoyable and we are both lookingforward to doing more work for theFoundation in the future. Ph

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Visit the discussion forum at www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk to comment on this articlePAGE 10

LETTERS TO THE FOUNDATIONMore than 200 projects on the Foundation website seek resources and volunteers. While this space in the magazine hasgiven a few of them the opportunity to share their work and what they need, there are a number of others that youmight be able to help in several ways. Find out more on www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/projects.

Hello friends,

We opened a nursery schoolin the community of Tampei-kukuo/Kukou yapalsi in Ghanafor pre-school training. Since2004, the school has beenunder the sponsorship of CIDGhana. Challenges such as distance and expenses didnot allow children from this community to continue theirprimary and secondary education after pre-school hencewe started building a 6 units class room block as well.

We successfully completed one floor, along with a library,a staff room, a store room and the head teacher’s office.The project is completely community based and has beenmade possible with the expertise and support of theconstruction sector in Ghana. Consultants from Tamalehave been particularly helpful.

The school was recently absorbed by the GhanaEducation Service, through the Metro Education Unit(Tamale) and is a public school now. However, the blockis still not complete and we are seeking funds to enableus to complete this project.

RegardsMohammed Awal IddrisuCID [email protected]

Dear Sam, dear all,

Thanks for your invitation to tell about our project: Star MountainRehabilitation Center, situated in Ramallah (West Bank), Palestine. We area daycare center for children and young adults with intellectual disabilitiesand we are glad, to get the opportunity to share our ideas andexperiences with others on the platform of the Steve Sinnott Foundation.

In our work, we face a variety of challenges, varying from awareness-building for the rights of the disabled on several levels in the society tothe problem of transportation of students to and from the center. Theultimate goal of our work is to ensure that students can make use of alltheir potential abilities and lead a life in dignity, as independent as possible.

We also continue our efforts to secure the Center financially andthat’s one of the greatest challenges, noting that donor money isbecoming less easily accessed.

In-kind donations assist the Center in securing basic needs for thestudents such as food, clothes, material for activities. Yet, the searchfor long term partners remains needed to be able to secure highrunning costs, salaries and educational material.

We remain optimistic and keep striving for improvement of servicesand self-dependency and we look forward to linking up with you.

For more information, please contact

Ghada NaserDirector, Star Mountain Rehabilitation CenterNear Abu Qash/Ramallah, P.O.BOX 199, West Bank, Palestine

Dear friends,

Child Aid Foundation is based in Kasoa,Central Ghana. We currently have twohundred and thirty six children in ourschool. Education is free for orphansand destitute children but we charge anominal amount from those who haveparents. This allows us to bear therunning costs of the school and payteachers’ salaries.

For children who cannot make it to thisschool due to lack of transport, wesponsor them to go to schools closer to

their homes. We are sponsoring fifteen such children at the moment,including their school fees, food andclothing.

We also run skills training for schooldrop-outs and through communityinitiatives, ensure that children are livingin clean and safe environments, free ofdiseases such as cholera, malaria anddiarrhoea that are frequent in this region.

At the moment, we need help withbuying a school bus, digging a bore holefor drinking water, completion of our

classroom building and acquiring aplayground for the children. Anyvolunteers are also welcome.

Sincerely,

Wassan Nicholas, Isaac Limpu and Diana AddyFoundersChild Aid FoundationP.O.Box LT Lartebiokorshie, Accra – GhanaTel: +233 242676319/277005734/234600955Email: [email protected]

PAGE 11


Dr. Kishore Singh is an International Law Expert and also the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right toEducation.

Dear Friends,

Most underprivileged girls in Ndhiwa are forced to stay at homeduring their periods since they have no access to any sanitaryproducts. Eventually, they drop out of school as a result of thefrequent monthly embarrassments.

Earlier this year, the Prime Minister of Kenya promised to allocateKshs. 2.6 billion from the Government’s annual budget towardsthe provision of sanitary towels for school girls. However, onlyKshs. 300 million were allocated.

Team Kenya in Ndhiwa saw into the need of supplementing thisby providing girls with a cheaper alternative, ‘Padi Bora’. Theprogram has so far supported over 800 needy girls with theprovision of cheaper reusable sanitary towels. All these effortsare geared towards keeping adolescent girls in school.

The project trains the girls on how to sew and use reusablesanitary towels as opposed to the expensive and disposablepads which most of them can’t afford.

The impact is amazing. ‘Padi Bora’ has considerably contributedin keeping over 800 girls in school. Kudos to Team Kenya fortheir good efforts and we as members of The Steve SinnottFoundation we can encourage the team and work with themtowards such a brilliant goal.

Visit: www.teamkenya.org.uk for more information.

Regards, Gerald Cosmas YongoNdhiwa Maarifa Centrewww.ndhiwamaarifacentre.blogspot.com

Village knowledge and information center

Dear friends,

I am trying to establish a modern library in my village inBangladesh as the nearest library is located about 60 kmaway from this village. Many students in this village cannotcontinue their education because of lack of academic books.My intention is to facilitate access to information for theseyoungsters by acquiring as many academic books as possibleinto my library. Thus, I hope that lack of books will no longerbe an excuse for the students in our village.

I also intend to appoint a librarian and equip the library withcomputers and internet. This library will be operated by acommittee made up of teachers and students, thusencouraging leadership among children.

At the moment, I am contributing my own money for thelibrary plus donation from my friends living all over the worldbut I still need around 5000 Euros to complete it. So, any kind

of contribution from your part will be highly appreciated andwill go a long way to help education for children in my village.

Kind regards, Abu Sayed, Town Planner, Jamalpur Municipality, Jamalpur 2000, Bangladesh,[email protected]

Dear all,

Following on from the successful efforts of our boys last year inraising money for our partner school in Nepal, the StudentCouncil debated new initiatives they could undertake this year.

Year 11 Student Council very diplomatically encouraged one ofits members – Mr Keith Taylor to part with the very long locksof hair he’d been growing for a number of years and use thisas a way to fundraise.

Keith not only agreed to having his hair cut in front of anaudience (observers contributed a modest entrance fee) but healso decided that the pupils and staff could nominate the newhair style for him. 5 celebrity hairstyles were agreed upon,displayed on our school website and then participants couldpay 50p to vote for a hairstyle of their choice. The hairstylewith the most votes was what Keith would have done to him.

Student Council worked hard to encourage all members ofschool to take part in this and it resulted in them raising £150from this event.

Our second initiative was a ‘Small Change Bucket Run’ duringour International Days. During form periods over a couple ofdays members of council each took responsibility for acollection box and visited as many forms as they could askingfor pupils to donate any small change they had. Again, pupilswere as generous as they could be and this initiative raised afurther £41.34.

The West Derby SchoolLiverpool




CHARITY IS NOT ENOUGHBrendan Barber, Former General Secretary, Trade Union Congress

I knew Steve Sinnott well and admiredwhat he stood for. One of hispassionate beliefs, which I and theTUC share, is that charity is notenough. Solidarity is the way togenerate genuine sustained and longterm development. Steve put thatbelief into practice and so does theTUC. When the government ofEthiopia was making life difficult forteachers in the Ethiopian TeachersAssociation it was Steve whocampaigned for their trade unionrights. In the same way, when thegovernment of Iraq sought to preventtwo teacher delegates from attendingthe annual conference of the NASUWT,I wrote on behalf of the TUC toprotest. That fundamental belief intrade unions helping each other acrossthe world lies at the heart ofeverything we do.

In our international education workthat principle of solidarity has neverbeen more important. It is quiteunacceptable that the rate of progressis slowing towards the MillenniumDevelopment Goal of ensuring everychild in Africa attends school. Thatmay well be an effect of the globaleconomic crisis but demonstratesvividly why the short term pursuit ofausterity makes longer term economicdevelopment worse. The TUC has beenat the forefront of calls for policies toinvest in education and skills,particularly, as Steve would haveargued, for young girls who are leastlikely to attend school. That is not apolicy based on charity. It is a policybased on social justice for all; as wellas economic good sense.

Solidarity should be based onunderstanding. Within the TUC weorganise courses of study for tradeunion activists who want to learnabout internationalism. The 8 weekcourses are well subscribed, drawingstudents from across the trade unionmovement. Union activists know thatthey need to learn about other culturesand respect different approaches.

As General Secretary of the TUC I haveencouraged strong international links,based on learning and mutual respect,rather than just aid, which can all tooquickly lead to donor fatigue orattempts to micro-manage delivery.Supporting investment in education isa primary aim of the internationaltrade union movement. I was proudwhen Guy Ryder, a trade unionistoriginally from the TUC, was elected asDirector General of the InternationalLabour Organisation. Guy will takethat principle of solidarity andunderstanding, not just charity, intoglobal debates on education andemployment.

I began my working life as a volunteerteacher in Ghana. Like Steve, I havealways had a deep commitment toeducation. Within the TUC I instigatedunionlearn, our successful learning andskills arm; the growth of trade unioninvolvement in education, in the UKand abroad, is one of the biggest andmost positive changes I have seen overthe past 40 years. As I approachretirement from the TUC, after alifetime in trade unionism, I know thatthe “aid sceptics” will never beat ourprinciple of support through solidarity.

PAGE 13


SUPPORT, SOLIDARITY & CAPACITY BUILDINGChristine Blower, General Secretary, National Union of Teachers

The National Union of Teachers has for a verylong time taken the view that work at theinternational level is of crucial importance toour members, both as education professionalsand trade unionists.

On the basis of the well worn expression that ifyou give a person a fish you feed them for aday, but if you teach them to fish you feedthem for their life, the approach we have totake is support, solidarity and capacity building.

The educational landscape globally is not shortof privatisers and paternalistic organisations.These types of organisations seek to use, orperhaps we should say, exploit the campaignson Education for All and in particular the MDGof Universal Primary Education to secureadvantage for their own perspectives.

It is important to the National Union ofTeachers in working with the Steve SinnottFoundation that we take a different and moretrade union approach to international work.

In the same way that some have sought topromote trade not aid, it is important that aspart of EI, the Global Union Forum forrecognised teacher unions, that we, in the NUTapproach our international work on the basisof a right to education for all in tandem with aright to decent conditions of work and a salarythat provides for a decent life for teachers.

The working conditions of teachers are thelearning conditions of children and youngpeople. They need therefore to be of aspecification which is optimal for teaching andlearning.

Borrowing a slogan from the disabilitymovement: “nothing about us without us”,illustrates perhaps how we need to work with teachers, through their unions, to play

what role we can in developing the bestopportunities for education everywhere.

Steve Sinnott was a staunch promoter of therights of children and the rights of teachers.We must never fall short of his aspirations andideals in the NUT. That is why in working withthe Foundation we seek out opportunities topromote projects with involvement fromteachers’ unions. They are, after all, both thevoice of the profession and the bulwarkagainst the exploitation of teachers.

As Andreas Schleicher of the OECD has said onmany occasions, the quality of a country’seducation system cannot exceed the quality ofits teachers. In campaigning for the MDGs wemust pay close attention to the conditionswhich will bring about high quality publiceducation for all. This requires us to see“development activities” not as largesse fromthe global north to the global south, but ascapacity building through collaborativeworking and where necessary, campaigningsupport and solidarity.




TUMBLING INTO UGANDAPauline Lyseight-jones

I have been based in Soroti in easternUganda since June 2011 working as ateacher educator, placed by VoluntaryService Overseas with a UNICEFprogramme. I work from one of Uganda’stwenty-three Core Primary Teachers’Colleges (CPTC) trying to build thecapacity of teacher educators.

Uganda aims to get all primary agedchildren into school so, in 1997 itintroduced Universal Primary Education(UPE). This was highly successful, bringinghuge increases in the number of childrenbeing sent to school. The progress of UPEis being held back by several factors.

In overcrowded classrooms under-resourced teachers have a difficult joband many become demoralised so don’tdo their work as well as they might. Thereare other barriers to learning: teacher andhead teacher absence – pay rates forteachers are very low and teachers withfamilies are not able to manage withoutearning supplementary incomes.Supplementary earning becomes thepriority activity for many teachers: it is notunusual for children to be without theirteachers for days at a time. Whenteachers are in class they may not beprepared – there’s the problem withgetting the right materials. There is alsothe sure knowledge that no-one is likelyto come to check teaching quality. Districtinspectors are few and Core Co-ordinating Tutors (CCTs), who areoutreach tutors from CPTCs, find thatthey have to little money to fuel theirmotor bikes to travel to their schools.

Then there’s pupil absence and drop out –boys go into self- employment likefishing. Girls are called to householdduties. Girls also find school impossible

for one week out of four when they startmenstruating as hygiene and sanitationfacilities are usually inadequate. Pubertyalso brings an increase in the incidence ofearly marriages which can be precipitatedby defilement (rape or sexual assault). Incountry areas girls become scared to walkto and from school.

This is where the government’s BasicRequirements and Minimum Standards(BRMS) come in with its thirteenIndicators which all educationalinstitutions should have.

...and what do I do? I work with districtofficers and inspectors, CCTs, pre-servicetutors and head teachers to put the BRMSinto place. In my six districts, there arethree hundred schools (out of about 700)which are part of the work. I aim to workco-operatively through providingsignificant continuing professional

development events for pre-service tutors,CCTs, district staff and inspectors andhead teachers. I travel to thirty schoolsregularly, working with CCTs to improvethe quality of learning, teaching ,leadership and management, using amentoring approach. One of the excitingthings that we have been able to do is touse video to capture practice which wecan then use in training.

Pauline Lyseight-jones trained as ateacher in the 1970’s and has sinceworked in education in several capacities,most recently as a regional adviser withthe now defunct National Strategies. As a VSO volunteer in Uganda, this is hersecond year as an international teachereducator and she is also pursuing adoctorate, exploring mentoring as anapproach to teacher education inUganda.

PAGE 15

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Education is a human right that should be accessible for all.ATL believes that all children around the world should be entitled to a quality education. Education for all is urgently needed if we are to tackle poverty, ill-health and hunger - and good teachers are vital to achieving this.

It’s time we put teachers back at the heart of teaching.

Website: www.atl.org.ukTwitter: www.twitter.com/atlunionFacebook: www.facebook.com/atlunion

ATL – the education union, in solidarity with the Steve Sinnott Foundation.

www.teachers.org.uk

Speaking upfor the rightsof childrenand teacherseverywhere

The National Union of Teachers withthe Steve Sinnott Foundation

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Price £1.00 ISSUE SIX€¦ · Teaching Profession for example, there is now a genuine potential for linking the debate on improving education systems in developed countries with