main content Teacher to experience power of education in Sudan

A teacher from Bromley’s learning support service will spend her half term exchanging experiences with teachers working in makeshift camps in Sudan. Refugee liaison teacher Mandy King will join seven other teachers from across the country for the visit organised by the charity Education Action International.

She will visit schools and education projects around Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, to share experiences and learn about the lives of the two million people displaced by civil war living in camps surrounding the capital.

During the week the teachers will observe projects, take part in lessons and get a chance to teach. As well as visiting schools in the camps, the group will also take a look at wider educational initiatives, including a kindergarten scheme, adult literacy programmes and business advice groups.

Mandy said: “I’m embarking on a journey into the heart of Sudan to witness teaching in the most difficult of circumstances. Although I’m a little anxious and don’t know what to expect, I am also excited to see the progress being made through the power of teaching. Education is the most important way for these communities to tackle the root causes of poverty.”

On her return, she will work to raise awareness in Bromley schools and the local community of the issues facing children, adults and teachers in Sudan. She also hopes to use her experiences to raise much-needed funds to support children who deserve an education around the world.

Mandy has already started involving children in Bromley in the £25 Challenge, where groups of children think of innovative ways to raise £25. So far about 2,000 Bromley pupils are involved. For example one school are having a bring and buy sale, in another the children are working hard doing such things as car washing, dog walking and gardening to raise the money.

She added: “Only £25 pays for a child to go to school for a whole year, donations will go a long way.”

Some students have also become pen pals to displaced children living in refugee camps in various African countries. By making links with these refugee communities Mandy hopes that our young people will gain a greater understanding of how devastating war can be and how different schooling can be in different parts of the world.

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For more information about Education Action International visit www.education-action.org or to make a donation, please call Mandy King on 020 8290 5397.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• To arrange interviews, request photos or a diary of the visit please call Mandy King on 020 8290 5397. 
• For further information about the visit, from 11 to 18 February, call Pippa Ranger at Education Action on 020 7426 5826.
• Bromley’s learning support service offers support for children and teachers in mainstream schools by specialist teachers covering: English as an additional language; literacy; numeracy; Traveller education; and social and communications difficulties (Autism). 
• Education Action - www.education-action.org - works with people affected by conflict in their home countries and countries of refuge. They support children and adults to achieve their potential through literacy, life-skills and employment training.
• Education systems in Sudan have been severely disrupted by years of civil war. Only a quarter of adults in the displacement camps are able to read and write and resources are stretched: teachers have received hardly any training, there is little equipment and classes can be as large as 100 pupils.
• One way Education Action helps is by assisting community organisations to set up their own schools to educate both children and adults. This means children will get the education they need while parents can catch up on what they have missed 
  
• For media enquiries, please contact richard.simcox@bromley.gov.uk or call 020 8313 4310