1 Goal - Education for All

During the Activity Days in the summer, Sarah Morris, Imogen Keen and Charlotte White all went to London to attend the Global Student Forum conference. The focus was Education Beats Poverty, and the girls took assembly recently to report back on their experience. Here is an extract:

Currently 72 million children in the world receive no form of education and most of these are in developing countries; the conference opened our eyes to the implications of this.

We were shocked by some of the statistics: for example 40% of the world’s population accounts for only 5% of global income whilst the richest 20% own three-quarters of it. We soon realised how fortunate we are in this country to be provided with a first rate education. Learning about the barriers to education that exist in some countries made it easier to understand how so many get trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Morevover, 250,000 child soldiers are currently not in school because of conflicts between countries or conflicts within their own countries, some have to provide and care for their families and some simply cannot afford education.
The lack of education has been recognised by the United Nations as a huge problem, and to this end they drew up the ‘Eight Millennium Goals’, one of which being that “by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.” So far, 47 million more children have gone into education, but there is still a long way to go. An organization called ‘1 Goal’ challenges the world to join together to achieve their aim of education for all. By signing the 1 Goal petition as 18 million people have already done, we can help ensure that world leaders keep their promise of education for all by 2015. In assembly we encouraged all members of the school to sign up to 1Goal, and to do what they can to support such a vital causes.
You can join, too by following this link: http://www.join1goal.org/