SPECIAL REPORT

SecEd: On Your Side

Election 2010: A voting hangover?

SO, AN invitation at last to join the government of Great Britain. I thought they’d never ask. But this tricksy Tory attempt to get my vote reminds me of my feeble attempts in assembly to persuade the school that the student council is now part of the leadership team and have shares in the governing body. “You are the young leaders of the school and your voice

Ray

Tarleton Election editorial

will be heard in decisions we make,” I proclaim in the sports hall, half believing my own rhetoric. It could be an election rally. Well, I know that it will look good in the SEF and be an Ofsted crowd pleaser. But, of course, the reality is that schools these days are so complex, even the heads barely understand them, never mind the governors. What chance does a bunch of well-meaning students have, even if they are democratically elected, to get their heads around curriculum, finance and buildings? So the great Cameron Con (and that’s con as in “con”)

is to pretend that we can be partners in the government of the Big Society. Their radical educational idea is an import, something from the European Union they can agree to. The Swedish model has been chosen because, we must assume, it is the most successful educational system on the planet. Well, this is the country that gave us the music of Abba, so perhaps the Tory theme should be Take a Chance On Me. The three parties are promising much that is similar in

education. Test yourself. Who is offering pupil premiums to direct funding to the most disadvantaged schools? Definitely the Lib Dems who thought of it, but now also Labour and the Tories as well. Who wants to create a form of national service for young people? It’s a great idea and hopefully will become a compulsory part of the curriculum, but it’s Labour and Conservatives with likely Lib Dem support. Who is promising one-to-one tuition? Wasn’t that a Labour policy before the Lib Dems snatched it? Feel a coalition government coming on? My SEF is as long asWar and Peace. So the

Conservative policy of reducing Ofsted’s brief from 17 areas to four will appeal to every school, especially after the Alice in Wonderland adventures attempting to monitor safeguarding, happiness and even health. But the “free” schools concept will have unexpected

consequences. Parents and charitable groups have a strong record of establishing their own schools in this country. It’s not a new idea. It’s just that these schools have, until now, been outside the state system and funded privately. If they can be established through the state and without regulation, checks and controls, why would any parent continue to pay, for example, to send their child to a prep school? Why not start an alternative, using existing resources and get the state to pay for it? And the biggest irony is that the Tories, the party of the free market, could be responsible for the decline of private education in this country. The Labour government has a proud record in education

– as long as you’re not a graduate with a £20,000 debt to start your career. Results have improved dramatically, with practically half of all year 11 students achieving the GCSE benchmark – a remarkable achievement and a tribute to teachers. There is now an educational community of schools

sharing ideas, curriculum practice and even leadership. Academies, Trusts and Federations have blossomed, based on British educational research and rooted in what works rather than what has been stolen from the shelf in a Swedish store. And the budgets for bowls to catch water from leaky roofs – high spending areas during the last Conservative government – now register zero. In a three party race, this time it looks as if Abba’s other

hit – The Winner Takes it All – might be a thing of the past where politics is concerned. We may find ourselves, after a long night tonight, with both a Parliament hung over and a personal hangover. That would get my vote.

SecEd

• This final guest election editorial has been written by Ray Tarleton, principal of South Dartmoor Community College in Devon. To have your say, contact the editor of SecEd, Pete Henshaw, on pete.henshaw@markallengroup.com or visit www.sec-ed.co.uk

Returning to Sudan

Teacher Naomi Pendle first travelled to South Sudan 15 months ago. This year, she returned to live there for a year, working with charity HART to help train teachers in the war-ravaged region and to encourage other UK teachers to take on short-term placements. Here is her poignant account of life as an educator in South Sudan

THE THORNY, broken branches act as our benches as we sit under the shade of an ancient mahogany tree, and wait for the teachers to trickle off the dusty roads and sun- baked paths. Some have risen hours before dawn to make their four- hour cycle ride to join this teacher- training. Goats nibble at our feet as we wait for the last of the 40 teachers to finish their journeys. The training of the first teachers among the 700,000 people in Apuk Dinka, South Sudan, is about to start. During 50 years of civil war in

South Sudan, this region faced fam- ine, bombing raids and forced child recruitment into militia armies. The schools have long been shut as they were easy targets for the fall- ing bombs. Children’s songs spoke of their rain of death. So they did not learn how to read or write, but learnt how to run from helicopter gunships, fire AK47s and recognise

whether a plane would drop food or bombs. Formal education was bur- ied and forgotten amid the dust and devastation that plagued this land. John Kiir sits on the second row

of these teachers perched on the wobbling branches. He is always the first to raise his hand and share an idea. When he was a boy of just seven, John was recruited into the southern rebel army. They were marched for four months through the deserted bush to the training camps of Ethiopia. Hot days would often pass without food or water, leaving a trail of dead children marking the route they took. As soon as he was tall enough,

he was taught to fire an AK47 and was placed at the head of the frontline. His little, light body more easily slipped past the northern army. The next 20 years of John’s life involved fleeing the Ethiopian civil war, returning to Sudan, and

eventually escaping to the violent refugee camps of Kenya. Although interrupted by bombs

and plagued by a lack of teach- ers, the refugee camps gave John his first formal education. John is among the boys who now consider themselves the luckiest in South Sudan as they were able to receive snippets of education. It is these returning refugees,

like John, who are now the teach- ers and heroes of the schools that are emerging under trees in South Sudan. And it is investment in these teachers and their training that will nourish the development of education. Scribbling on vaguely black-

board-shaped scraps of wood, the teachers’ work is rarely without need of correction. They are eager to learn and improve but resources are rarely available. Their volunteer status also means that they often cannot afford to teach. Failed har- vests often mean they need to work to feed dozens of family members. And secondary education

remains a needed key to rebuild South Sudan from the dust. At the moment there is a vacuum of a professional class due to the lack of secondary education. There are only two midwives in the whole country, and many villages are weeks of walking from the nearest doctor. One in every seven girls will die in childbirth – many more than will never learn to read or write. Government officials often lack basic numeracy skills and teachers are harder to find than oil. Secondary education, even under trees, will be needed to allow South Sudan to stand again. Marol Academy stands apart as

one of the few schools able to focus on teacher development and to aspire to secondary education. Opened just two years ago, when a local man, Jok Madut, sold all he had, the school has been able to host some teacher-training and to start to dream of secondary teaching. For 2010, my little “tukal” (hut)

New hope: Based at the Marol Academy (above), UK teacher Naomi Pendle (top) is training teachers in Sudan

6

at Marol Academy has become my home. The trees are a stark con- trast from my last, more predictable classroom – two floors up, boasting the latest whiteboard technology and polished tables. Until Christmas, I worked as a politics teacher at Berkshire’s Wellington College. It now seems a world away from this semi war-zone. I can hardly imagine photocopiers, fresh salad

lunches and hockey matches on the green turf. My chance meeting at a din-

ner party with Baroness Cox of Queensbury in 2008 saw Wellington invited to help build Marol Academy for the Apuk Dinka. Having vis- ited this remote academy with the Baroness and her HART charity in January 2009, I spent last sum- mer back amid this unique, semi- nomadic community. My intention was always to

return again as it would be a privi- lege to help. Having overheard an advert on the radio, and having mud- dled through the interview process, the miracle of £45,000 of funding from the Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference International programme has finally allowed me to work for HART and support edu- cation among the Apuk Dinka. There are scorpions on my door-

step at night, there are often goats in the kitchen sink, and I have to push through the cows’ horns to fill my bucket for a shower. The daytime reaches over 40 degrees, and the beautiful nights are spent sleeping under the stars. Inter-tribal raid- ing near these villages has already killed more than 150 in 2010, and there are always fears that the pupils and teachers will not return safely. But there is nowhere in the

world I would rather be. This year South Sudan is not only holding its first election for 20 years, but will also vote on independence in the first days of 2011. To offer a gift of education and training, and to dream of their first secondary school, brings a conviction of hope and is a true privilege.

SecEd

• Last year Naomi Pendle won one of eight places on the Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference International programme, which provides each winner with £45,000 to spend 12 months working for their chosen charity abroad. Naomi is working for Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) in South Sudan and is working on the Marol Academy project as a teacher- trainer. She is also encouraging UK teachers to come to Sudan on short- term placements.

Further information

Naomi’s emerging story can be followed at www.hart-uk.org/blog and for more on the World of Difference programme, visit www. vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference

SecEd • May 6 2010

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