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Steve Sinnott Foundation
Wanted: education for 72 million
Set up in memory of the NUT's late General Secretary, the Steve Sinnott Foundation is striving to achieve Millennium Goal 2: universal primary education for all the world's children. Here, Foundation Project ManagerSam Tiwari explains how and why.
Uprooted by conflict and war, beaten by poverty, discriminated against and denied their rights, 72 million children in the world do not have access to education. For Steve Sinnott, this was one of the great injustices of the modern world.
Steve was General Secretary of the NUT from 2004 until his sudden death in 2008, and his passion and commitment to education did not stop at national borders. Steve was an optimist but also a realist. He believed that the power of people working together, united behind a cause, could bring about change for the better.
In the year 2000 world leaders from 189 countries declared that by 2015 every child in the world should have access to a full course of primary schooling. Now in 2010, the latest review warns that this target may not be reached. The mission of the Steve Sinnott Foundation is to support and promote initiatives to ensure that the goal will be achieved.
Established in 2009, the Steve Sinnott Foundation is backed by leaders of teacher unions around the world and by Education International, and has received cross-party political support in the UK. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown recognised that governments cannot reach the 2015 goal alone. He said: “By bringing together teachers, activists and organisations to promote the cause of education and share their expertise, the foundation makes an invaluable contribution to ensuring that every child in the world can enjoy that most cherished gift: opportunity.”
Encouraged by the high profile endorsements we have received, we have been working hard on the ground to address the basic barriers children face in accessing good quality primary education in the economically poor regions of the world. The Steve Sinnott Foundation is now ready to secure the delivery of quality education to 300 children from some of the poorest families in Nepal.
We are implementing our first project in the Palpa district of West Nepal, where children walk eight miles every day to access schools that struggle to offer the necessary infrastructure and quality of education. In partnership with a local organisation, the Manisha Child Welfare Foundation, we are resourcing the development of that much needed infrastructure, training teachers, providing educational resources and ensuring that 300 children can have at least one meal per day. We are also partnering these schools with schools in the UK.
Engaging with leaders of teacher unions and civil society organisations in a number of countries has helped us identify the key challenges in achieving quality education and match the available expertise with the needs of local communities. By the end of this year we expect to be working on projects related to training and professional development for teachers in Africa, and in the development of a community education centre in Haiti alongside Education International. As partners in the Global Campaign for Education UK coalition we are working to ensure that the UK Government maintains its commitment to ‘Education for All’.
We obviously need money to make things happen but we also believe in solutions that look beyond money – solutions that harness the power of new ideas, knowledge and networks. We want to engage with teachers to find those solutions. Please go to www.
stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk and see how you can make a difference. Get in touch if you have an idea for us or want to get involved with any of our projects.
Steve was first and foremost a teacher. He believed in the power of education to liberate young people from poverty, both nationally and internationally. Let’s work together to send 72 million children to school, to guarantee to every child the chance to realise his or her potential, to build a future that’s fair for all.
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