Department for International Development highlights the importance of children gaining global awareness 
(23/07/2009)
The Government Department for International Development (DFID) is targeting UK parents in a campaign to highlight the importance of young people gaining global awareness.
The campaign encourages parents to take part in international activities and events over the summer holidays to give their children a more global viewpoint and, when the autumn term starts, to urge their schools to establish a Global School Partnership.
Parents can hear personally from young people and teachers about the positive impact of their Global School Partnership in a film and photo stories on the DFID website. They can also download games and activities, and access a schedule of international-themed events taking place across the UK over the summer.
The DFID Global School Partnerships programme supports UK schools to develop links with schools in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Partnerships provide direct contact with young people around the world via shared classroom-based projects, and grants are available for teachers to visit their partner schools to develop their joint plans and share ideas and expertise.
The two schools featured in the campaign, Warden Park School in Cuckfield, West Sussex and Little Flower Convent School for the Deaf in Chennai, India, are one of 1,800 such links in the scheme, reaching 3.3 million students worldwide.
Martin Hooper, Warden Park’s Inclusion Manager, says their partnership has “opened our pupils’ eyes to how their lives and futures are so closely tied up with those of other young people across the world.”
DFID Global School Partnerships aim to expand students’ awareness of the world, and increase their understanding of development issues. As well as learning about their partners’ society, Global School Partnerships also help young people to learn more about their own community and culture. Schools involved have reported increased motivation and a shift in pupil attitudes, with fewer racist incidents and better integration of pupils from other cultures in school.
Maddy Fry, from Warden Park said: ‘It’s so important for schools to have partnerships like ours. It’s really important for us as pupils in England to know about India’s culture and way of life. I would recommend other schools get involved because it gives you a better idea of what really goes on in other countries.”
DFID Global School Partnerships are funded by the Department for International Development (DFID). DFID is leading the UK government’s fight against global poverty. The programme is delivered by a consortium of the British Council, Cambridge Education Foundation, UK One World Linking Association (UKOWLA) and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). DFID Global School Partnerships currently supports over 1,850 partnerships between schools in the UK and schools in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
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