Students at Cowes Enterprise College have taken positive action to help support over 260million children worldwide who miss out on school and also miss out on the chance to improve their own lives and their local communities.
14-year-old Treeve White and 13-year-old James Fletcher decided to apply to become Campaign Champions in the ‘Send my Friend to School’ project, a schools-based part of the Global Campaign for Education. The boys were supported by teacher Peter Shreeve, a member of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (an organisation that has also supported this campaign).
Following a Skype interview, the Cowes team were chosen from a national field of hundreds to join a recent residential weekend at Beaumanor Hall near Loughborough in Leicestershire.
During the weekend, the boys worked with other campaign champions and discovered how education can open up paths out of poverty for individuals.
James said:
“I had not realised all the ways that education can contribute to the stability of communities, to reducing the the likelihood of war and in contributing to a healthy planet. It’s been a real eye-opening weekend.”
Treeve commented:
“World leaders have made a clear promise to ensure every child in the world gets a quality education by 2030. Yet we are massively off track – by current projections we won’t achieve this promise to the world’s children until 2084 – over 50 years late. The world is experiencing an education crisis and the missing bit is how to pay for this promise.”
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Peter Shreeve, languages teacher at Cowes said:
“The weekend has been a transforming weekend for the boys as they have realised the impact that they could have. They are planning to talk to our local MP, ministers and the Labour Party Conference. They are also hoping to be able to speak to local groups and interested parties.”
All 3 of the Cowes participants expressed their thanks to Red Funnel, who provided free travel and to Cowes Enterprise College for supporting their mission.
