Staff at Haywards Heath based charity Sightsavers International have made a life-size teacher and presented it today to Nicholas Soames at the Sightsavers’ Head Office.

This ‘teacher’ figure represents one of the 15 million extra teachers needed in the world’s poorest countries. Teachers which are desperately needed if the 115 million children currently out of school in these countries are to have a chance of an education. MP for Mid Sussex, Nicholas Soames, accepted the teacher and will be taking the message back to Westminster that more must be done.

More than a third of the 115 million children who are unable to go to school in the developing world are disabled children. Only 2% of all disabled children receive an education. More significant than gender, wealth or rural/urban, disability provides the biggest barrier to a child getting an education in a developing country. Ironically these children are most at risk of social exclusion and exploitation, for them the risk of spiralling further into poverty is even greater.

Sightsavers is a member of the Global Campaign for Education whose theme this year is ‘My Friend Needs a Teacher’. All around the world people will be creating teachers to highlight the need for more teachers and for these teachers to receive the proper training and support they need to teach every child, including children who are disabled.

“A staggering 90% of children who are blind in the world’s poorest countries are out of school,” says Sightsavers Chief Executive Caroline Harper. “The UK government needs to take special action to get children with disabilities into school and support from local MPs is vital for this campaign.”

Notes

1. For further information on this campaign go to www.sightsavers.org

2. Sightsavers International works with local organisations in some of the poorest countries to prevent and cure blindness and ensure that people who are blind enjoy equal rights and opportunities, including enabling children to go to school.