MP Goes Back to School

Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow, was at Henry Maynard Junior School recently on MPs Back to School Day. The day was organised around the Global Campaign for Education, which is campaigning to change the fact that more than 100 million children worldwide of primary school age have never had the chance to go to school.

Mr Gerrard saw presentations from the children at Henry Maynard about what this meant for those children, and the reasons why they could not get education. “I was really impressed by the effort and thought which the children had put into their presentations” said Mr Gerrard. “They explained very clearly the problems for poor families in countries where education is not free, where schools may be a long way away, and the effects this has on the children concerned.”

“They could see that while it might at first seem attractive not to have to go to school, and be able to play all day, the reality was very different. Those children whose families are so poor they can’t afford education have to work or beg from a very young age; they can’t play. The presentations were really well thought out, and I am sure devising them has been a valuable experience for all the children involved.”

April 2004

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