Summary

Initially focusing on literacy programmes for women, Khoj have been working in Ghaziabad, near Lahore, since 1995. Through dialogue with women in their literacy programmes, and a wider understanding of the community's social and economic problems, it became clear that there was also a pressing need for quality educational services for children.

Khoj and LfL developed the Alternative Elementary Education Project (AEEP) specifically to meet the needs of children living in the Ghaziabad slums. Children had limited or no access to formal or informal schooling for a number of reasons - cultural restraints, the need to earn money, the lack of schools, and time to attend classes.

The AEEP provided lessons that were relevant and responsive to the problems and issues arising in everyday life, especially in low-income households. Khoj philosophy sees children as active participants in their learning process rather than passive recipients of information. An alternative curriculum based on the national curriculum was designed using a child-focused, reflective approach including health, nutrition, civic education, Urdu literature, problem solving, organic farming and computer technology. This highly successful methodology was subsequently used to train teachers in LfLs schools across the North West Frontier Province.

Facts

Implementing Partner: Khoj Society for People's Education
Country: Pakistan
Date: 1999-2003
Donors: The AB Charitable Trust, Reed-Elsevier Foundation, The Glendower School, Isle of Man Overseas Aid, Parthenon Trust.

Beneficiaries

Children educated - 4,500
Teachers trained - 101
Mothers attending women's groups - 609
Total - 5,210

Testimonials

"I am 22 years old. Until I joined the Khoj school I was illiterate. I would spend all my time at home doing housework and day-dreaming. Now I teach 41 primary school students. In only 3 years my whole life has changed. I have learnt so much about the world and about issues that I have to tackle in my daily life. First, I didn't even know how to spell my own name. My family was against me learning. They thought it was useless for a girl to have an education. They told me I would never be able to make anything of myself, but now I am not only a teacher, but working in a neighbouring village. It is beyond what I had ever even hoped to dream about. The girls in this village were never allowed to step out of their homes alone. We have always been told that we are useless but now we all have so much confidence. Even though I have a job teaching primary level children, I want to improve myself. I have applied to do my matriculation from the Allama Iqbal Open University. When I finish that, I want to learn how to operate a computer." - Rashida

Summary

The Afghan Women's Education Centre (AWEC), formed in Pakistan in 1991 by female Afghan refugees and based in Kabul, is a national Afghan NGO working for vulnerable women and street children. AWEC implements a range of projects to promote their rights, education, health, peace education and socio-economic development.

In Kabul, LfL and AWEC created and delivered an intensive catch up programme for more than a thousand girls during the winter holidays to compensate for years of schooling lost under the Taliban regime.

In Peshawar, Pakistan, LfL and AWEC have provided much-needed services to the Afghan refugee population by supporting their primary education programme. This project reached some 300 vulnerable children aged 6-13, providing literacy, civic, health and vocational education - including basic reading, writing, mathematics, sports lessons, health education and hygiene practices and recreation. At the same time, the counselling department offered long-term and group counselling to children and their families, while the centre's vocational programme assisted students by teaching them literacy and employment skills. The centre's health clinic also provided treatment and education for many patients.

In June 2004, the Peshawar programme was moved back to Kabul as part of the reintegration of Afghan refugees, and the programme continued there until 2005.

Facts

Implementing partner: Afghan Women's Education Centre (AWEC)
Countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan
Dates: 2002-2005
Donors: Reed-Elsevier, Doughty Street Chambers

Beneficiaries

Peshawar Children educated - 110
Children in vocational programme - 175
Health clinic patients - 1,065
Kabul Girls educated - 1,120
Teachers trained - 22
TOTAL - 2,492

Testimonials

Lialuma is 14 years old and came to the centre to attend the education classes when she was 11. She used to collect wood on the streets of Kabul and tended animals in order to earn money to pay for food and rent for her 5 sisters and 3 brothers. Her father was killed in the war under the Mujahadeen and her mother earned money by washing clothes. She heard about the CSCW through the social workers who found her working on the streets. They persuaded her to attend the education classes and thereafter she attended for three years, learning to read and write. She did so well in her studies that she was able to move into a formal school. The CSCW have helped pay for her books and uniform. She continues to attend formal school and visits the CSCW to attend vocational training classes to learn tailoring. In the evening she helps her mother to wash clothes. She says that she has learned a lot from CSCW, gaining not only an education but also confidence. She hopes one day to become a doctor.

Summary

At the core of both LfL's and SRSP's philosophy is the belief that people have the potential to help themselves, and that marginalised communities, especially women, must be fully involved in the development process.

From 1999 to 2001, LfL worked with SRSP to improve access to quality primary education in the Kohat and Mansehra regions of the NWFP in Pakistan, through the establishment of 30 community based schools.

Following the success of this partnership between LfL and SRSP a new three year Community-Based Schools (CBS) project, based on identified needs and experience was launched in 2004. This project provided training for teachers in a further 40 schools, as well as enabling teachers in the 30 original schools to strengthen and broaden their skills. The overall aims of the CBS are to increase access to quality primary education for poor children, especially girls, and to increase student enrolment and retention rates.

LfL is working to ensure the sustainability of these projects by providing schools with one-time grants and training Village Education Committees (VECs) in each school. Each VEC has six members - three men and three women - all respected individuals within the community, trained in finance and budget management to monitor and ensure the smooth administration of the school. Women VEC members are also trained to be proactive in increasing the enrolment of girls and participation in civil and health programmes.

Sadly all 19 of our schools in the Mansehra region on NWFP were destroyed by the earthquake in 2005 and tragically 51 of our pupils lost their lives. Since then, public and donor support has enabled us to rebuild all the 19 destroyed schools as well as building a further eight new schools, bringing the total number of schools in the LfL and SRSP programme to 72. For more information regarding our earthquake reconstruction project please visit the Earthquake section of this website.

Facts

Implementing Partner: Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP)
Country: Pakistan
Dates: 1999 - 2009
Donor - The Big Lottery Fund

Beneficiaries

CBS Project
Girls Educated - 1,975
Boys Educated - 2,271
Female teachers trained - 51
Male teachers trained - 39
Mothers involved in school activities - 1,410
Fathers involved in school activities - 1,401

SFP Project
Children educated - 3,000
Teachers trained - 40
TOTAL = 10,607

Testimonials

Parent of a student - " Our children will now have a proper school to study in and one day they will go to higher school for further studies, they will get better jobs and work for making the conditions at our village better. They will be able to do what we have not been able to do because we are not educated."

Mr Tehseen-ul Haq, one of the Village Education Committee members, says "For us, the Community-Based School is not only a well built school, with a health centre, but it is in fact, our dreams taking the shape of reality and emerging as a ray of hope for us. We believe it will definitely help our younger generations to rise above all and we are committed to it".

Summary

Learning for Life has been working with Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) since 1996 to develop Community Based Schools, owned and managed by local communities, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. With this project, Learning for Life aims to create and support long-term, sustainable, positive change in the lives of underprivileged children and their families, in one of the most conservative mountainous regions of Pakistan.

The earthquake that struck Northern Pakistan on 8th October 2005 devastated Mansehra and Battagram, two of the five regions where we work. Project activities were set aside as Learning for Life, and our local partner, SRSP, worked tirelessly to meet the urgent needs of the community. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, relief work was aimed at providing communities with shelter, food, and medicines. However, recognising the role of education, not only in rehabilitation but also in maintaining a degree of normality, the schools resumed their activities in the open air or in tents. Traumatised and lacking proper shelter and other facilities, students found it hard to concentrate; but the continuity provided by school activities enabled them to regain a sense of stability.

Tragically, 51 pupils lost their lives in the disaster while another 43 were seriously injured. One of our School Monitoring Officers, Mr. Abdul Rasheed, was missing for six weeks, buried under rubble. However, none of the teachers or members of the Village Education Committees who manage the schools lost their lives. The disaster affected 19 of our 25 planned Community Schools in the Mansehra region, with 11 completely destroyed and 8 severely damaged. The continuation of aftershocks in the region exacerbated the problem; all 19 schools were in need of rebuilding.

In collaboration with SRSP, Learning for Life embarked on a reconstruction project to rebuild the 19 old schools that were destroyed and to found the 6 new schools that were previously planned for construction in 2006. The importance with which these impoverished villages view the education provided by the Community Schools was highlighted as villagers themselves donated land and their skills to help rebuild the schools.

Almost two years after the disaster, we are delighted to announce that we have exceeded our initial target, with the construction of a total of 27 schools. This represents an incredible achievement - particularly given the poor accessibility, exacerbated by the effects of the earthquake itself, and the heavy snow and monsoon rain which followed - and also the shortage of labour and materials, both of which were in great demand and short supply due to the massive reconstruction efforts throughout the region.

The new schools are earthquake-resistant structures, each consisting of 2-4 classrooms and an adjoining health unit. LfL's work in Pakistan has underlined the urgent need for health and education to work together. To that end, we have arranged essential training in health, nutrition and hygiene for our teachers, School Monitoring Officers, and Village Education Committees (VECs). With the support of the VECs, teachers are now able to raise awareness of basic community health issues, during community meetings and parent meetings and the classroom health education and check-ups. The health centres are now established hubs of health awareness. In such remote mountain communities, where people have little access to health facilities, this represents a new and significant contribution to community development.

Facts

Implementing Partner: Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP)
Country: Pakistan
Dates: 2005 - ongoing
Principal Donors: Monsoon Trust, Reed Elsevier, Capital International, Four Acre Trust, Madeline Mabey Trust, Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust, Asia House, Bannister-Parker Trust, A B Charitable Trust, The Michael and Lousia Von Clemm Foundation Inc, Peterborough Council, Spirit Fundraising committee, Schools4Schools, Lisa B and Anton Bilton, Thor & Kristin Bjorgolfsson, and many other generous donations from anonymous donors and members of the British public.

Beneficiaries

Peshawar Children educated - 110
Children in vocational programme - 175
Health clinic patients - 1,065
Kabul Girls educated - 1,120
Teachers trained - 22
TOTAL - 2,492

Testimonials

"When the earthquake came I was in school at that time. The earth under my feet began to move. I was terrified. Our teacher quickly took us out of the school building. We could hear people screaming in the village. People said that the doomsday had come. My mother came running towards the school and took me back home, which had collapsed by then. I wish the earthquake never happened." Zainab rejoined her school, CBS Sumbol, in the new reconstructed building at the beginning of the new term, September 2006, and is enjoying the new spacious building as well as the playground that she uses in her free time with her friends. Her mother is proud to have her daughter continue her education in a safe and comfortable environment, whilst numerous others in the province are still far from realising this dream. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Zainab replied, "a teacher" in the school that she attends. When posed the same question her classmate replied that she would like to be a doctor as she witnessed first hand the suffering experienced by her friends, family and community as a result of the earthquake." - Zainab Bibi, of CBS Sumbol, Mansehra, NWFP.

Summary

Afghan Refugee Rehabilitation (ARR) was established in 1990 to ease the plight of the millions of Afghan refugees seeking safety and security in Pakistan following the Soviet invasion of 1979 and subsequent armed conflict.* The ARR education programme grew out of an immediate, short-term, humanitarian need; to provide schooling for the thousands of school-aged Afghan refugee children with no access to education in Pakistan. With LfL support, ARR established six schools, housed in the refugee camps on the outskirts of Peshawar, with the ultimate aim to relocate these schools to Afghanistan.

Since 1999, LfL has provided significant advice and guidance to ARR and their schools in implementing teacher training and school development. Thousands of children aged between 6 and 18, almost sixty percent of whom are girls, have benefited from the education provided in the LfL-supported ARR schools in the Peshawar area. In addition, ARR has ensured that all teachers receive regular professional training - maintaining an impressive rate of over two thirds female teachers.

Facts

Implementing partner: Afghan Refugee Rehabilitation (ARR)
Country: Pakistan
Dates: 1999 - 2003
Donors: Mr and Mrs K Eng, Mr Hamid Nezam, Sutasoma Trust, The Von Clemm Foundation.

Beneficiaries

Children educated - 3,298
Teachers trained and employed - 85
Total educated - 3,383

Testimonials

The Fatima Zahra School for girls, based in a well-off area of Kabul was reconstituted by the community as it settled near Peshawar. The school, like the families, will move back to Kabul some day and begin life anew. Fatima, a 12 year old, lives for that day. She, like her friend Pervana, was born in the Peshawar camp, and has never seen Afghanistan, but describes it as "beautiful". They both attend school in the mornings and work in the afternoon. "It is important that we go to school to improve our living standard" says Fatima, fiddling with her white chador. "I want to be a doctor, a professional and to serve Afghanistan in the future. I want to return to Afghanistan, any part as long as we have schools."

Summary

The Floating School will provide quality education for 250 children (aged 6-12) and 50 youths (aged 13-18) and will provide 15,000 members of the community with health and social awareness.

This innovative floating school will travel from village to village during the monsoon season, when villages are completely cut off from mainland services, and conduct lessons for children who otherwise would not be able to attend school. In the evenings the boat will act as a resource centre for communities and will conduct heath and social awareness presentations and shows.

Facts

Implementing partner: POPI
Country: Bangladesh
Dates: 2009 - present
Donor: Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee and Big Lottery Fund

Beneficiaries

Testimonials

Summary

Established in 1968, the Sanghamitra Service Society (SSS), is a lead member of a coalition of international NGOs working with HIV/AIDS affected communities in Andhra Pradesh to develop an infrastructure of support, care and awareness for children and those affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS.

Andhra Pradesh has the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS of all Indian states, and a quarter of reported cases in India. In these communities, facing tremendous stigmatisation, children are extremely vulnerable to HIV infection, caught as they are at the intersection of poverty, child labour, commercial sex and other forms of exploitation.

Project Objectives:

1. Better access to primary education and higher completion rates by the most disadvantaged girls and boys.
2. Better and more relevant primary education to meet the needs of disadvantaged boys and girls.
3. Reducing stigma for those affected by HIV/AIDS.
4. Increased access to, and control over, effective ways to prevent and control disease.
5. Increased to, and control over, better quality reproductive health services for the most disadvantaged.

At present, LfL and SSS work with communities affected by HIV/AIDS and with local Government schools to increase enrolment and attendance rates of children left without a guardian. Recognising poor health as a major affecting the performance and high dropout rates of children, our project provides regular nutritional supplements and health check-ups. It also addresses the need for appropriate and more adequate income generation activities as a means of reducing adolescents' vulnerability to exploitation, by supporting supervised vocational training.

On a wider scale, through our support groups and tutor initiatives we aim to help local community members and parents to provide a supportive environment for children. The project has established community groups to provide alternative, much needed, support by selecting tutors from the community, who play a vital role, working closely with the community and children's classmates, to create self-sustaining networks. Children attend centres that provide educational, creative and recreational programmes, as well as counselling services. Our partner organisations also work closely with Government schools to deal with widespread issues of stigma and exclusion to ensure that children affected by or infected with HIV/AIDS have a secure, safe childhood.

So far the programme has opened an enormous 72 Supplementary Education Centres (SECs) and almost 4,000 children, sixty per cent of whom are girls, have been provided with education support. Furthermore, vocational training has allowed many students to start earning a living safely. With skills ranging from tailoring to computing, these adolescents can earn between 500 and 2000 Indian Rupees a month, to support their families' basic needs. Parents, community members and teachers are also fully supported by SSS and the other partner organisations through community groups, training and awareness-raising.

Facts

Implementing Partner: Sanghamitra Service Society
Donor: The Big Lottery Fund

Beneficiaries

Supplementary Education Centres Established - 72

Testimonials

Summary

Learning for Life and POPI began work in the slums of Dhaka City, Bangladesh, in October 2008 to bring health and educational support to 240 children (aged 6 to 12 years) from the most marginalized and deprived households. Their parents barely earn enough to provide two meals a day and they have no access to sanitation, clean water or secure shelter.

So far six school centres have been established, with the help of local Ward Commissioners, at six different shantytown locations. These centres have simple furniture, fixtures, safe drinking water, electricity and hygienic toilets for staff and pupils. Six school teachers, two culture and recreation teachers, and six support staff have been recruited and trained on educational strategies and school management.

The children attend school five days a week, each day consisting of two teaching periods, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The children also enjoy a "cultural function day" held every four months, during which there are different cultural performances, showcasing children's talents, and offering them previously unattainable opportunities. Books, pens, paper and pencils for writing and drawing are all provided for the children by the school. Each child is given two sets of school uniform, nutritious meals once a week, and healthy snacks. Parents, guardians and the community are involved in the running of the school, the upkeep of the buildings as well as providing security, ensuring maximum community participation.

Children also receive primary health education, including information about nutrition and personal hygiene and parents receive health education during parent meetings. Medical practitioners check on the health of each child at three-month intervals. Where necessary, they prepare prescriptions, provide the required treatment, or refer the child to a Government hospital.

To guarantee the sustainability of this project we have set up workshops involving government officials, representatives of the business community, and locally elected community leaders. These are held three times a year to attract people to give their support to the programme objectives.

This project is a model which can be replicated in other cities by the Government and other NGOs, resulting in the most marginalised communities being able to play a more positive social and economic role.

Facts

Implementing partner: POPI
Countries: Bangladesh
Dates: 2008 - ongoing
Donors: Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee, British and Foreign School Society, Waterloo Foundation

Beneficiaries

360 children of whom 50% or more are girls.
2400 parents, families, or guardians and members of the local community

Testimonials

Summary

The Society for the Integrated Development of the Himalayas (SIDH) has been working since 1989 to explore alternative ways of living and thinking - emphasising relevant and quality education, vocational training and good citizenship. They strive towards a 50:50 enrolment ratio of girls to boys, and use a child-friendly pedagogy that has been recognised as Best Practice by UNESCO, Save the Children and Department for International Development (DFID).

Learning for Life (LfL) has been working with SIDH since 1999 to provide quality education to excluded, remote tribal communities in the Himalayas. In these areas it is not uncommon to see even very young children fetch water from a source far below their homes, collect firewood, cook food, look after younger siblings, and - as a matter of course - be given responsibilities which would be considered far beyond their years in Western society.

LfL works with SIDH, supporting a range of programmes:

1. Balwadis is a unique pre-primary programme offering an appropriate learning environment for young children, with two very important benefits. Firstly, research has shown that, the earlier children enter education, the more likely they are to complete their studies. Secondly, the programme frees older children, especially girls, from their childcare duties, enabling them to attend school. Every year, over 100 young children benefit directly from Balwadis' pre-primary education and care - while their older siblings benefit indirectly from the freedom to attend to their own studies.
   
2. The Student and Teacher Enrichment Programme (STEP), provides training both to SIDH schools - and to state schools known for the poor quality of their education.Through a residential programme, STEP exposes the government, private school students and teachers to SIDH's successful teaching practices, and works with primary and middle schools to improve the relevance, gender sensitivity and overall quality of teaching and learning in subjects such as Maths, History, Communication, Science and Environmental Conservation. The teacher network connects over 300 teachers and SIDH host a well-attended annual conference.
3. To assist SIDH in moving towards sustainability, LfL assisted in the construction of the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), complete with lecture halls, a library and dormitories. The Centre has increased SIDH's physical capacity, enabling them to fulfil the enormous national demand for their Best Practice teaching methodology. Hundreds of students and teachers have benefited since the beginning of the partnership between LfL and SIDH, and the LRC continues to reach ever larger numbers of students, teachers, employers and community members.

Facts

• Implementing partner: Society for the Integrated Development of the Himalayas (SIDH)
• Country: India
• Dates: 1999 - ongoing
• Current Donors: The British and Foreign Schools Society, the Isle of Man.
• Past Donors: The Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, Walter Guinness Charitable Trust, Charles Hayward Foundation, Elizabeth and Joseph Novarro, and anonymous donors.

Beneficiaries

• Balwadis Children educated - 500
• STEP Children trained - 578
• Teachers trained - 100
• LRC Students trained - 2,200
• Teachers trained - 650
• Community members attending education conferences - 205
• Total - 4,233

Testimonials

Teachers: Sureshi Chauhan, Young teacher in Riyatgoan, Balwadi.

In 1990 Sureshi was a student of KG in SIDH Hamari Pathshala in Bhediyan village. Today she is a teacher in our balwadi. "I got interested in education only after attending the SIDH School. I worked at home and also studied in the school. My father supported me when I expressed the desire to study beyond class V and that is how I completed my class XII... After joining SIDH I now feel very positive, motivated and feel as if I have come 'home'. During the past eight months of working here I feel I have made progress in my own inner growth and have learnt a lot about little children and how they learn" "I have learnt a lot from the training programmes... I want to understand children AND how they learn". When asked what she would have done had she not joined SIDH she said: "perhaps gotten married".

Baldev Singh Panwar, a young teacher in Nautha, working for the last 18 months; "My idea of teaching, before I joined SIDH was merely to teach the textbooks, this is what I understood by the term 'education'. But only after going through the teachers training programme here I realised how wrong I was. My vision has broadened after coming here. I have realized that education has a relationship with each and every aspect of life. I have started giving more respect to teachers after coming here... I would like to remain a teacher for all times to come and establish Nautha School as a model school".

Students

Babita, Class V, SIDH Hamari Pathshala, Village: Matela. "In SIDH schools the teachers are from our community, so they pay more attention. They take us on study tours to surrounding areas. During these tours we learn a lot about our environment, our animals, birds, farming techniques and the relationships between them. Here besides studies attention is also paid to games... I have learnt about hygiene and cleanliness, now I stay clean, I have also learnt to attend school regularly. My Hindi, English and Maths have improved... Now I am confident, I do not feel shy while talking".

Kiran, Class 7: "Earlier I was scared of being in front of people, but after coming here and especially after the meditation camp, my fear is gone and I feel much more confident. I started participating in extra-curricular activities and am able to concentrate in a better manner in my studies. It is because of this that I was able to pass in the first division in my class." Sangeeta, 14 years, Class 8, Government Junior High School, Kaplani: "I enjoyed taking part in the rally against plastic bags in Kempty. I saw a lot of dirt and garbage there. I enjoyed review and diary writing. I will teach the songs I learnt here to my friends."

Summary

Facts

Implementing partner: POPI
Country: Bangladesh
Dates: 2011 - present
Donor: Comic Relief
Project website: www.eliminatechildlabourbd.org

Beneficiaries

Testimonials

Summary

Learning for Life are working with our partner Community Support Association of Nepal (COSAN) on a project which aims to address the exclusion of women from policy making and social services in Nepal, particularly women living in remote and often inaccessible mountainous areas. These women often do not receive a proper education or have access to healthcare services and are rarely aware of what they are entitled to.  We are working to change this by educating women on their rights and entitlements and improving excluded communities' ability to engage in the local decision making process through the formation and training of community action groups.

We are conducting training and capacity building of not only the target beneficiaries but also other stakeholders including local decision makers, influential leaders and other non-governmental organisations. Following training, the target population will be in a position to directly engage with local decision makers and advocate collectively to ensure that their rights and entitlements are upheld, particularly with regards to laws on inclusive education, gender equality and domestic violence, all of which are far too often a problem for marginalised women. This project has achieved an increase in female representation in local government to 33% as defined by the Gender Equality Act, an increase in the reporting and prosecution of domestic violence and ultimately reduction in cases of domestic violence and an increase in the access to and quality of education for socially excluded communities, particularly girls.

Facts

Beneficiaries

Women community group members - 1,980

Testimonials

Tulasi Sharma (31) is a member of one of the Community Action Groups set up by LfL. Having never left her village before she visited London to share her experiences at a meeting at the Nepalese Embassy... "Before, we did not know about our rights or the services we were entitled to, now we have received our training we know who to go to for services, we know how to report incidences of abuse and other disruptions to the social harmony of our village. We have also been able to help individual families with their problems". 

Summary

In the wake of 11th September 2001, Learning for Life received an overwhelming number of requests primary schools in London for positive information and pictures that went beyond the popular stereotypes of life in South Asia. Recognising the importance of these requests, our UK Schools Development Awareness Programme (UKSDAP) was developed which examines the universality of childhood and challenges conventional stereotypes of South Asians.

The UKSDAP subsequently evolved into a sophisticated educational tool, comprising seven lesson plans within two schemes of work and aimed at promoting understanding and geographical awareness, with explicit links to the English, Scottish and Welsh National Curricula. Welsh language resource materials have also been made available.

The UKSDAP's educational resources were designed to fit closely with geography, while incorporating links to art, mathematics, physical and social development. In England, they also support the National Numeracy and Literacy strategies. The stand-alone pack includes everything a teacher needs to bring a global dimension to the classroom: worksheets, colour photographs and maps, as well as a teacher's guide and list of further resources.

A wealth of positive feedback indicates that both teachers and pupils have found Learning for Life's resources enjoyable and beneficial in learning about children's lives in South Asia.

Facts

Implementing Partner: Learning for Life
Country: UK
Dates: 2004 - 2007
Donors: Department for International Development UK (DfID), The British and Foreign Schools Society, Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, The Earnest Cook Trust, SFIA Educational Trust

Beneficiaries

Participating schools - 161
Other participating institutions - 33
Estimated number of children reached - 4,830
Total participating institutions - 194
Estimated total of children reached - 4,830

Testimonials

"Lesson plans and resources are all set out for you - it's a great time-saver." - Teacher.

"Thank you for coming to Southwold Primary School on Monday 12th February 2007. It was really kind of you to come to see us and I really loved the story Tehreem wrote us and it was very interesting to know about her life. I think Learning for Life is really important to know about. I felt very upset when I saw the Schools broken by the earthquake and that the children had no homes or schools. I have learnt a lot about Learning for Life because you told us a lot about the children and it is very important news." - Student Megan.

"Thank you for coming to Southwold Primary. I was really interested to learn about the earthquakes and I am so glad that the children are OK. I wish there was never earthquakes in this world. I know more things now so I can tell my Mum. She will be so impressed and it's all thanks to you. I hope you will come." - Student Daniel.