Press release: Teachers help improve education in Africa

For immediate release: Monday 17 July 2006

Photocall: Café Italia, Terminal 1, Heathrow airport, 8.00am - 9.00am and Café Italia Terminal 4, Heathrow airport, 5.00pm - 6.00pm, Friday 21 July 2006

38 teachers will leave Heathrow airport on Friday 21 July for a five-week placement working in some of the poorest and most remote regions of Africa. The placements are part of a 15 month Global Teachers Programme, a unique international professional development opportunity, run by international development charity Link Community Development (LCD) and supported by the HSBC Global Education Trust and the Department for International Development.

The teachers, 26 who are going to South Africa and 12 to Uganda, will each live with a host family in the local community where their placement school is based, often in a home without running water or electricity.

Christopher Welander from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge is going to Nkodusweni Junior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Christopher said: "This is a fantastic opportunity. LCD has provided me with excellent training and support. I can't wait to meet the staff at my placement school and set about working with them to improve the education they offer their children."

Following their placement the Global Teachers will work with children in their own school and community to raise awareness of international development issues. Many teachers forge long-lasting links between their schools, giving children in Africa and the UK have the opportunity learn directly from each other and deepen their understanding of global issues.

Dame Mary Richardson, Chief Executive of the HSBC Global Education Trust said: "I commend the participating teachers for their role in this valuable programme which helps to improve the education of thousands of children in Africa. We hope the teachers find the experience inspirational and beneficial for their future careers in education."

LCD works to improve the quality of education in Africa and raise awareness of development issues in the UK. LCD's education development projects in Africa work in partnership with district departments of education. LCD's work focuses on school management, leadership, governance and resourcing as well as teaching and learning issues.

To find out more about the Global Teachers Programme and Link Community Development please log on to www.lcd.org.uk or phone 020 7691 1818 or email: link@lcd.org.uk.

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

1. For more information, photographs or interviews please call Ben Miller, LCD Communications Officer on 020 7691 1818 or email ben@lcd.org.uk.

2. A photocall for teachers leaving to South Africa will take place at Café Italia, Terminal 1, Heathrow airport, 8.00am - 9.00am, Friday 21 July. A photocall for teachers leaving to Uganda will take place at Café Italia, Terminal 4, Heathrow airport, 5.00pm - 6.00pm, Friday 21 July.

3. Link Community Development runs education programmes in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda with the aim of improving the life-chances of children in some of the poorest areas. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is patron of Link Community Development.

4. The HSBC Education Trust, led by Dame Mary Richardson, was established in January 2001 to provide a focus for the HSBC Group's educational projects. It seeks to open doors of opportunity for young people by raising standards of education. The HSBC Education Trust works with schools and communities to enhance young people's educational experience in and out of the classroom. For more information, visit www.hsbc.com/csr