ROYAL BLIND SCHOOL PUPILS ENCOURAGE LOCAL MP TO SUPPORT GLOBAL CAMPIGN FOR EDUCATION
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Pupils at Royal Blind School hand Ian Murray MP cardboard ‘ideal teacher cut-outs’ in support of Global Campaign for Education
Friday 14 June 2013, 1pm
Royal Blind School, Craigmillar Park Campus, 2b Craigmillar Park, Edinburgh EH16 5NA
Pupils at the Royal Blind School will tomorrow (Friday 14 June 2013) present local MP Ian Murray with cardboard cut outs of their ideal teachers to encourage him to support the Global Campaign for Education.
The four pupils are boys between the ages of 11 and 13 who are blind or visually impaired with additional support needs. They have based the cardboard cut outs on their teachers at the Royal Blind School. The pupils are supporting the ‘Send My Friend to School’ initiative as part of the Global Campaign for Education. ‘Send My Friend to School’ supports every child’s right to go to school and raises awareness with UK politicians that 1.7 million more teachers are needed worldwide.
In their invitation letter to Ian Murray MP, the Royal Blind pupils said:
“At school we learned about a boy our age called Mphatso who lives in Malawi. Mphatso can’t go to school because his family is poor and there aren’t enough teachers. We can’t imagine what our lives would be like if we couldn’t come to school. We would like to do something to help Mphatso and children like him.
“We hope that you can pass on the message to G8 leaders that every child needs a teacher and help us Send Our Friend to School.”
Pam Young, a teacher at the Royal Blind School said:
“Currently 60 million children are still missing out on school around the world. At the current rate of progress there will still be about 48 million children out of school in 2015. Along with thousands of children across the UK, the Royal Blind School wants to speak up for the right to education.”
In 2005, Pam Young’s class took part in the very first ‘Send My Friend to School’ campaign ahead of the G8 Summit at Gleneagles. Along with 2 million other school pupils around the UK, Royal Blind School pupils made life-size cardboard ‘buddies’ to send to world leaders to ask them to keep their promises and give enough aid to ensure that every child can go to school by 2015. The whole school took part and the ‘buddies’ were later attached to the railings at Number 10 Downing Street.
Ian Murray MP said:
“I fully support the campaign and I know the pupils were very keen to get involved once they learnt about children in Malawi who can’t get access to education. The Royal Blind School provides an unequalled level of specialist education and I know the pupils that took part last time were very proud to have their designs on display outside 10 Downing Street. It is an honour to hand this year’s designs into the Prime Minister asking for the Government to support the message that every child in the world deserves an education and a teacher to encourage them.”
For more information please contact:
Davina Shiell, Marketing and Fundraising Manager, Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded on Tel: 0131 229 1456, Mob: 07713 98779, Email davina.shiell@royalblind.org
Notes to Editors
The Royal Blind School is a national grant aided specialist school that educates and cares for pupils who are blind or have a visual impairment, as well as those with additional support needs. www.royalblind.org/royalblindschool
The Royal Blind School is part of the Royal Blind Group. Royal Blind is a registered charity that runs services for blind and visually impaired people. In addition to the Royal Blind School we run the following services:
- Forward Vision – a residential and respite service for young adults aged 18-25.
- Braeside House – a care home specialising in care for visually impaired older people.
- The Scottish Braille Press – a leading provider of high quality Braille, large print and audio transcription services.
- Kidscene – an integrated after school and holiday club.
Our sister charity Scottish War Blinded provides an outreach service and day centre facilities for veterans with a visual impairment.
Our vision at Royal Blind is to make a significant contribution to building a community in which blind and partially sighted people, including those who also have other disabilities, are fully included and lead fulfilling lives. www.royalblind.org
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