Emily Thornberry has met a group of school children taking part in ‘My Friend Needs a Teacher' - a campaign to support the Government's goal of ensuring all children around the world have access to primary education by 2015.
Emily met children at Hungerford Primary School in Islington at their Friday morning assembly to answer questions about what the Government is doing to support education for children overseas.
The children had two main questions for Emily:
-
Could the British Government give more money to poorer countries to help them train more teachers?
-
Why do poorer countries have to pay back richer countries the money that owe them rather than spend this on teachers?
Emily explained how the British Government had given £5.3billion to help poorer countries train more teachers, as well as saying it had been agreed that the 27 countries with the biggest debts would not have to pay us back.
The children presented Emily with a cut-out teacher they had made to represent the missing teachers from schools around the world. Cut-out teachers made by school children across the country will be delivered to the Government to remind them of the commitment to universal access of primary education by 2015.
Emily said:
"It is shocking that millions of children around the world - and mostly girls - do not get an education. I think it's great that Islington kids feel so strongly about helping out kids in other countries and I am glad they want to know what the Government's doing to help."
