New Schools Programme backed by DFID and DfE
Friday July 15 2011The Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, has announced a new schools programme around development education which is supported by the Secretary of State for Education.
The new programme will work with schools in England at Key Stages 2 and 3. It will support teachers who have particular skills in teaching global issues to share best practice with other teachers. Outside England, support for schools will be delivered in collaboration with the relevant devolved authorities.
The announcement follows publication of an independent review of development awareness funding commissioned by DFID. The Secretary of State for International Development, responded to the review with the following additional decisions:
- There will be no new development awareness projects. Ongoing projects will continue to conclusion, if project reviews show they are achieving results.
- Support will continue for work that establishes links between schools and hospitals in the UK with similar organisations or groups in developing countries.
The Chair of Think Global, Roger Clarke welcomed the Secretary of State's recognition that government spending can play a positive role in building awareness of global poverty in the UK, saying:
“We welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to ongoing support for development education in schools. We are pleased to see that DFID’s planned programme has the support of the Secretary of State for Education. Collaboration between DFID and the Department for Education will help to ensure that a schools programme integrates well with the changes in education policy and will have real benefits for schools, students and our global society.”
“We believe that the Secretary of State’s decisions will be good for young people’s engagement with global issues. Our own recommendations to the review argued that DFID should continue to invest in this area, and that it should develop a coherent programme for schools and young people. We are pleased that this is being taken forward. However, we continue to maintain that there is a strong case for development education work beyond schools and community linking. We hope that as evidence is accrued, DFID will consider expanding the scope of its awareness work once more.”
The review found a strong conceptual case for the link between public opinion and reductions in global poverty, but could not find sufficient evidence for this link in practice.
The full review, and the Secretary of State's decisions, can be found at this link: www.dfid.gov.uk/development-awareness-review.
