School awards focuses on poverty

POVERTY affects half the world — nearly three billion people are forced to live on less than €2 a day.

A unique awards programme for primary schools is continuing to create an awareness and understanding of aid programmes in some of the world’s poorest countries.

The Irish Aid Our World Global Schools’ Awards were created to highlight the objectives of the eight United Nations millennium development goals. By 2015, the nations, including Ireland, have agreed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.

At the core of the Irish Aid schools’ programme is the challenge of creating awareness among primary school pupils about the difficulties that people in developing countries experience in their daily lives.

This year’s programme is open to primary school pupils in third to sixth classes in the Republic, and pupils in years five to seven in the North, as well as pupils in special schools. The programme aims to further primary school pupils’ under-standing of the developing world through learning about the lives of children living there.

Last year, there were more than 2,148 project entries from 233 schools throughout the island in the awards programme.

This year, packs will be distributed to more than 4,500 schools throughout the country, and the closing date for entries is December 5.

“The Irish Aid Our World Global Schools’ Awards programme encourages schools and individual teachers to participate in the creation of media projects with their pupils. The creation of these projects fosters an understanding of global issues, and projects can take any form, including art, drama, essays, poetry, film, and music.

Irish Aid said: “Schools and teachers are provided with tools and materials to aid with the research and execution of projects. These include dedicated project managers, a helpline, information packs, media guide-lines and classroom activity suggestions, along with in-school workshops where possible.”

The theme of this year’s Irish Aid Our World Global Schools’ Awards programme is poverty.

Further information on the Irish Aid Our World Global Schools’ Awards programme 2007 can be found at www.irishaid.gov.ie. Contact 021-4550434 or email [e-mail].