For the last 10 years a delegation of educators from the NEU and previously the NUT has visited Cuba to look at their education system, meet fellow teachers, community members and trade unionists. The delegations have been going every October half-term. Most recently a delegation of 26 went to visit primary, middle, special, pre-university schools, along with meeting university students, teachers, and a community group for young adults with Down’s syndrome. Every day was taken up with visits, meetings and exchanges which generated lots of discussions amongst the group in the evenings. Everyone who went was able to ask any questions they wished. Our Cuban hosts were open to discuss any, and every topic thrown at them. One of the typical western media cliches about Cuba is that trade unions on the island are not “free”. What we learnt however was that if the government wished to bring in proposals which educators did not approve of, then the unions’ veto carried the day. This is the highest form of trade union freedom – imagine if that operated here in Britain – no Ofsted just for starters. In Havana we visited a school devoted especially to music. We heard young children and young teenagers singing and playing a range of musical instruments with real skill and obvious enjoyment. On request a couple of our delegates responded with their own contribution singing songs with the Cuban children joining in. It was an enjoyable exchange. Some of the musical instruments which NEU members had collected a couple of years ago were used by the children in their performances. Our delegation was really surprised by what they found at the rural primary school in Pinar del Rio with some classes of less than 10 pupils. In fact, on one visit a previous delegation had been told about a school with one child in it! The parents however, having become satisfied their child could journey to the school in the town, agreed that their child and the teacher move together to the town school. A delegate from a rural area in England commented that a school like this would not survive in their county – classes would be merged across year groups, teachers and support staff would face redundancy and there would be no real support to sustain the school let alone retain the distinct year group classes for each age. We were all amused by the little boy in one class whose family dog was with him in the classroom quietly sitting behind his chair. No one even mentioned it – children in the class and the dog were perfectly happy! One of the most moving moments was at Abel Santamaria school for blind and visually impaired children. Having handed over Braille machines which NEU districts had donated and visited classrooms, the group was entertained by the students with a wonderful musical concert that left all of us in tears admiring the enthusiasm and accomplishment of the young people and the dedication of the teachers some of whom were ex-pupils of the school itself. It is impossible however not to be aware of the impact of the blockade imposed by the United States of America on the island. The U.S. has placed Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) and has tightened sanctions. This has resulted in shortages of oil which hits the electricity system. As a result, a science lesson we hoped to see could not take place in the lab and computers could not be used. Members of the delegation asked whether there was a school/teacher inspection system in Cuba. The answer was in the affirmative. However, there the similarity ended. In Cuba, Inspectors go into schools and seek out the best practice and then use that as an example to encourage others to emulate that approach. There is no blame culture about their approach. The aim is to help all educators to play a full role in the life of the school and to contribute positively. Similarly, if a child has a problem, parents are invited into the school where they attend meetings without losing any pay from their workplace. If children are having difficulties, then the whole family receives support to understand how they might respond to any challenges. It was obvious that the quality of relationships between all members of staff and children, and staff and families was highly valued. “Love”, a word not in the vocabulary of schools in Britain, was a word we heard used often and without any irony. It was obvious that the quality of all the relationships within every school was highly valued. Many of the teachers we met had postgraduate degrees or were studying for MAs with time off to study. Educators in Cuba are respected. Education and, everyone who works in education, is highly valued in Cuba. I have only one request to those who are sceptical about Cuba – please go and see for yourself. As Che Guevara said, “Another world is possible” and it’s also true that “Another Education is possible!” Bernard Regan, Delegation Leader 2024 If you are interested in going on the next Delegation in October then the deadline for nominations from Districts is 30 May 2025.

There are none better placed than children themselves to advocate for the right of all children to have an inclusive, equitable and quality education. This is the philosophy behind Send My Friend to School, a unique coalition which brings together young people, politicians, teachers and civil society in joint campaigning to demand education for all children across the globe. The first Send My Friend campaign in schools took place 20 years ago in 2005, when pupils joined Nelson Mandela onstage at the historic Make Poverty History event in London’s Trafalgar Square. Since then, Send My Friend has campaigned on a specific education theme each year, such as gender equality, literacy, emergencies and removing barriers to education for persons with disabilities. Young people from thousands of schools have met their constituency MPs and young advocates have lobbied Parliament, met Ministers and hosted roundtables at the party conferences. In March 2025, we’re launching our new ‘Invest in My Friends’ Learning’ campaign, calling on the Government to urgently accelerate their commitment towards Sustainable Development Goal 4. In addition to the school campaign, Send My Friend is publishing a policy report and lobbying decision makers to take greater action. There are only five years left until 2030, when countries are due to meet the Sustainable Development Goal targets. There is no time to waste. Since its launch 25 years ago, the campaign has succeeded in placing education firmly on the UK’s development agenda and helped to secure funding for the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait. It’s often said that MPs only advocate for the issues that their communities care about, and many MPs have had their first interest in global education sparked by meeting passionate young constituents. We support young people to meet at least 100 MPs every year. Many MPs were newly elected in 2024 and are still identifying the issues they wish to champion. Young people are taking the opportunity to give them a strong nudge towards global education. However, there’s little doubt that progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 has been faltering for some time. In addition, school pupils and their teachers everywhere have experienced the terrible impacts of Covid-19 and its aftermath. In this rapidly changing world Send My Friend has had to adapt. The most fundamental way we’ve done this is to bring young people more prominently into the high-level influencing spaces usually occupied by professional adult advocates. This has included meeting the Foreign Secretary, briefing the International Development Committee and participating in the COP climate change conference. In 2023, we launched the Young People’s Policy Report on Education in Emergencies. This is the first time, we’re aware of, that a policy report was specifically written for and launched by young people. In recent years, the Campaign Champions programme has become an integral part of Send My Friend to School. We recruit 20 14-15 year old pupils every year who provide leadership and high-level advocacy for the campaign. Their training and the resources we produce for the 1,200 schools currently taking part in the campaign reflect the participatory and youth-led ethos we wish to embed. Send My Friend sets out to both transform global education and also be transformational for all the young people who take part in it. This is never more true than in the Steve Sinnott Youth Ambassador programme. With the support of the Steve Sinnott Foundation and Oxfam GB we invite two young people from the Global South to visit the UK every year to lead high level advocacy and partnership campaigning. A particularly memorable highlight occurred on 20 September 2019, when Jessy and Isaac, the Young Ambassadors from Malawi, spoke to tens of thousands of young people gathered outside Parliament at the School Strike for Climate. Later this year we hope to welcome Queen and Santos, the 2025 Young Ambassadors from Uganda, to campaign in the UK. The lived experiences and values of young people in 2025 mean they are increasingly passionate about issues such as racial justice, gender equality, the climate crisis, safety, wellbeing and trauma. These resonate strongly with SDG4’s holistic aim of providing all children everywhere with an ‘inclusive and equitable quality education’. This is our strongest guarantee that the passion, creativity and commitment of young people and their teachers in the UK will continue to be heard in solidarity with children around the world as they call for greater investment in education during the next two years. To learn more and join Send My Friend to School visi t www.sendmyfriend.org BIOGRAPHY John McLaverty is the former youth campaigner for Oxfam GB and a retired secondary school teacher and teacher educator. He is presently co-chair of Send My Friend to School and volunteers for Schools of Sanctuary.