The school I want to learn in

The school I want to learn in - Therese

THERESE JATTA, ST JOSEPH’S SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, BANJUL, THE GAMBIA

Success is no accident. It comes from hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and, most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.

First of all, what is a school? According to the Oxford Dictionary, a school is an institution at which instructions are given in a particular subject, or any institution for educating children. The school I want to learn in is the one that has a quality education, and this entails a lot of things.

Teachers are the most important resource when it comes to quality education. Not only teachers, but qualified ones for that matter, who have gone through the appropriate training and attained the required certificates to teach in schools. To begin with, education without teachers is no education at all, as they are the backbone of the educational system. Therefore, the need for good and qualified teachers should be well-valued, as we are the future leaders of the nation and we need the best education. Without them, students wouldn’t be able to fulfil their dreams of success in their educational journey.

Quality education is not only limited to qualified teachers but also a conducive learning environment. An environment which is not overpopulated, with classrooms that are well-equipped and ventilated, with learning materials and libraries with modern books which can help us read and explore the world.

Moreover, I want to be in a school where gender equality is fully supported and practised. A school where our views as students are supported and respected regardless of our gender. A school where I would linger with pleasure and share my thoughts without being in a state of dilemma and pressure. Gender equality is vital and important, a school where my rights are being protected and respected as a lady. Although we might not be of the same gender, that should not deprive me from having the same opportunities as others.

Furthermore, as the saying goes, a hungry man is an angry man. Therefore, learning cannot take place on an empty stomach. Zero hunger in schools should be something that is highly prioritized as food is a basic need of life. Therefore, the school I want to be in, is a school that strives by all means to eradicate hunger in school. The need to eradicate hunger in schools is of great importance as we are all from different backgrounds. So, providing food for the students can help to ease the burden on parents who are not financially stable enough, to provide three square meals for their children daily. When there is zero hunger in schools students will be able to learn comfortably during classes and learning can go on smoothly without any complications.

In addition, I want to be in a school that caters for the good health and wellbeing of their students, as the saying goes “He who has wealth has hope, but he who has health has all”. Health and wellbeing are one of the greatest things an individual can acquire in life. Therefore, the need for schools to cater for the wellbeing of their students is of high value as it can boost the appetite of the students to become more focused, because they are healthy and physically fit to be in school, and this can decrease the rate of absenteeism. So many students tend to be absent from school when they are sick, because they find it difficult to access health facilities. Therefore, by providing monthly check-ups, and vaccinations together with other preventive measures, this can make students really hungry for learning as they learn and stay in a healthy environment, together with them being physically healthy.

To end with, I want to be in a school that teaches me about climate change. First of all what is weather and what is climate? People often tend to mix their definitions. Weather is the day-to-day hourto-hour condition of the atmosphere, while climate is the average weather condition of a place. Human activities such as pollution, deforestation, and environmental degradation are some of the major factors that can contribute to climate change and global warming, which is increasing at a very alarming rate. I want to be in a school where afforestation is highly practised, as deforestation is one major factor affecting our lives and the livelihoods of our nation, and the world at large. Therefore, the need to sensitize people to climate change is important as it is causing world concern. One possible effect is an increase in the warming of the earth’s atmosphere as a result of the so-called greenhouse effect, and because prevention is better than cure, we need to come up with necessary solutions when the need arises.

In conclusion, the school I want to learn in is the one that helps in the improvement and betterment of education for our present-day generation. As educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

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THERESE JATTA • July 31, 2023

36 Bicycles. Countless Futures in The Gambia.

By Ann Beatty • May 20, 2026

How a simple act of practical solidarity is transforming the journey to school in The Gambia’s Central River Region North Policies have been written. Schools have been built. Yet for many children in The Gambia’s Central River Region North, access to education is still measured in kilometres, not opportunity.

Education for Hope in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous Times

By Laura Griffin • May 13, 2026

‘In a single hour vast tracts of shaded woodland became a jumble of torn trees and upturned soil, exposed to the glare of the summer sun. Such land-clearing events are rare, but forests exhibit remarkable resilience in the face of disaster. I’m told that the Chinese character for ‘catastrophe’ is the same as that which represents the word ‘opportunity’. And, the blowdown, while catastrophic, presented opportunities for many species.’ (Wall Kimmerer, 2003: 89). In the context of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world (Stein, 2021) what kinds of education for hope might support children’s and young people’s critical engagement in local and global issues? In the spirit of exploring the possibilities of hope further, this short article focuses on the area of global citizenship and sustainabilityrelated education. It will briefly open by sharing commonalities across pedagogical approaches that take up the concept and act of hope more critically, and close by offering reflective questions for educators, with suggestions for further reading. Perhaps it is a kind of hope that is grounded in the present, in future reimagining(s), in ethical solidarity, and an acknowledgement of our deep entanglement with the living metabolism of planet earth 1 our singular home (UNESCO, 2021); a hope that engages with complex root causes and lived realities of multiple overlapping crises in critically reflexive and contextually relevant ways. As McCloskey notes, ‘Hope can fire our collective imagination and critical consciousness as a mainspring to activism and intervention in the world.’ (2025: 3). Commonalities across critical pedagogical approaches to hope include: Acknowledging the context of a ‘seamless single story of progress, development and human evolution’ (Andreotti, V.D.O., 2021b Relating to social and ecological justice and the wellbeing of people and planet Using participatory, action-orientated and inquiry-based learning processes Exploring diverse worldviews and perspectives Practising grounding in the present with opening up possibilities for change (relational, embodied, response-able 2 ) Experiencing ‘struggle’ in different forms (dialogical, selfreflexive, open-ended) Engaging individual and collective agency, action and activism Looking for lifelong and life-wide learning and unlearning. 1 See ‘Co-sensing with Radical Tenderness’, in Machado de Oliveira Andreotti. 2021a 2 See ‘Crossing Borders’ in 2 Depth Education “Depth Education and the Possibility of GCE Otherwise, 2021b. Source: Andreotti, V. 2021a & 2021b., Atif, A. (2025)., Bourn, D. 2021., Bryan. A. and Mochizuki,Y., 2024., Giroux, H.A. 2025., Meade, E. 2025. Whilst engaging in the concept and act of hope more critically reflect upon: What kinds of education for hope might you explore further and why? How might you provide generative spaces for engaging in diverse worldviews and perspectives? In what ways can you facilitate individual and collective agency? How might you support learners’ practice grounding in the present in order to relate differently? In what ways can you support learners in navigating complex root causes and lived realities of local and global issues? As Chief Ninawa Hini Kui affirms, ‘The future depends much less on the images we project ahead than on our capacity to repair relations and build relationships differently in the present.’ (Andreotti et al, 2023: 73. An invitation for further reading: Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future . d’Abreu, C., Belgeonne, C., Bourn, D. and Hatley, J. (2025) ‘Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future’. DERC Research Paper 24. London: UCL Institute of Education. Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. Machado de Oliveira Andreotti, V. (2021a) ‘Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism’ , London: Penguin Random House. Development Education and Hope . McCloskey, S. (2025). (ed) ‘Development Education and Hope’. ‘Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review’ , Vol. 41, Autumn. Centre for Global Education, Belfast. Link to and download the full reference list here

I heard it said today by a friend that “You learn a language best when you use it to speak and write about things that are important to you. ”

By Susan Piper • May 6, 2026

This summed up to me about why I volunteer for the Hands Up Project. HUP is a charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and selfexpression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills. I joined HUP in 2020 during COVID. After going to Palestine in 2017, I wanted to get more involved in working with Palestinian children in schools. HUP gave me the opportunity to link up with schools in the West Bank and Gaza. Every week I’d tell them stories from all over the world, then we’d discuss it, play games and I’d get them to retell it. Sometimes we would work from their coursebook English for Palestine’ in mutual team teaching sessions with their teacher. The simple act of telling a story became much more than entertainment. It became connection, healing, and a bridge to the world beyond their immediate reality to help them improve their language skills, and to give them a platform to speak about their lives in a language that connects them to people everywhere. I loved it, every week, seeing their smiling faces on the screen and building long lasting friendships with their teachers. I even went to Gaza in 2023 and met some of the kids I’d only seen on Zoom. It was a beautiful experience and something I will never forget. As hostilities escalated, I lost contact with everyone. I thought about where the kids were and what had happened to them. As I watched schools being bombed, universities flattened, and people killed in their thousands, I thought about where the kids I’d met were and what was happening to them. I kept in contact with many of the teachers I knew and heard daily news of displacement, destruction, hunger and bombing. Recently, I’ve started to link up again with children in Gaza, and it feels wonderful to be back helping them learn after being denied an education for over two years. Connecting with children in Palestine is more than just words. When a child in Palestine confidently tells their story to someone on the other side of the world, bridges are built, empathy grows, and the world gains a fuller picture of childhood in contexts far from peace and privilege. My work with these children is rooted in the belief that education and voice are inseparable. Through storytelling and English language learning, I witness children not just learning new vocabulary, but reclaiming their narratives, believing in their potential, and finding human connection in a world they perceive has abandoned them. And more than anything, this work reminds us all that children — everywhere — deserve to learn, to speak, and to be heard. Links to HUP information, books and resources: The Hands Up Project BY SUSAN PIPER Susan Piper is currently an ESOL teacher in Oldham, Greater Manchester and has worked in education for over 30 years. She is also a volunteer for the Hands Up Project and is the International Solidarity Officer and President of her NEU district. She believes in quality education for all and aims to make her lessons creative and inclusive so that effective language learning can take place.