Search results for 'education'
My name is Thomas Baylem and I work on the Education and Partnerships Team as part of the DFID graduate scheme. On 14th April, I'll be running the Brighton Marathon to raise as much money as I can to support Riders for Health's vital work in sub-Saharan Africa. Last weekend, being the good grandson that [...]
Defending any form of gender-based violence (GBV) on the basis of tradition, culture or religion is no longer an option. Certainly, this is one of the strongest messages to emerge from this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York with Michelle Bachelet making it absolutely crystal clear that culture and religion [...]
Democracy in Africa – is it worth the effort? And why should foreigners help a country like Kenya to run its elections? It's Monday 4 March, and millions of Kenyans are already standing in long queues – many in intense heat – so they can vote. Democracy clearly means something to them. Many are first-time [...]
I was privileged to participate in a fascinating debate on the future of learning, in the somewhat surreal futuristic setting of downtown Dubai, under the lofty spire of the Burj Khalifa - the tallest (currently) manmade structure on the planet. I spend most of my days in more modest African settings discussing the fundamentals of very basic school [...]
Local governance in Afghanistan is full of acronyms – PDP, DCC, DDA, PGO to name just a few – and SPAD is the latest addition. Admittedly, UK civil servants when they hear "SPAD" will not think of a programme that helps local government work more effectively, but of special advisers to ministers. However, the name [...]
Welcome to my blog! In September I got my first break into the world of development and stepped inside the walls of the Department for International Development (DFID) in London as part of their first intake of Graduate Placements. I've made DFID's walls the theme of this blog. Whatever the organisation, their organisational website is [...]
I couldn’t resist posting this picture of the snow that is currently covering the UK, marking a cold start to what promises to be an exciting year. 2013 is the year in which the UK will achieve its commitment to spend 0.7% of the UK’s Gross National Income on development aid. There has been a [...]
You know that heart stopping feeling when you crest the first peak of a big roller coaster as it goes into free fall? That feeling of dread is perhaps only equalled by the torture of opening up your exam results - at the time it seems your whole life might depend on the hidden grades [...]
“We happy and we thank you Nana, We are happy and we thank you Nana, We are happy and we thank you Nana. Free senior high school, quality education and teachers. Mothers and fathers, aunties and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, help the children of Ghana – by voting for Nana.” This was the jingle sang [...]
Each day en route to work I pass a perplexing sight - a large single parent family living and learning under a giant fig tree. The hustle and bustle of crowded Dar es Salaam contains a large green space by the coast - like NY's Central Park. Within it resides Agnes and her six children. Curiosity finally [...]
