This blog post is a forum for a range of perspectives on issues related to global efforts to improve the quality of education. We are particularly interested in issues and experience related to improving learning outcomes and the contribution that education makes to inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and better institutions.
It's difficult to grasp that we're now over halfway through our stay in this exciting city. The time has passed so quickly, yet preparing for my departure from leafy Surrey feels like a distant memory now. We travelled to Lake …
Can you remember starting school? I have vague recollections of going to St. Margaret's CoE Infant School, Durham in the early 1970s with my elder brother, when free school milk was still provided in little glass 1/3 pint bottles. Leading …
No walk in Addis is dull. A multitude of sights, smells and sounds confronts your senses on a daily basis. During a five-minute stroll, you could be approached by a street child trying to sell you a stick for brushing …
Trapped in my office at dusk, yet another heavy rainstorm sweeps over Harare. I make a start on this post, until the electricity fails and the room is plunged into darkness. Travel is risky: last week, trying to get to …
Sitting down for dinner in the Bulawayo Club (est. 1895) in southern Zimbabwe, one feels that one has been transported back to a gentlemen's club in fin de siècle Mayfair. One is immersed amongst Greek colonnades, oil portraits of colonial …
In a repeat of last year's 'Textbooks For All', I found myself once more at a huge logistics warehouse on the edge of Harare, in a marquee filled with dignitaries to launch the second phase of the Education Transition Fund …
My first year in Zimbabwe has flown by and spring is once more in the air as the jacaranda trees lining Harare's streets burst into bloom once more, in a riot of regal purple. The beauty of the garden suburbs is …
Before I went to Uganda, I felt a confused mixture of anticipation, excitement and fear. It was my first time visiting one of the projects that Comic Relief supports and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I’ve watched …
What did you do in your gap year? That’s a common question to ask in fresher’s week as students start college. I spent time backpacking around south east Asia around twenty years ago. But last week in the rural areas …
Contrary to popular belief, Africa can get really cold at night! I’m currently spending my first winter proper in the Southern Hemisphere, with dry sunny days and crisp nights under the Southern Cross - and temperatures plummeting to zero in …
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