February 2015 10,000 signatures from Ireland needed to support Global Education #UpForSchool petition

The official launch of the Irish #UpForSchool campaign will take place in the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway on Friday, 27 February at 6pm.

Professor Michael O’ Flaherty, Head of the Irish Centre for Human Rights will host the launch: "I am delighted to support the #UpForSchool campaign. Education offers us freedom and a better future.  Access to school is a basic human right. However, there remains 58 million children around the world who are denied the possibility to go to school. Schools in more than 70 countries were attacked in the past five years - and girls in particular have faced increasing hostility, physical violence and abuse. By signing the #UpForSchool campaign we are lending our voice to the 1.5million who have already signed the petition demanding access to school for all children regardless of location or gender.

By becoming a Youth Ambassador for the #UpForSchool petition Irish students are showing solidarity with students from around the world and helping young Irish men and women to grow more socially conscious and politically aware."

#UpForSchool is a global campaign started by Sarah Brown, wife of former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.  The aim of the campaign is to get 58 million primary school children who are currently not in school, into school.

 It was one of the United Nations Millennium goals to get every child into primary education by 2015 and this has not been realised. There is a global education crisis and young courageous campaigners around the world are coming together in this campaign to demand action. They are reaching out too Irish students to ask them to sign the petition and to become #UpForSchool Youth Ambassadors.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has recently been appointed WIP’s Education Champion for Ireland. WIP is an organisation representing 9000 female parliamentarians across the globe. As part of this new role Senator Eames has been asked to lead out the #UpforSchool campaign in Ireland.

“I am asking that your school community, teacher, students and parents would become champions for this worthy global campaign.  I am asking each school to commit to gathering 200 signatures to add to our campaign petition. Our national goal is to collect 10,000 signatures from Ireland as part of the global #UpForSchool petition.  Each school will be presented with an #UpforSchool certificate on completion.”

The final petition will be presented to global leaders at the UN summit in September.

If your school would like to be part of this really important initiative please log onto upforschool.org and see all the resources you will need there, including the Irish petitionwww.aworldatschool.org/upforschool/upforschool-upforlearning-join-the-irish-campaign. You can read more on the worthy human rights campaign at www.aworldatchool.org

Irish schools are being invited to become champions for the #UpForSchool campaign by getting as many people as possible to sign the petition.

For further information on #UpforSchool petition visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/upforschoolireland.

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