Parliamentary Visit to campaign for Send My Friend to School

Students from King’s Leadership Academy Bolton were invited by Assistant Principal, Ben Jones to apply to represent the school as part of the Send My Friend to School coalition, which is calling on the UK Government to support crisis-affected countries to build and invest in inclusive, resilient and gender-responsive education systems that can withstand all hazards to protect the learning of all children during emergencies.

Of the thousands of schools and young people involved in the project, only representatives from 12 schools were invited to meet with MPs as Campaign Champions for the Parliamentary Action Day on the 12th November.

At King’s Bolton Year 10 students Barbara Stojkova, 14 and Kadija Kaleem, 15, student Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively were selected to represent their school. However, unfortunately only Kadija was able to attend, supported by Mr Jones for her visit. 

On the day, the Campaign Champions were invited to meet with MPs and Lords during an MP Drop-In session where they could share their passion for global education and the urgent need to support education in emergencies across the world.

Kadija was pleased to have been able to meet and speak to many MPs and their assistants during her visit, but was most thrilled to have been able to talk to Minister for Development at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Minister for Women and Equalities at the Department for Education, Annalise Dodds on the day, describing the experience as “seminal.”

Further to her opportunity to meet with MPs, Kadija was also invited to take a tour around the parliament buildings and visit the House of Commons gallery, where she was particularly impressed with the “fascinating architecture”.

Of her experience she said, “This was a day I had long been waiting for, a day where my ardent belief of children in emergencies getting an equitable education would be heard loud and clear. The Send My Friend to School Campaign has taught me many things but one in particular is that we should never as a society stay silent for matters we care about, there is always a way we can get our voices heard.”

Mr Jones said: “I was extremely proud that King’s Leadership Academy Bolton were selected as just one of twelve schools in the country to participate in the Send My Friend campaign. It was an amazing experience to meet with MPs and truly demonstrated how powerful our young people can be as advocates and campaigners for access to education.”

Moving forward Kadija and Barbara will continue to support the campaign by delivering whole school assemblies to their fellow students and raising funds to support the project at school events, such as their Winter Wonderland celebration in December.