POLITICIANS SAT in a special "class" with secondary school pupils yesterday to assist the Irish leg of a simultaneous world record attempt that highlighted the need for Government funding for education initiatives in developing countries.
At the event, Labour and Fine Gael spokesmen on education Ruairí Quinn and Brian Hayes, along with Senator Ivana Bacik (Ind) of Trinity College Dublin, discussed the challenges facing children overseas at the Irish Aid offices on Dublin's O'Connell Street.
The Oireachtas members were joined by students from Dublin for the Guinness World Records World's Biggest Lesson in which 120 countries also participated at specified times. In addition, students from Irish schools around the country took part in the special lesson about the problems facing pupils in poorer nations.
A spokesman for Irish Aid outlined that it spent €66.6 million supporting education in developing countries in 2007. This has "led to progress in a number of our partner countries, notably in Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ethiopia, where school fees have been abolished, leading to increased enrolment," said the spokesman.
An Irish spokeswoman for Sightsavers International said: "With only seven years to go to meet the millennium development goal of universal primary education, 72 million children are still missing out on a primary education, with millions more forced to drop out."