Classes at St Aloysius’ College primary started last week with the extraordinary presence of a solitary red chair, sitting empty on the classroom floor. What is it for?
In Malta, education, from primary right up to University level, is offered free of charge to every child, teen and adult from every walk of life, although some may opt for private schools. It is something we take for granted.
Not so in many countries of the world. Of the world’s 650 million children of primary school age, over 57 million cannot go to school because of poverty, discrimination or war, and countless more millions do not receive education beyond the first basic years. It is estimated that 250 million have not learned to read, write or calculate. Poverty, lack of infrastructure, gender inequality, climate change and conflict are some of the contributing factors to the lack of education in many countries.
Entreculturas, a Jesuit NGO that promotes education as a tool for positive social advancement and equality, says that in the face of so much poverty and injustice it is convinced that education will change their lives. “That is why we work to eradicate this injustice, promoting the right to a quality education.”
Over 57 million children cannot go to school because of poverty, discrimination or war
Enter the red chair. St Aloysius’ College primary is participating in an ongoing international campaign for the right to education for all children, called the Global Red Chair Project. It aims to create awareness about this issue among students in Jesuit-run schools, colleges and other institutions, and campaigns. The project’s chosen symbol – the red school chair – sits unoccupied, waiting for a child, a constant reminder of the millions of girls and boys who would love to learn, who have the right to learn, and who would be pulled out of situations of poverty and injustice if only they had access to a classroom.
The red chairs in the classrooms at St Aloysius’ College primary are just a small part of the campaign organised for and by the students, and coordinated by the chaplaincy team, school council and staff.
The primary school is following the example set by the college’s secondary school which had started participating in the campaign earlier and which won the ‘Red Chair Contributor Award’ for its efforts.
During the last scholastic year one of the local awareness-raising exercises involved over 720 pupils and staff from the primary school ‘constructing’ the largest human ‘red chair’ in Malta. The feat was certified by Malta Records.
“By participating in the project our students are made aware of one of the many injustices in the world and are encouraged to find ways to contribute towards bettering the situation, as global citizens,” said Anthony Mifsud, lay chaplain at the primary and one of the project organisers at the college.
It is touching to listen to the some of the many reactions of the pupils involved in the project: “I wish I could help them by bringing them to our school”; “For me the red chair means that every child has a right to education. Many don’t!”; “I wish I could go to Africa and teach the children in need.”
Mifsud hopes the project will slowly empower the pupils to be agents of change.
Other schools are invited to also participate in the project by making use of the resources available for teachers and students on the Global Citizenship – Right to Education – Red Chair Project section of the Educate Magis website below.
https://www.educatemagis.org/redchair