Lucy Buckland  

lucy.buckland@essnmedia.co.uk

A COULSDON teacher is moving almost 6,000 miles away from home in a bid to change the face of Brazilian state education.

When Phil Hawkins, Woodcote High School's deputy head, visited the South American country he was struck by the extreme level of poverty and deprivation in state schools.

Issues that shocked him included English teachers not speaking English, children learning without interaction and most youngsters leaving school before they are 13.

Now Mr Hawkins, 45, has decided to ditch teaching in England and move to the city of Goiânia for two years in a bid to change the state education system in the Goiás state for the better.

He has set up a charity called Aprender, named after the Brazilian verb for learning. It will train state education head teachers, carry out work in schools and work with top brass in the Brazilian government.

Mr Hawkins said: "When I first went to Brazil I saw huge class sizes, poor conditions, a demoralised workforce – often not paid, often in class in the day and waiting on tables in the evening.

"I saw teenagers under huge stress, with poor education prospects resulting in little chance of a job and so the poverty cycle continues. I just thought 'how could we help?'"

The father-of-two, who has two young children, said the decision to up sticks was easy for him – but it was a matter of convincing his wife, Baptist church minister, Gill.

He explained: "In previous years Gill had seen it as my little project and been very supportive but when I came back last summer and spoke about everything I had experienced, Gill became more convinced the move would be a good idea."

Mr Hawkins, who lives near Leatherhead, first visited Brazil in 2000 and wanted to move immediately, but then his two children, eight-year-old Harry, and six-year-old Evie, were born.

So, he spent the following years visiting over summer holidays.

He said: "I went into one English lesson and the teacher did not speak a word of English, the children were just learning from a textbook.

"I was struck by the enormity of the task, they have such little resources and there is often such placidity in terms of lack of activity in the class.

"The underlying lack of confidence in ability to resolve things within the classroom was also a factor."

Mr Hawkins will fund his project with charity donations.

For more information about the project visit its website at www.aprender.co.uk