TWO teachers from St Alban's Catholic High School in Ipswich are off to South Africa during their summer break. They are going as Global Teachers to work alongside their colleagues in schools in the Eastern Cape Province.

TWO teachers from St Alban's Catholic High School in Ipswich are off to South Africa during their summer break.

They are going as Global Teachers to work alongside their colleagues in schools in the Eastern Cape Province. Their Millennium Award placements are arranged by an organisation called Link Community Development and funded mostly by money raised by the Millennium Commission through the National Lottery.

Andrew Howard, a design and technology teacher, will be working at Thandisizwe Commercial High School. Mary Scobie, a Science teacher, will be working at Qumbu Village Senior Secondary School. Both expect to be involved in advancing school development plans and sharing teaching strategies.

These schools lack electricity, running water and even permanent buildings. Steven Mzamane, a Grade 12 student at Thanisizwe, said: "If we could just get a chance and have the means to follow our studies we would do interesting things and succeed."

They will be staying with local families and learning about the South African way of life at first hand.

They have been warned to take plenty of warm clothes since it will be the middle of the South African winter. When they return, they will use their experiences to enhance the global dimension of the new Citizenship Curriculum, both at St Alban's and in other local primary and secondary schools.