Send My Friend to School is the UK part of a global movement, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). The GCE is made up of organisations and individuals around the world who believe that every person should have a good quality, free, public education.

Every year millions of people get involved in campaigning in over 100 countries, to make sure that their governments are keeping their promises on ensuring everyone has an education.

The campaign started in 1999 and since then there has been big progress – 40 million more children have since been able to start school.

But there are still 72 million children out of school, and 759 million adults who cannot read. That’s why we are inviting everyone to show their support for education by joining 1GOAL. Sign up now at www.join1goal.org

Watch the film at the top of this page to see what happened in 2008 when 8.8 million people took part in a record-breaking World's Biggest Lesson!

For campaigners outside the UK there are resources and links to the national campaigns on the Global Campaign for Education website: www.campaignforeducation.org

Photo strip: © Kate Holt/ActionAid