If children are to be true global citizens in the 21st century then understanding the plight of others less fortunate than themselves is vital.

The Children Helping Children appeal launched last month by The TES and Unicef to help get children back to school in Afghanistan enables them to offer far more than sympathy.

UNICEF desperately needs money to train teachers and rebuild schools. Between now and the end of July, children and teachers in primary schools are raising money to kick-start education in a land that has had little or none of it for more than six years. It will give children what pupils here take for granted: the right to learn.

Throughout the campaign, The TES and UNICEF are providing teaching resources and fundraising ideas to help pupils get involved and learn something on the way.

The map of Afghanistan in this first issue of TES Teacher offers an excellent start. Questions for pupils might include: where is this country? Why is it so poor (ravaged by 25 years of war, large areas of desert and mountain, droughts)? What are the bordering countries, and where are these places we have heard so much about: the capital Kabul, Kandahar, the Tora Bora mountain caves? What would a journey be like over rough terrain? How can you get food in a drought?

Can British children really understand what it means to be without education and so much else in Afghanistan? I introduced the topic to a primary class in Foxhayes School in Exeter by talking about the Stone Age. What was life like when we had to live in caves, with no electricity and no cars or supermarkets? The pupils quickly grasped the challenges of having to fend for themselves without the protection that modern civilisation offers. Thousands of children have died in Afghanistan, from bombs, landmines or cold.

They understood the consequences for a society of having no education. Where would we get our future doctors, builders, engineers, teachers, plumbers and electricians from, if they had no chance to acquire the knowledge developed over centuries? The consequences of not being able to read and write are clearly grasped by young people who have just acquired these skills themselves.

Faced with such a situation, we might wring our hands at being impotent to help, but many schools reopened in Afghanistan last month and a few pounds will buy teaching materials for a child for a year, while pound;120 will resource 50 for a year.

Foxhayes pupils are holding a no-uniform day and collecting pound;1 or 50p each. They are also writing to Laura Bush, wife of the American president, who visited their school 30 years ago when she qualified as a teacher.

Do you know anyone famous who might donate something signed that could be raffled? Are you holding a concert or event to raise money? True citizenship is not a dry statutory order, it is alive and vital. Children can help their fellow citizens in a far-off land and they will remember what they did throughout their life.

Ted Wragg is professor of education at Exeter University. For more teaching ideas and fundraising ideas, visit www.tes.co.ukafghanistanIf you don’t have access to the web, ask for copies of the ideas from UNICEF on 0870 606 3377. We want to publicise how schools are helping. Let us know what you are doing. Email: afghanappeal@ tes.co.ukFax: Ted Wragg on 020 7782 3205