The joys of learning are being brought to youngsters in a remote African village thanks to a group of dedicated student teachers from Bradford.

The four are spending six weeks on a placement in Gambia, helping to oversee the opening of a village's first proper primary school.

As well as helping its children with basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills, Jodie Pashley, 22, a former student at Baildon's Salt Grammar School, Louise Robinson, 21, of Wyke, Anna Devey, from Selby and Emma Cockburn, from Newcastle, are passing on teaching skills to Mandinari's elders.

The students - all in the third year of teaching degrees at Bradford College - are the first foreigners to take up residence in Mandinari and are having to live without most of the comforts they take for granted at home.

Far removed from Gambia's tourist resorts - a popular destination for thousands of British holidaymakers - the village has no phones or electricity, water has to be taken from a well and, with the temperature regularly topping 100 degrees, school finishes at 1pm.

The students had to raise several thousand pounds to finance their trip and crammed their luggage full of books, pens and other supplies for the new school, which has replaced a ramshackle hut as a classroom for almost 100 young villagers.

High standard state-funded education for the under-nines is not widespread in Gambia, but Mandinari now has its own purpose-built primary school.

Jodie's mother, Jackie Pashley, of Baildon, said: "She's really enjoying it and said they've been made to feel so welcome in the village.

"The school's quite basic - two classrooms and a library for 96 children - but it's a lot better than what they had before.

"They're learning Man-dinka, the local language, and have even been given Mandinkan names - for use in the village. Jodie is Binta, Louise is Fatou, Anna is Jarriatu and Emma is Amia.

"They've been teaching the children things like their ABCs and basic maths, but they have also been helping the village elders learn how to teach the children.

"I think they're very brave and obviously very dedicated because the village is very poor and extremely remote.''

Malcolm Johnson, a teacher training lecturer at Bradford College who visited the students while holidaying in Gambia, said: "Students go on placements to various different countries, but this is the first time any have had responsibility for helping to set up a brand new school.

"It's a brilliant opportunity for them and when I visited them, they had settled into the village lifestyle. They'd become part of the village and were so enthusiastic about the school.

"We're now hoping placements out there will become a regular thing and I'll certainly be telling next year's students about it.''

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