Every child needs a quality education to thrive.
When children can’t access basic education or their education is disrupted, the repercussions for their development can be long term. And when children don’t learn, they later struggle to find dignified livelihoods, engage as citizens and provide stable, safe homes for their future families.
ChildFund's goal is that children have access to quality education in safe and conducive learning environments. For children to thrive, they need to learn foundational academic and social-emotional skills from qualified teachers and supportive parents.
Through partnership and approaches rooted in research, we work with local and national education systems to transform themselves so they can ensure quality, holistic education that promotes children’s protection, lifelong learning and well-being.
I have a right to education, a right to shelter ... a right to food, a right to medical care. At the Child Rights Club, we discuss violations of children’s rights and. the solutions to them
— Mary, 12, president of a Child Rights Club in Uganda
Our Approach to Education
Academic and cognitive functions and emotional and social functions are interrelated: Children cannot learn when their physical or emotional well-being is compromised. But high rates of inequality, violence in and around schools, teacher shortages and lack of parental engagement pose barriers to children’s education worldwide.
ChildFund’s education programs take a holistic approach to supporting children’s academic and social-emotional development and their physical and emotional safety. We bring teachers, parents and caregivers together to learn how children’s protection and education are interlinked and form common expectations for their children's academic learning and supportive school communities. Using evidence-based principles, we support parents and caregivers to engage more deeply with their children’s academics, navigate the education system, and practice positive parenting (i.e., refraining from corporal punishment and increasing child supervision). We also train teachers on child-centered teaching approaches and alternatives to corporal punishment, and leverage technology to complement training, reinforce classroom instruction and reach children during crises like natural disasters or conflict.
Focus on Social-Emotional Learning
ChildFund prioritizes the social-emotional learning (or SEL) of children, caregivers and teachers within our programs across different sectors. Social-emotional skills, such as communication, emotional regulation, self-awareness, conflict resolution, relationship skills and decision-making are critical skills to support children’s learning and well-being. Research confirms that SEL skills are critical to positive academic, behavioral, employability and mental health outcomes. In addition, several of the essential job skills identified for 2023 are SEL skills.
Current programming in Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone aims to integrate SEL into the national education system through community-based SEL research and co-creation of a framework that is culturally relevant. The long-term objective is to mainstream SEL through supporting the Ministry of Education to develop teacher training within the two countries to improve children’s academic and psychological well-being.
Learn more about how we apply SEL approaches in climate action, working with children in crisis and with youth.
Systems Strengthening
We work in partnership with Ministries of Education to strengthen education systems to ensure that interventions align with national education plans and are sustainable and culturally appropriate. In line with our holistic approach, our education programs may also link the ministries working on education, gender and social welfare together. We also work directly with local implementing partners who are from the community and have long-term relationships with local officials, schools and the wider community. In addition to working with the government and local civil society, our education initiatives ensure meaningful participation of community members to engender greater ownership.
Learn More: Haja Shares her Thoughts on Education in Sierra Leone
Promoting Child and Youth Agency
Meaningful child and youth participation are cornerstones of ChildFund's education work. Education programs have a specific emphasis on promoting child agency through school extracurricular activities and governance structures, like children’s and youth clubs. ChildFund engages children and youth to provide input into program design, collect data and lead peer-to-peer activities.
For instance, ChildFund’s Zero Out of School Children project in The Gambia aims to increase access and retention of 67,000 primary age children in school through cash transfers, guidance to caregivers and teacher training, focusing on awareness raising. Learn More
Project Spotlight
Education for Protection and Well-being (EPW)
Education for Protection and Well-being, or EPW, is a program model that we implement in multiple countries and contexts — Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Uganda, the Philippines and The Gambia. Delivered through schools, EPW targets teachers, caregivers and school-aged children to cultivate physically, emotionally and psychologically healthy environments for children’s well-being and education. The program combines cognitive-behavioral skills training for teachers and caregivers and social-emotional learning and self-protection activities for children.
Learn MoreMeet Our Experts
Janella Nelson
Director, Education
Janella Nelson is the education director for ChildFund International, providing technical assistance in education to 23 countries in Asia, the Americas and Africa. Nelson brings 24 years of experience leading education interventions, including over five years designing and implementing programs in South Sudan, Eastern Tchad and Guinea and 18 years of providing technical leadership, proposal development and program backstopping in 21 countries. Her combined experience in humanitarian and development work has focused on social-emotional learning, basic and accelerated education, girls’ education, school-based violence prevention, parental engagement and teacher training.
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