1. According to statistics from the World Bank and UN, hundreds of millions of children worldwide lack access to education due to poverty, with girls disproportionately affected. 2. Several organizations were founded to address this issue through sustainable programs that provide educational access combined with skills training. These include CDI, Free the Children, and Pratham. 3. These organizations began as small, local initiatives and grew significantly through community-focused programs and volunteer networks to impact millions of children worldwide in their pursuit of universal education.

1. Educating the World’s Poorest Children

2. According to the World Bank, 1.3 billion people are living below the
extreme poverty line with an income of less than US$1.25/day. Another
2.6 billion live on less than US$2.00/day.

3. There are approximately
130 million children who
are not enrolled in
school (a
disproportionate number
of whom are girls), 100
million more who drop
out prematurely, and 900
million adults who are
illiterate.
- International Commission
on Education for the
Twenty-first Century’s
Report to UNESCO

4. In a vicious cycle, the conditions of
poverty keep children out of school
and the resulting lack of education
will keep them mired in poverty.
 Lack money for school fees
 Lack proximity to school
 Lack teachers/high rates of teacher
absenteeism
 Low quality of education
 Lack materials at school
 Teachers lack training

5. What would a quality education look like?
Quality education is affordable, accessible, gender-sensitive and responds to diversity. It
includes:
1. A safe and inclusive learner friendly environment
2. Competent and well-trained teachers who are knowledgeable in the subject matter and
pedagogy
3. An appropriate context-specific curriculum that is comprehensible and culturally,
linguistically, and socially relevant for the learners
4. Adequate and relevant materials for teaching and learning
5. Participatory methods of instruction and learning processes that respect the dignity of the
learner
6. Appropriate class sizes and teacher-student ratios
7. An emphasis on recreation, play, sport, and creative activities in addition to areas such as
literacy, numeracy, and life skills
- from the International Network for Education in Emergencies, Minimum Standards
for Education

6. Education For All (EFA)
 An International Initiative
launched in 1990 in Jomtien,
Thailand with a coalition of
national governments, civil society
organizations, and development
agencies (including UNESCO and
the World Bank) aimed at bringing
education to “every citizen in
every society”
 After a decade of slow progress,
the countries involved reaffirmed
their commitment to EFA in April
2000 in Dakar, Senegal
 In September 2000, 189 countries
committed to two of the six EFA
goals that were also considered
Millennium Development Goals

7. Six Education For All Goals
 Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education,
especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
 Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult
circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and
complete, free, and compulsory primary education of good quality.
 Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through
equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
 Achieve a 50 % improvement in adult literacy by 2015, especially for women,
and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
 Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and
achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls'
full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
 Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure the excellence of all
so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all,
especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.
(as listed on worldbank.org)

8. Millennium Development
Goals
(MDGs)
 In 2000, world leaders
gathered at the United Nations
headquarters in New York to
commit to a series of targets
aimed at reducing extreme
poverty by 2015.
 In 2002 the United Nations
officially launched its
Millennium Campaign to
inspire people around the
world to take action towards
achieving the eight goals

9. Goals #2 and #3 of the
Millennium Development Goals
listed here (the graphic was
clipped directly from the United
Nations MDG website) were
adapted from the Education For
All initiative goals and agreed to
by 189 countries in September
2000.

10. So how are we doing…?

11. The United Nations presents
Statistics on its website tracking
all of the MDGs. Here you can
see that great strides have been
made toward universal
enrollment in primary
education. However, there is
still a great deal of work to be
done, particularly in the areas
noted by the arrows on the left.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg

12. Here you can see the percentage
of students who complete
primary school. In those areas
noted by the blue arrows, the
number of “successful” students
is far too low.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg

13. It is one thing to enroll
children in primary school and
quite another to ensure that
they are getting a quality
education.
These numbers reveal the
literacy rates of 15-24 year-
olds.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg

14. According to the World Bank:
 “...huge challenges remain in 44 countries, 23 of
which are in sub-Saharan Africa.”
 “…girls are still at a disadvantage when it comes
to access and completion of primary and
secondary school.”
 “In many developing countries, less than 60
percent of primary school pupils who enroll in
first grade reach the last grade of schooling.
Additionally, pupil/teacher ratios in many
countries exceed 40:1 and many primary
teachers lack adequate qualifications.”

15. Throughout the world, nonprofit organizations have turned
their attention to tackling the problems of education. The
leaders of some of these organizations created large-scale,
systemic, and sustainable change.

16. Centre for Digital Inclusion (CDI)
 CDI was founded in 1995 by Rodrigo Baggio to promote digital inclusion in
emerging countries while maintaining a focus on entrepreneurship and
community action
Theory of Change
A root cause of poverty is the disempowerment that is exacerbated by a
complete lack of access to technology and training coupled with a lack of
opportunity. If we provide access to technology as well as training in
computer skills, entrepreneurship, and community action, then our clients
will be able to develop their own opportunities to use technology to
change their lives and their communities.
Growth & Impact
 The project began with two centres in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas and has
grown to approximately 965 self-managed and self-sustaining CDI
Community Centres in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico,
Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Jordan, and the U.K. with over 2000 trained
educators.
 To date they have helped more than 1.3 million at-risk youth and adults
 They have won over 60 international awards including from Ashoka, Skoll
Foundation, Schwab Foundation, UNESCO, and UNICEF

17. Rodrigo Baggio and CDI’s story…

18. Free the Children
 Founded in 1995 by then 12-year-old Craig Kielburger in response to the story of
another 12-year-old, IqbalMasih, who was killed for speaking out for children’s
rights in South Asia.
Theory of Change
We believe in creating a world in which all children are free to reach their full
potential and become agents of change. If we provide youth in developing
countries with access to education, water and sanitation, health services,
alternative income and livelihoods, and agriculture and food security (the five
pillars to ending poverty), then we will free those children to become agents of
their own change.
Growth & Impact
 Have built more than 650 schools and school-rooms, helped 30,000 women with
economic self-sufficiency, and shipped over $16,000,000 worth of medical
supplies overseas
 Currently have over 1.7 million youth (domestic and abroad) involved in their
programs
 Created Me to We, a social enterprise created to support the charity that has
donated over $5 million and employs 612 women full-time in the communities
they support.

19. Craig Kielburger and Free the Children’s story…

20. Pratham
 Pratham was started in 1994 by MadhavChavan to provide Mumbai’s inner-
city children with a preschool education.
Theory of Change
Every child has a right to a quality education. If we provide low-cost and
high-quality programs in education – especially at the early and primary
levels – and if we enlist and train dedicated volunteers to carry out these
programs, they will be replicable and sustainable enough to create
perceptible systemic change so that one day every child in India will have
access to a quality education.
Growth & Impact
 Pratham is now India’s largest NGO dedicated to achieving universal
preschool and primary education
 They provide employment for 10,000 women who work on a daily basis and
they have one trained volunteer in each of 308,671 villages in India (out of
a total of approximately 600,000).

21. Madhav Chavan and Pratham’s story…

22. These are just three examples of organizations working to provide quality education to the world’s
poorest children. There are thousands more – some are small-scale nonprofits, some are large-
scale social enterprises. Most begin as these three did, with the vision of one person seeking to
help where that help is needed the most.