Children's Education Charity Work

Breaking down barriers to learning

All children deserve a good education. But 1 in 3 children globally don’t even receive a quality primary education, and the consequences are far-reaching. Children who aren’t in school are at greater risk of exploitation, child marriage, and lower earning potential. For those who are in school, issues like poorly trained teachers, large class sizes and lack of learning materials mean that too many young people still cannot read or write.

As an education charity working globally, World Vision addresses barriers to education and works with communities and local governments to improve access and quality of the education children receive – making sure girls and children with disabilities are included. We focus on early years, primary and secondary education as well as involving families and communities in supporting children’s learning.

Access to quality education

For over 70 years, we've focused on giving girls and boys quality education, helping them to learn, grow and thrive.

Girl from Bangladesh smiling at and older woman

Making sure children can stay in school

Sumaiya, 17, is from a marginalised family in Jamalpur, Bangladesh. In her community, more than 52% of girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18.

However, Sumaiya’s story is different. Thanks to your donations, World Vision is working with communities in her area to help end child marriage.

She sought support and guidance from an Adolescent Club, an initiative led by World Vision. The club taught her essential life skills and helped her gain a deep understanding of her rights, which became instrumental in persuading her family to stop the marriage.

Now, she and her friends play a vital role as changemakers in the community, sharing what she learnt to empower other girls to know their rights and stay in school.

Teachers and two students smile at the camera outside a school while sat at desks

Ensuring equal access to education

Despite facing numerous challenges such as outdated infrastructure and a lack of electricity, children with special needs are empowered to reach their full potential in a small community in Eswatini.

World Vision is partnering with schools to ensure every child has access to quality education, including those living with disabilities. So far, we have donated 70 desks with chairs to a primary school, as part of a larger Disability Project with World Vision Austria and UNICEF, aiming to help five schools in Eswatini focusing on children with special needs.

The Disability Project will help 70 in-school children and youth with disabilities, and 25 out-of-school youth who face similar challenges between June 2023 to January 2025.

Group of children sit on the floor and learn from a World Vision a reading camp promoter

Engaging communities in supporting children's learning

We support communities to actively contribute to improving children’s literacy. One example is Paulo Eduardo, a World Vision reading camp promoter, who dedicates himself to guiding children in reading exercises. We work with communities to organise reading contests that provide a platform for students to shine by exhibiting reading and writing skills. Learning spaces go beyond the walls of the classroom.

Globally, we trained and supported 256,000 parents, teachers and community literacy facilitators, and over 656,000 educational resources were distributed in 2022.

Boy holding a pig and smiling at the camera

Helping youth to become entrepreneurs

Young men like Kelson from Malawi benefited from the Youth Ready Project, a youth club run by World Vision Malawi. He received training in organic farming and entrepreneurship, which empowered him to start his own successful piggery. The venture has improved his livelihood, and he explains, “From what I am doing I am able to pay school fees for my nephew and I have rented a piece of land for farming at $60.”

Sponsor a child today, improve their life forever

Help a child get an education that will allow them to experience the fullness of life.

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How does Child Sponsorship work?

Together, with your help, we can:

Improve the quality of education for young people of all ages and abilities

Train teachers, parents and caregivers to support children’s learning

Ensure children can become higher earning adults and educate their own children

We have supported children and young people to get a good education, even in the midst of the most challenging circumstances like Covid. Thanks to parents, volunteers and staff, children in Malawi were still accessing an education despite coronavirus.

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Discover more about our work

Learn more about our education programmes, including case studies, in our Impact Reports, or learn about the positive impact our child protection work has in keeping children in school, instead of being forced into labour or child marriage.