Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Fighting Poverty through Radio Education in Sierra Leone

radio education in sierra leoneEducation in Sierra Leone is a scarce resource. Located on the West African coast, Sierra Leone is a nation where, despite making steady progress since the decade-long civil war, poverty remains widespread. This is particularly true in rural areas where infrastructure is limited. As of 2019, the literacy rate (of those ages 15 and above) was 44%.

Background

Thousands of children grow up unable to read and write because school is inaccessible for them: perhaps the journey is too long, or their families require them to work. Crises only deepen the gap. During emergencies- health crises, natural disasters or conflict-schools often have to close, and families face displacement.

Yet from these forced closures emerged an unexpected opportunity. During the Ebola outbreak, radio education in Sierra Leone kept children learning at home. When COVID-19 hit, this innovation returned stronger than before- expanding across the country and making education more accessible than ever before.

During school closures, radio education initiatives became a lifeline and, seeing their effectiveness, the nation made a decision to continue running them as a means of combating illiteracy rates, particularly benefiting those children who are unable to attend school. Here are two such radio education initiatives in Sierra Leone.

Rising On Air

In 2020, Rising Academy Network launched Rising on Air (ROA), a free educational resource aiming to keep education alive in places where school access is fragile or interrupted. Foreign donors and international nonprofits provide funding for it, and it operates under a Creative Commons license, allowing partner organizations to freely use, adapt and broadcast its curricula via radio or phone, UNESCO reports. For families who do not own either a phone or a radio, ROA broadcasts the content on radios in local community centres.

ROA serves learners aged 3-23, covering early childhood, primary and secondary levels across subjects like literacy, mathematics, arts and health education. ROA content is modular and it delivers it in 20-week units, designing it to reach youths who struggle with marginalization the most in traditional schooling systems: women and girls, refugees and young people from rural communities, according to UNESCO.

Development Modules

ROA does not ignore the needs of teachers: it includes professional development modules for educators delivered in audio format. Importantly, ROA built the program deliberately for settings where reliable internet is weak or absent and digital infrastructure is scarce. Additionally, the scripts and audio lessons that ROA provides can be adapted, rerecorded in local languages and used flexibly.

The initiative operates at an extremely low cost-around $0.03 per learner annually, making it a scalable model for reaching children in crisis or hard-to-reach communities. Despite ROA’s several challenges (program awareness and reaching extremely rural areas), this adaptive, low-cost model is evolving and equipping Sierra Leone’s youth with vital literacy and numeracy skills.

Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient

In Sierra Leone, young girls are much more likely than boys to drop out of school, or never attend in the first place. Funded by the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient (EAGER) initiative is helping to transform the lives of out-of-school girls aged 13-17 who face barriers to education such as early marriage, teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence.

At the heart of the project is Wae Gyal Pikin Tinap (“When the Girl Child Stands”), a weekly radio program. Launched in 2020 and broadcast in the Krio language, the show aims to challenge negative attitudes that prevent girls from accessing, or remaining in, education. It educates young girls on sex, menstrual hygiene and family planning and encourages the belief that education is a pathway to opportunity.

The Story of Aminata

One episode shared the journey of Aminata, a young woman who uses a wheelchair and has built a thriving business selling toiletries and hygiene products. Hearing personal stories of accomplishment from girls their age in similar situations inspires and motivates the girls. Stories like Aminata’s have resonated across communities and sparked family discussions about girls’ education and potential.

EAGER believes that it is vital to teach young girls that they are deserving of opportunity and by encouraging them to tap into their talents and learn new skills, their self-belief becomes the foundation for success. Their message is simple but powerful: when girls stand tall, entire communities rise with them.

The Future

Across Sierra Leone, initiatives like Rising on Air and EAGER demonstrate how a simple, household item can become a powerful engine for change. By delivering free, accessible education to children and adolescents who might otherwise be excluded, these programmes equip young people with the skills needed to pursue employment and generate income.

Beyond that, EAGER demonstrates the ability to transform community attitudes: encouraging parents to value education, empowering girls to delay early marriage and inspiring families to invest in learning as a path to stability. Radio education in Sierra Leone has the potential to break the cycle of poverty by widening opportunity. In places where poverty once silenced potential, radio waves now carry a new sound of hope and possibility.

– Elysha Din

Elysha is based in Guildford, UK and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Nigeria: Children in Poverty

Education in NigeriaPoverty in Nigeria is one of the main barriers preventing children from accessing education, as many families cannot afford the school fees and materials needed for their children to attend school. As a result, countless children are out of school and trapped in cycles of poverty.

Children in Poverty

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 54% of children in Nigeria are multidimensionally poor, meaning they face more than one form of deprivation. World Bank data further shows that child poverty levels exceed adult poverty levels. Children in northern Nigeria face particularly high rates of poverty. Additionally, parents’ education levels strongly correlate with the likelihood of their families living in poverty and deprivation.

Children from impoverished households are less likely to receive a quality education because they cannot afford essential school materials. Data shows that underserved children in Nigeria achieve only 19.7% learning compared to 49.4% among children from wealthier families.

Children Attending Schools in Nigeria

Violence in northeastern Nigeria has created widespread insecurity, making it difficult for children in the region to access education. The conflict has forced schools to close and displaced 3.3 million people, nearly half of whom are children. For girls, the situation is even more challenging, as cultural norms often prioritize boys’ education.

The Education Policy and Data Center reports that 33% of primary school–aged children in Nigeria are out of school, with girls disproportionately affected. According to the Malala Fund, nearly five million adolescent girls and a total of 8.97 million girls are out of school in the country. This makes young girls more vulnerable to child marriage.

The INEMO Foundation

The INEMO Foundation is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that believes education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty in Nigeria. It directly supports families and schools to help keep children in school.

The INEMO Foundation was founded by Dr. Opeyemi Adeosun, the Executive Director and his wife, Sophia Inemotimi Adeosun, in Abuja, Nigeria. Adeosun was inspired by the novel “Only God Can Save Nigeria: What a Myth?”, which motivated him to help children in his community attend school in 2017.

After speaking with the novel’s author, Adeosun was invited to share his story on the author’s platform. This appearance attracted sponsors to his work, enabling him and his wife to help 62 children attend school in 2018. The couple officially registered the INEMO Foundation as an NGO in 2019 to continue and expand their efforts.

The Borgen Project spoke with Adeosun, who shared that he is a public health practitioner and wanted to help children in his community access education. “The education aspect has been the main part we focus on,” Adeosun said.

Reviving Schools, Restoring Hope

The Foundation’s latest project involved renovating a school in Keffi, Nasarawa State. “The Bank of Industry gave us some money to refurbish and renovate some of the classrooms,” Adeosun explained. “According to the school’s headmistress, since the renovations, they have seen more children enrolling and an increase in admissions.”

“That’s the biggest achievement we’ve had in any school,” says Adeosun, referring to the school’s renovation. The Foundation not only refurbished the school but also installed functional toilets and a reliable water supply for the community to use.

The Foundation also focuses on supporting local mothers and this approach has shown positive results. The financial assistance provided has helped cover school fees for many families. “Inflation has increased and many parents cannot afford this. So instead of the situation getting better, it’s actually getting worse,” Adeosun said.

“Poverty does not know religion, does not know ethnicity in Nigeria, but mostly those who are not educated, because the majority of the parents of these children in poverty I’m talking about are not educated,” says Adeosun as he expresses how uplifting education can be from poverty. For Adeosun, education in Nigeria is a key tool to help children escape poverty. So far, the Foundation has supported 300 children in returning to school.

Charities Working To Improve Education Access in Nigeria

Britain-Nigeria Educational Trust (BNET) is a charity that provides funding toward the advancement of education in Nigeria. The charity aims to support the training and development of teachers in Nigeria while also maintaining funding for other projects in education.

The BNET Trust has helped many schools and one of the projects it has given funding to is the Pacelli School for Blind and Partially Sighted Children. BNET’s funding has been significant as it enabled the school to buy a JAWS screen reader for the blind and partially sighted children. This has given children better resources fitted to their needs.

The Malala Fund is an international organization that aims to provide quality education for every girl. Founded by activist Malala Yousafzai, the Fund invests in local education advocates who can help to shape policies for girls’ education.

The priorities for the Malala Fund regarding Nigeria are to strengthen the right to education for girls who are married and young mothers. Another priority is to enhance the funding for girls in secondary schools. The organization wants to increase education funding at the federal and state levels so that girls in Nigeria receive better education.

UNICEF has reported that one in four Nigerian children is out of school and deserves to be educated. The charity has found that 73% of children aged between 7 and 14 do not have foundational reading skills. There is a significant gap between primary and secondary schools, with a lack of infrastructure, leaving only one secondary school for every five primary schools.

UNICEF aims to reach several goals for education in Nigeria by 2027 and one of these is to give 10 million children access to education. Another aim is to provide 4.8 million children with access to vital learning materials and for 22 states to increase and scale up their approach to literacy and numeracy learning.

– Alice Haston

Alice is based in Liverpool, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Dr. Opeyemi Adeosun

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Vocational Training in Paraguay: Empowering the Next Generation

Vocational Training in ParaguayParaguay is a South American country that, despite experiencing significant growth in the last decade, continues to struggle with wealth inequality and poverty. While the national poverty rate halved between 2003 and 2022, recent stagnation in economic growth and opportunity, worsened by a slow post-pandemic recovery, inflation and climate-related shocks, reveals the structural inequalities that impede future progress. It also highlights the vulnerability of a considerable part of the population.

About 32.6% of Paraguay’s rural population lives in multidimensional poverty—a significantly higher rate than the national average. In these regions, communities often face challenges accessing water and proper sanitation. Youth in poverty-stricken areas often have limited access to secondary and formal education. Generally, lower education rates create limited opportunities and heighten an individual’s likelihood of experiencing poverty.

Only 61.3% of Paraguay’s population has completed primary education, and 34.4% have completed secondary. With limited education, much of Paraguay’s youth remain unemployed, with rates reaching 14.1% in 2024.

Many young people turn to agriculture and farming to get by. Yet this industry is vulnerable to climate-related shocks, such as increasingly frequent droughts. These effects are often more detrimental due to the lack of investment, infrastructure, and access rural communities have to technology and financial support. This creates an entrenched cycle of poverty that is difficult to escape.

Vocational Training for the Youth

Vocational training in Paraguay plays a crucial role in sustainably breaking cycles of poverty. It offers education, opportunity and job readiness to groups previously marginalized and excluded. Vocational training provides hands-on education focused on the development of practical skills that often fill gaps left by limited access to formal education.

This approach is especially valuable because it targets specific groups and inequalities. In regular education streams, Indigenous women have the lowest average length of schooling at 3.5 years. Vocational training for these groups is often the only tangible pathway toward economic independence, skill development and social inclusion.

Fundación Paraguaya

Fundación Paraguaya is a leading social enterprise and nonprofit organization that offers vocational training and sustainable poverty alleviation initiatives across Paraguay, focusing on marginalized rural communities and socio-economically disadvantaged youth. Founded in 1985 by Martin Burt, the organization’s multidimensional approach—combining education, finance and self-assessment tools—aims to “activate the entrepreneurial potential of families” to eliminate poverty and help them “live with dignity.”

The organization’s “Self-Sustaining Agricultural Schools” program offers classroom-style learning alongside hands-on agricultural enterprises. Students have access to secondary-level education while managing real-life businesses, such as poultry farms, bakeries and gardens, which cover school expenses. Upon graduation, students have practical skills in business management, agriculture and entrepreneurship, improving their employability.

Another facet of the organization’s vocational training is its “Entrepreneurial Education” program. This initiative encourages and empowers marginalized youth groups. For example, Fundación Paraguaya conducts a Youth Ambassadors exchange program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education. This program grants full scholarships to young people to participate in training related to leadership, social enterprise and community development projects.

The Impact of Vocational Training

Fundación Paraguaya’s model demonstrates the value of vocational training in sustainably alleviating poverty and creating opportunities for youth. In 2024, the organization reported major progress in reducing extreme poverty, which fell from 10% to 3%, and income poverty, which dropped from 54% to 33%, among families involved in its programs. These initiatives have reached more than 200,000 youth members.

Looking Ahead

Vocational training empowers the next generation of Paraguayans by equipping them with sustainable methods to create livelihoods and opportunities. Unlike traditional aid approaches, this hands-on model positions young people as active agents of change rather than passive recipients of support. By fostering skills such as entrepreneurship, self-reliance and technical expertise, vocational training can help break poverty cycles and promote sustainable development through a skilled and resilient workforce.

– Mia Keen

Mia is based in London, UK and focuses on Business and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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The Fight against Poverty in Somalia

poverty somaliaSince 2002, poverty in Somalia has increased by an estimated 30%, with severe droughts, ongoing conflict and rising inflation making the Northeast African country increasingly harder to live in, with 67% of Somalian people living in multidimensional poverty – meaning that low income affects all aspects of their lives. Despite this, there are intense methods being put into place to fight this poverty, showing hope for a future nation without poverty.

The Somalia Household Integrated Budget Survey (SIHBS)

This national survey, conducted in 2022, reached more than 7,200 households and helped in gathering crucial information for the Somalia National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS). The 2023 survey collected data on employment and household income, along with livelihood, land ownership and technology usage, for the government to see the data for the average person’s life.

This survey showed that approximately 70% of people were living on less than $2.15 per day, with a significant increase in poverty in rural areas, all information which the government could use to prioritise certain, more significant areas of poverty in Somalia.

Improvements in Infrastructure

The government’s strong efforts to improve Infrastructure are also helping to improve poverty in Somalia through means such as the Electricity Act of 2023. Implementing National Water Resource Strategies and promoting rainwater harvesting in rural areas, and regulating energy licensing and tariffs, providing easier access to lower-costing electricity for over 1 million Somalian people.

Another method was through the Somalia Urban Resilience Project, Phase 2 (SURP II), which aimed to improve urban resilience and infrastructure in large cities, such as Mogadishu and Kismayo, by uplifting local governments and pushing economic stability. SURP II exceeded their own expectations, more than 1 million people received improved access to climate-resistance infrastructure as well as improved support for women and children.

Increased Focus on Health and Education

With the government’s increased focus on education and health care, poverty in Somalia is seeing a gradual decrease. This funding has helped to support Street Child, a group that works to improve school attendance while tackling the high infant mortality rates. With this added funding, more than 33,000 children received high-quality education, as well as a significant increase in literacy rates.

In addition, the Baxnaano cash transfer program, started by the government in 2019, provides life-changing help to poor and vulnerable households through $20 cash transfers per month. In 2022, 500,000 people received monetary help, allowing 40% of recipients to access SIM cards, and education.

Whilst poverty in Somalia is definitely still strong, both the government and the public are putting strong efforts into fighting this difficult battle, and, slowly, appear to be winning.

– Daisy McDonald

Daisy is based in Nottingham, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Education: Mitigating Poverty in Ghana

Education: Mitigating Poverty in Ghana The regional and economic makeup of Ghana reflects a divide in prosperity. Living standards in the rural north remain poorer than those in the urban south, and the roots of poverty in Ghana extend as far back as British colonial governance decades ago. Citing data from 2013 to 2017, a 2021 academic paper by a Ghanaian researcher found a link between education and reduced poverty levels within the nation. In exploring this connection between education and poverty reduction, The Borgen Project spoke with Kwabena Nkansah, a Ghana-born professor of economics at the University of Alicante in Spain.

Poverty in Ghana

During British colonial rule, governance prioritized labor in southern Ghana, leaving the north largely underdeveloped. While southern regions benefit from urban infrastructure and employment opportunities, a World Bank report shows that northern Ghana primarily relies on agriculture, making the region more rural and poverty-prone. In addition, recent economic policy has favored crops grown in the south over those in the north, widening the gap in living standards. As a result, the most recent poverty rate recorded in 2016 found that 23.4% of Ghanaians were living in poverty. Though this rate fell from 51.1% in 1991, a 2024 academic journal found that households relying on agricultural labor still make up the majority of the nation’s most impoverished.

A Solution: Education

With national attention focused on reducing poverty, the 2021 study found a correlation between higher living standards and education. Ghana’s education system includes preschool, primary school, high school and tertiary or university education. The study found that households with tertiary education decreased from 7.6% to 5.24% between 2013 and 2017. During this period, the number of Ghanaians living in extreme poverty increased by 200,000. The study concluded that the decline in university education was a major factor in the rise of poverty during those years.

The data also showed that poverty in Ghana is primarily a rural issue, linked to lower levels of educational attainment and long travel times to reach schools. Moreover, obtaining a university education reduced the likelihood of experiencing poverty by 22.5%.

Domestic Policy and International Aid

To improve education access, the Ghanaian government and international organizations have implemented various initiatives. In speaking with The Borgen Project, Professor Nkansah mentioned several national pro-education policies aimed at reducing poverty: “We have the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), National Functional Literacy Programme (NFLP), Free Senior High School Initiative, School Feeding Programme and STEM.”

Nkansah also emphasized the positive impact of international assistance on Ghana’s education system. “This dates back to the colonial days till now,” he said. “Catholic and Basel Missions still own and run many public schools in Ghana. There was also the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) benefit initiative by the IMF around 2007–08, which helped in the construction of many schools.”

In addition to national and international support, the government has launched scholarship programs. “There have been scholarship initiatives like the COCOBOD scholarship and the IPNC scholarship, both run by the government, which have helped many children from less privileged backgrounds access quality education and improve their living standards,” Nkansah said.

Progress Requires Quality

Given the domestic and international efforts to expand education in Ghana, World Bank data show exponential growth in university enrollment over the last four decades. In 2023, tertiary enrollment stood at 22%, up from 12% in 2013. However, Nkansah and the 2021 study noted that access alone is not enough to reduce poverty.

The study found that higher levels of education have a greater impact on poverty reduction than secondary education. It suggested that the government review existing barriers to university access and improve school-to-work transitions. Nkansah also highlighted the importance of maintaining quality in education. “Although in recent times there has been a tremendous increase in educational access due to several policy interventions, the trade-off in terms of quality still lingers,” he said. “If educational systems are designed in a way that heavily relies on quantity and not quality and also train students for white-collar jobs instead of skill orientation, then there is a problem.”

Despite the challenges, Nkansah added, “Overall, I must say that educational access has improved a lot relative to early years after independence.”

Looking Forward

With quality education proven to reduce poverty in Ghana, one recent initiative by the Jacobs Foundation, an international NGO, is training the nation’s teachers. The System Change Architecture for Learning Excellence (SCALE) program, in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Education, aims to train more than 72,000 teachers and improve learning in over 15,000 institutions.

As educational quality becomes a growing focus for Ghana’s government, the results are promising. Though no recent data have been published on the national poverty rate, Ghana’s unemployment rate stood at 3.01% in 2024, down from 10.46% in 2000. The country’s declining unemployment rate and rising university enrollment suggest that as long as Ghana continues to prioritize accessible, quality education, its efforts to reduce poverty will continue to succeed.

– Piper Aweeka

Piper is based in Alicante, Spain and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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The Future of Higher Education in Ghana

Higher Education in GhanaHigher education in Ghana is entering a transformative phase. The University of Ghana has made international headlines for well supported achievements that will aid in shaping its future. Beyond the headlines, important debates about academic freedom, authority and integrity are shaping the future of Ghanaian universities. Together, these developments give insight into a sector full of promise, progress and the determination to secure a stronger place in the global academic stage.

Global Spotlight on the University of Ghana

In 2025, the University of Ghana achieved a new milestone when it was included in the Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings. The university ranked first in Ghana, second in West Africa and 187th worldwide.

For students and policymakers, this was more than just a symbolic win. It was proof that Ghanaian research is able to compete on the global stage. The University of Ghana offers many science opportunities, which combine insights from different academic fields to address complex problems, and is increasingly seen as the future for applying students. Many statistics still suggest that Ghana’s student poverty rate is still on the rise, with a 2024 report finding that around 60.6% of Ghanaian students experienced some type of food or finance related insecurity.

The University of Ghana’s strong showing suggests that the country’s education system plays an important role in directing who experiences challenges. In many ways, this recognition is both a reward for a call to strengthen Ghana’s place in international academia and a view into the changes Ghanaians want to see.

Making Research Accessible to the Public

Although the University of Ghana has well shown its national standing, a growing concern amongst Ghanaian academics is access to research outputs. Professor Eric Appau Asante of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology emphasized the need for universities to make their research available to the public.

Too often, valuable findings remain hidden in academic journals and institutional archives, accessible only to a small circle of scholars. Asante argued that research should flow outward, supporting local industries and should inform everyday citizens. By 2026, researchers expect around 6.9 million Ghanaians to live in extreme poverty. In a country eager to accelerate growth, open access to knowledge would be transformative. It would allow research to move beyond classrooms, and directly shape economic progress. With roughly 18% of residents living in extreme poverty, as shown through science researched based programs at the University of Ghana, the country has the ability to go further with its support in the academic sector for those who deserve to have the ability to support Ghana’s innovative future.

Understanding Autonomy and Academic Freedom Under Pressure

A study published on the Society for Research into Higher Education blog revealed that institutional autonomy is one of the strongest predictors of academic freedom. Autonomy allows universities to govern themselves and ensure that faculty can teach and research without interference. However, the rise of corporate models is increasingly challenging to this freedom, which emphasizes efficiency and profitability. While these models can bring structure, they also risk eroding the independence that makes universities unique centers of free thought. Sought after institutions like the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology both have high fees for enrollment and tuition, making it difficult for low income students to want to join in the first place, even with outstanding marks.

Leadership diversity further complicates the issue. The same study found that women remain underrepresented in leadership roles, and men and women often perceive autonomy and freedom differently. If higher education is to live up to its promise, leadership must reflect a broader range of voices. Genuine academic freedom cannot thrive without inclusivity and shared authority.

Confronting Access to Education

Even with the many accomplishments that higher education in Ghana has achieved, poverty still shapes who is allowed to access said education. Even when students qualify academically, tuition, housing and textbook costs limit their opportunities. Many government and nongovernment oriented organizations have been supporting students for this important reason. NGOs like The Young Achievers Foundation in Ghana (YAF Ghana) and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program support Ghanaian students with financial sustainability.

YAF Ghana has supported students wanting to be admitted and has raised around $80 million USD in total scholarships raised for its students. YAF Ghana also reports a 99% graduation rate among its 300 plus candidates through 45 colleges and universities across Ghana. This innovative group drives home the importance of how targeted investment can lead to high success rates for low income youth. Like YAF Ghana, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program works across Ghana and greater Africa to enable access to higher education of 40,000 plus candidates through both full and partial scholarships, with around 70% of those supported by the program being young women.

 Both YAF Ghana and the Mastercard Foundation encourage low-income students to strive for success through scholarships connected to universities or provide programs that help students to attain needed leadership skills. Both of these initiatives show the ways in which overcoming financial challenges can be brought into a new light through community, which Ghana has shown it needs more of.

A Well Adapting Field

Put together, these developments reveal an intersection of successes throughout higher education in Ghana. Ghana’s universities are:

  • Gaining global recognition for excellence in research
  • Confronting challenges around autonomy, inclusivity, and authority
  • Exploring ways to make research more accessible to society
  • Working to safeguard integrity and credibility in an era of global risks
  • Creating opportunities for the students that need it most

The University of Ghana’s world ranking is a milestone worth celebrating, but it also highlights what is at stake. True progress requires weaving together excellence, autonomy, inclusivity, openness and integrity into a shared vision for the future.

Looking to the Future

The University of Ghana’s world ranking is a milestone worth celebrating, but it also highlights what is at stake. True progress requires weaving together excellence, autonomy, inclusivity, openness and integrity into a shared vision for the future. Numbers even project the number of higher education institutions from 265 known institutions in 2021 to more than 300 in 2025. If Ghana can find the right combination, its universities will not only continue to climb the international rankings but also emerge as insights into national development. By creating knowledge through programs, encouraging innovation and supporting social changes, higher education in Ghana can be one of the country’s key strengths in the years ahead.

– Abigail Ariyo

Abigail is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Unsplash

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Left Behind: Refugee Education in Jordan

Refugee Education in JordanHundreds of thousands of refugee children in Jordan remain cut off from their right to education, not because they lack the will to learn but because layers of bureaucratic red tape block them. Human Rights Watch reports that schools often ask families to present documents that many refugees cannot obtain, such as valid legal residency papers or certified school transcripts from the countries they fled. For those who escaped war or persecution with little more than the clothes on their backs, these requirements become impossible to meet. Hidden administrative fees and long processing delays further complicate the process, leaving even the most determined parents struggling to get their children into classrooms.

Jordan’s Struggles with Access to Education

Nearly one in three Syrians registered with the United Nations (U.N.) refugee agency in Jordan—about 226,000 of 660,000—are children between the ages of 5 and 17. In 2017, more than 80,000 of them did not receive any form of formal education. These obstacles keep countless children, particularly those from Syria and Sudan, out of classrooms and expose them to greater risks of child labor or early marriage.

A mother of an 8-year-old Syrian refugee student, Muhannad, shared her story: “I had a lot of difficulties with Muhannad, especially when he was diagnosed with autism. He didn’t like going to school, and the fact that teachers weren’t trained to deal with his case made it more difficult.”

Many families fled from Syria without official documentation or necessary civil documents, making enrolment for education nearly impossible. Additionally, the Jordanian Interior Ministry requires Syrian refugees to obtain a “Service Card,” which is often tied to a specific district. This creates an issue for families who have to move around to find work. 

Furthermore, Jordanian education authorities prohibit the enrollment of children who have been out of school for three years or more. This rule makes it extremely difficult for children affected by conflict and unable to secure the required documents to access basic education.

The culmination of these factors, along with asynchronous societal changes, has caused societal and economic shifts in Jordan to outpace the education system’s ability to adapt. Furthermore, significant policy and data gaps persist, particularly regarding unregistered refugees, creating a lack of comprehensive understanding of their educational needs.

Jordan’s Innovative Double-Shift School Model

Despite hosting one of the world’s largest Syrian refugee populations, the government, backed by international partners, has introduced “Double Shift” schools. Introduced in the 1960s, this pragmatic educational system addresses overcrowding within the education sector, simplifies registration procedures and significantly expands access to public education. This approach reflects the 2015 U.N.-sponsored Refugee Response and Resilience Plan (3RP), which promotes inclusive education by offering access to a wider curriculum, additional resources, teacher training and national accreditation of established education systems, improving educational experiences for Syrian refugees.

The Double Shift system not only eases access to education for both Syrian refugees and Jordanian children but also provides hundreds of thousands of students with a sense of normalcy by utilizing existing infrastructure and requiring minimal new financial resources.

The Double Shift Model: Implementation

The Double-Shift School Model is the most notable strategy for keeping refugee education in Jordan accessible. Under this system, the regular school day is divided into two separate sessions: Jordanian nationals typically attend classes in the morning, while Syrian refugee students take their lessons in the afternoon. By running two full school days back-to-back in the same buildings, the Ministry of Education makes far better use of existing facilities, significantly reducing the need for costly new construction or additional school sites.

This arrangement not only allows tens of thousands of refugee children to receive a formal education that might otherwise be out of reach but also helps relieve overcrowding, maintain smaller class sizes and keep local communities more cohesive. International partners such as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have provided teacher training, materials and funding to sustain the model, demonstrating how targeted collaboration can turn a severe capacity crisis into an opportunity for inclusive education.

The Future of Refugee Education in Jordan

Greater funding for the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Education Cannot Wait and similar programs, combined with sustained diplomatic engagement, could encourage governments to remove paperwork barriers and adopt inclusive education policies. These efforts can improve infrastructure, enhance teacher training and strengthen the Ministry of Education’s capacity for data-driven planning and crisis-responsive systems.

Jordan has made significant strides in providing wider access not only to its citizens but also to the influx of Syrian refugees by implementing the “Double Shift” programs and “cash for education” systems. Organizations such as UNICEF provide cash-based assistance to families, helping them cover the costs of transportation, uniforms and school supplies, thereby encouraging and incentivizing children to stay in school.

– Carise Wallbank

Carise is based in the United Kingdom and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Classrooms for Malawi: Poverty Alleviation Through Education

Classrooms for MalawiMalawi, located in Southeastern Africa, is considered one of the world’s most underserved countries. About 70% of the population lives on less than $2.15 per day; this figure is expected to increase to 71.3% soon.

The Borgen Project spoke with James Kelly, the current chair and a founding member of the Scotland-based charity Classrooms for Malawi. This charity has been operating since 2012 and its prime aim is alleviating poverty through education for the children of Malawi.

Education in Malawi

Primary school education became free in Malawi in 1994. Since then, an additional estimated 1.6 million children have been enrolled in schools. However, the funding for the additional classrooms needed to accommodate this enrollment increase has not matched the need. The lack of classroom space has been a factor in causing a high rate of children leaving education early.

Only 58% of primary school children in Malawi will finish the first four years of education and only 31% will make it to secondary school. Only 8% of students will complete their schooling entirely. From these statistics, girls make up 14.9%. Girls will often leave school during the vital years of their education due to numerous factors, including child marriages, teen pregnancies and the need to help with responsibilities at home.

About Classrooms for Malawi

Through renovating and building classrooms and other facilities and providing other forms of support, Classrooms for Malawi contributes to strengthening the country’s education system. These efforts align with the Malawi Government’s Agenda 2063 and the National Education Standards. The organization aims to expand access to quality education and create supportive learning environments that improve school retention rates.

It also works to achieve its goals by fostering sustainable partnerships between schools, groups and communities in the U.K. and those in Malawi. Kelly told The Borgen Project that the charity began as a group of friends united by a shared goal: to help address Malawi’s chronic shortage of classrooms, which had forced many children to learn under trees. The first group traveled to Malawi in June 2013, working in three locations—Misesa Primary School, Namulenga Girls Primary School and Mang’omba Primary School.

While preparing for that trip, the friends decided to formally establish the charity to ensure their support for Malawi would not be a one-off effort. Since that first visit, other groups have reached out to the charity to support its work, either by organizing trips to Malawi or by raising funds for Classrooms for Malawi’s projects and programs. When carrying out improvements, the charity hires local builders and purchases all materials within Malawi. This approach creates jobs for local communities and strengthens the local economy.

The Impact of Classrooms for Malawi

Since 2012, the charity has worked in 50 schools across 11 Districts in Malawi. These consist of 20 nurseries, 24 primary and six secondary schools. More than 36,000 children are now being educated daily in these 50 partner schools. They benefit from the many improvements the charity has provided to their educational environment.

Classrooms for Malawi’s work is guided by its Strategic Plan, which sets out the charity’s ambitions and actions. The plan is structured around nine pillars: Pillars 1–8 are drawn from the Malawi Government’s priorities for improving schools, while Pillar 9 is based on the Scotland Malawi Partnership’s framework for building sustainable partnerships.

The pillars include: providing safe, accessible and quality classrooms; improving water, sanitation and hygiene facilities; supplying adequate furniture and learning materials; encouraging the creation of school gardens; offsetting carbon emissions from the charity’s activities; ensuring daily school feeding programs; and fostering greater community involvement in education.

Building Lasting Classrooms in Malawi

Kelly explained that the charity aims to ensure all interventions are sustainable and well-supported. Structural improvements are carried out to a high standard to withstand Malawi’s harsh weather and to ensure the buildings last for many years.

Every project must be fully funded before it begins to guarantee completion. Each initiative is commissioned in full consultation with the local education department to align with existing school development plans. Once completed, the organization hands over the projects to the Education Department, strongly encouraging community ownership and care.

During his interview with The Borgen Project, Kelly shared an overview of one of the charity’s current projects. Classrooms for Malawi is converting a classroom at Nansomba Secondary School into a textile and design classroom. The renovation includes supplying materials and sewing machines, while the Education Department will appoint a new teacher so the subject can be added to the school’s curriculum.

This classroom will equip students with valuable life skills, such as using sewing machines to make and mend clothes. Importantly, it will also teach girls how to produce reusable sanitary pads, helping to improve hygiene and sanitation practices.

The Future

Speaking with Kelly, he noted that the challenges the charity faces in achieving its goals can at first seem insurmountable. Conditions in Malawi, such as funding shortages, high inflation, storm damage and fuel scarcity, are especially difficult for local schools and communities. His advice was not to let these ongoing challenges discourage people from supporting and helping their friends in Malawi.

Despite the challenges, the people of Malawi are renowned for their resilience and happy dispositions. They are welcoming and happy to share what they have. Malawi is known as “The Warm Heart of Africa.” It is also one of the most beautiful countries in the world and is a hidden gem for travelers.

– Katie Gray

Katie is based in Glasgow, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: James Kelly

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Being Poor in Afghanistan

Being Poor in AfghanistanImagine receiving the only nutritious meal of the day at school, or a mother finally having access to a skilled birth attendant after walking miles to reach a mobile health clinic. For millions of Afghans, these scenarios represent not just hope, but the tangible reality of one of the world’s most successful humanitarian responses.

Being poor in Afghanistan has reached unprecedented levels, with 64.9% of the population now living in multidimensional poverty and 85% surviving on less than one dollar per day. An estimated 15.8 million people face acute food insecurity, while 23.7 million people require humanitarian assistance to survive. Despite these overwhelming challenges and being poor in Afghanistan becoming increasingly widespread, international organizations created an unprecedented network of support that reached 22.4 million Afghans in 2024.

Revolutionary Food Programs Transform Lives

The World Food Programme (WFP) revolutionized food assistance in Afghanistan, reaching 11.8 million people through a groundbreaking approach that stimulates local economies while fighting hunger. Rather than simply distributing food, 42% of the 1.3 million monthly beneficiaries receive cash-based transfers, allowing families to purchase goods from local vendors and inject vital resources directly into Afghan communities.

The program’s school feeding initiative provides children their only nutritious meal each day. School feeding activities create powerful incentives for families to keep children in school with positive impacts on school participation and learning that help break cycles of poverty through education.

Medical Miracles in Remote Regions

Doctors Without Borders pioneered mobile health care solutions, bringing advanced medical care directly to Afghanistan’s most isolated communities. In 2023, the organization performed 15,200 surgical interventions and assisted 45,260 deliveries across nine projects in eight provinces, maintaining 130 to 200% bed occupancy rates due to overwhelming demand.

The organization’s teams extend life-saving medical services to populations who previously had no access to professional care, with very high bed occupancy rates, sometimes with two or even three patients sharing one bed due to overwhelming demand. More than 50% of MSF’s medical staff are women, creating culturally appropriate care that dramatically improved maternal and child health outcomes.

Children’s Health Revolution Shows Dramatic Results

UNICEF achieved remarkable success protecting Afghan children through comprehensive health and education programs. In 2024, humanitarian efforts expanded to treat 2.9 million acutely malnourished children and pregnant women, representing a significant increase from 2.2 million in 2023. The organization vaccinated 704,002 children against measles and treated 272,791 children for severe wasting in the first half of 2024.

Health care access has expanded significantly with 11.6 million people receiving primary health care services by 2023, up from 7.9 million in 2021. This is driven by the increase in humanitarian health facilities from 422 in January 2022 to 908 in December 2023.

International Commitment Drives Innovation

Major international donors maintained their commitment despite global economic challenges. The United States provided $280 million to WFP in 2024 through USAID, enabling the organization to support more than 3 million people with life-saving food assistance. The United Kingdom reached 2,715,000 people with humanitarian assistance, including water and sanitation, food, nutrition, health and cash transfers between April 2024 and March 2025.

The transformation occurring across Afghanistan proves that even in the world’s most challenging environments, coordinated humanitarian action can deliver extraordinary results. Through innovative programming, local partnerships and sustained international commitment, organizations are building foundations for long-term recovery while showing that with creativity, dedication and adequate resources, no community is beyond help. However, severe funding gaps remain, with only 31.4% of the required $3.06 billion received by October 2024.

Despite these challenges, the fact that humanitarian organizations reached 22.4 million people in 2024 demonstrates what is possible when the international community works together to address the crisis of being poor in Afghanistan.

– Jawad Noori

Jawad is based in London, UK, and focuses on Technology and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pexels

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Higher Education in Barbados

Higher Education in BarbadosBarbados has a high literacy rate of 99% among its youth and adult population. This can be due to several factors but the main impact is from the government investing in the education system. In fact, in 2023, 12.5% of the government expenditure went to educational institutions across the island. From primary to secondary education, students receive resources to complete their learning regardless of financial challenges. These investments set students up for pursuing trade schools or higher education, which allows a range of opportunities for future careers. For some students, this can be the difference between independence and living in poverty. Higher education in Barbados offers promises for personal development, critical thinking skills and job stability.

Poverty and Education in Barbados

Barbados has a population of more than 282,000 within its borders. About 9% of its population lives in poverty on less than $6.85 a day. This percentage has only slowly decreased from 11.1% in 2016. The country also depends on tourism, foreign services and international businesses.

The World Bank has expressed concern for education in the Caribbean. It argues that teaching methods within the Caribbean remain traditional and have not caught up to the 21st-century demands. In addition, these countries, like Barbados, do not have the spending potential to implement devices and technological screens in classrooms as opposed to whiteboards and markers. Schools also have poor internet access and students do not have access to the necessary devices to gain a gateway into the internet age.

Barbados is also ill-equipped to work around climate events and diseases that affect the classrooms. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, students struggled with online schooling, with some even having no access to devices or the internet altogether. With the lack of wider access to technology and digital infrastructure, there is a worry for a lack in media literacy and critical thinking within the youth population. There is an effort to mitigate these circumstances, however.

Better Life Barbados

Better Life Barbados is an initiative created in 2023 to tackle the nation’s biggest issues. Its vision is that by 2030, poverty will decrease by 50%, home ownership will have increased among Barbadians and wider access to financial services on the island. Its six main missions include achieving a clean and sustainable state, equitable access to clean water and nutritious food and Digital inclusion in a resilient society.

It aims for a digital infrastructure that provides service access for all its citizens. This mission will aid students from primary to tertiary education to gain access to the internet and devices at home and also within their schools. Creating access and inclusion within the digital space for students and teachers will improve the literacy and numeracy rates across institutions. In addition, teachers can transition from traditional teaching methods to a mixed method of teaching as well.

Ministry of Education 

The higher education system in Barbados is well known for its emphasis on inclusivity, primarily led by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education is the primary overseer of education from the infant level to the tertiary level. Established in 1974, the ministry is responsible for the development and implementation of programs in relation to education, technology and vocational training. The education system offers a variety of options for students to complete school. There are public schools available, which do not require any school fees. For secondary education, which hosts forms one through five, there are fees for books and resources utilized during the students’ education.

The Ministry administers the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam for Form 5 students interested in higher education. It is a standardized school-leaving exam, provided by the Caribbean Examinations Council. Tertiary education institutions utilize the exam in accepting applicants pursuing post-secondary studies. In order to gain entry to the higher education of Barbados, applicants must have the CSEC or a General Certificate of Education. There is a total of four tertiary institutions that fall within the Ministry of Education in the country.

Tertiary Education

The Ministry of Education offers scholarships and grants to students, based on financial need, to access higher education in Barbados. It is in addition to fee waivers to accommodate students who cannot afford book and resource fees. These waivers are provided for studies at Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (SJPP) and the Barbados Community College.

SJPP offers the flexibility of choosing programs during the day and night. The school hosts a range of trades, such as building and engineering, agriculture and electrical trades. Similarly, Barbados Community College hosts courses in academic and vocational areas. It covers the arts, sciences and education. In addition, BCC offers associate degrees, post-graduate and post-associate degrees.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) comprises three campuses in the Caribbean. The three campuses are the Mona campus in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Cave Hill in Barbados. The university provides diplomas and certificates at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It offers majors such as medicine, computer science, science and technology, humanities and more.

Erdiston Teachers’ College is an institution that provides training to participate in the education system. It gives this training to graduate and non-graduate teachers. Students can attend it after completing secondary education.

Financial Aid

The Ministry of Education governs these four institutions and provides financial aid for students. However, financial expenses often shift from government to government. Before 2014, the government of Barbados took on the bills of tertiary education students of UWI on the island. Post 2014, the government decided to finance only 80% of students’ college education, which caused 20% of fees and costs to be remained. The following academic years at the University of the West Indies saw a significant decline of undergraduate students from 6,159 in 2014 to more than 3,000 in 2017 to 2018. This shows that students struggled to take on these expenses in order to remain in college. In May 2018, after elections ceased, the government fully resumed tertiary education fees but the damage had already been done. Enrollment years since have been unable to meet previous years pre-2014.

The island hosts a multitude of degrees offered at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Undergraduate students can aim for associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, diplomas and certificates. Postgraduate degrees offered are a Master’s degree, a Research Master’s and a Doctoral degree. There is a constant need for innovative skills and experiences within the digital landscape. University students are able to be considered for these new jobs that provides a consistent source of income and an increased salary. Through financial funding of public universities and scholarship aid, Barbados is asserting a workforce that contributes to the country’s improvement.

Looking Ahead

Barbados champions its competitive education from childhood to tertiary education. Even though the unemployment rate as of 2023 hung around 7.9%, the Ministry of Education advocates for inclusivity, especially for students with special needs and disabilities. It strengthens the job market and prepares them for their future careers and jobs, thereby maintaining their independence. Additionally, various institutions can be considered for the final step beyond secondary education. There are constantly evolving methods being sought out to cater to students of all needs and the growing labor market as well. Missions like Better Life Barbados ensure a continued commitment to Barbadians and develop these methods to make a high-quality of life and accessible education possible for all.

– Nickaylia Anderson

Nickaylia is based in Syracuse, NY, USA and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr