EDUCATION

Every child should learn from a quality basic education. Learning has amazing power to change a child’s world. But millions of children today are are being robbed of an education simply because of who they are or where they live.  Deprived of learning because they are caught up in emergencies, face extreme poverty, or are discriminated against because of their gender, disability or ethnicity. The world's most vulnerable and excluded children are missing out on education.

• Nearly 400 million primary school-aged children cannot read or write.

• 16 million children may never go to school again – especially girls, those with a disability or living in poverty, refugee camps, or conflict zones.

• Today, nearly 400 million children of primary school age cannot read or write.

• More than half of all three to six year olds have no access to pre-primary education.

• About 10 million refugee children risk having their learning interrupted after being forced to flee their homes.

• 25 million children will never enrol in school – and two-thirds of them are girls.

Without a quality basic education, children are less likely to escape the cycle of poverty and may never have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

We are working to close this global learning gap by making sure children settle at school and get a quality education, supported by well-equipped teachers.

Education has amazing power to protect children from harm and help them grow into healthy adults. By investing now in improving schools, training teachers to nurture pupils’ basic skills and well-being, and getting all children learning, we can transform millions of futures.

We work to ensure all children get the support and care they need before they start school.

We work to make sure they are able to read and write, and that schools are places where all children are safe and happy.  

A child's early years are crucial for building the foundations for a life of learning. We work with communities to create safe and stimulating pre-school environments, to keep children well-fed and healthy, and to take teaching materials into homes so the whole family can support a child's education.  

We work with national and local governments to improve access to education and develop programmes where children can improve their literacy and numeracy skills at an early age.  

We’re sharing evidence-based methods with governments and schools for speeding up children’s literacy, numeracy, social and emotional learning.

We’re working with governments, donors, local and national partners to increase investment in national education systems.

We’re scaling up tried and tested, innovative ways to help the hardest-to-reach children start learning again, as part of global partnerships and backed by solid financing.

We’re protecting children’s learning spaces from violence, conflict and climate change, using digital technology, cash and financing, and by preparing schools for emergencies, to ensure children don't have their education interrupted or ended early.

Pratiksha*, 11, attends a local community school in the south-eastern region of Nepal. Just like other children her age, she enjoys learning new things and playing with friends in school. She tells us:

I enjoy geometry lessons in the maths class. I love to draw different geometric shapes... One of the things I love about my school is the library. It’s helpful for children like me whose parents cannot always buy books for them... I want to become a nurse when I grow up.

Save the Children, in collaboration with the local government and implementing partner Rural Women Upliftment Association (RWUA), trained teachers in Pratiksha’s school on child-friendly teaching methods. 

With the help of our supporters, children like Pratiksha can get the education they deserve.

Play is a fundamental right; it builds resilience, instils confidence, and helps children develop. Children need time to play. That’s where we need policies, training, and funding to get play integrated into education and community settings.

Play heals through learning, developing life skills and psychosocial well-being. That’s why there must be investment into diverse, inclusive, and safe play spaces, extending access to all, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised children. There are so many reasons we should all be celebrating the power of play.

For Save the Children, play is integral to quality programming in children’s homes, communities, formal and informal learning spaces, and safe spaces – as well as in other places they may find themselves, such as health centres, distribution centres and clinics. Children’s access to and experience of play differs enormously and play often faces similar barriers to other rights Save the Children strives to protect – barriers associated to gender, age, socio-economic status, disability, perceived value.

We are proud to be one of the founding members of the International Day of Play, and part of a network of organisations who are committed to driving a global play movement for children everywhere, for generations to come. International Day of Play is held on 11 June and was initiated by the LEGO Group and the LEGO Foundation.

Through this global event, we are calling on governments, businesses and other stakeholders to scale up parenting programmes that incorporate play as a core developmental tool, integrate play-based learning methods in educational curricula globally, and implement policies and scale up investments that ensure every child has access to safe, inclusive, and well-maintained play areas.

FIND OUT HOW WE ARE WORKING TO ENSURE ALL CHILDREN ARE SURVIVING AND PROTECTED.