Educating a generation

Just one in four adults in Zambia finishes secondary school. When children are able to go to school, the average class size is 68. Grinding poverty and the devastating effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic put sending children to school out of reach of families who are struggling to survive.

In Chipata in Zambia’s Eastern Province, adult literacy is just 48%.Yet, education is a vital tool for breaking the cycle of poverty. Children who have been to school are more likely to grow into self-sufficient and healthy adults. The importance of education extends well beyond the benefits to the individual – there is a strong link between a woman’s level of education and the well-being of her children.

Improving the quality of learning

We are dedicated to providing a quality education for children in our care in our SOS Children’s Villages, as well as children in the local community.

In Chipata, we have built an SOS Nursery School, which provides a pre-school education to 90 children, from both the Children’s Village and the local community. In order to ensure that children can go on to complete a primary education, we have refurbished a local primary school.

With six new classrooms, electricity and a toilet block, the Damview Primary School now offers an education to 740 children. Children from vulnerable families in the neighbourhood are offered scholarships to the primary school. Class sizes have been reduced and more equipment is available, ensuring a high-quality education for students.

An education for the very first time

After their mother died in early 2012, Anna, nine and her brother Joseph*, six, went to live with their father, but he was unable to care for them and they found themselves alone.

In October 2012, they were welcomed into the same SOS family at the recently opened SOS Children’s Village. Like many of the children who come to live in the Children’s Village, their SOS mother Jemima became an orphan at a young age. Experiencing such hardship at a young age, Jemima was keen to help children in a similar situation.

Having never had the opportunity to go to school, Anna and Joseph are now attending the Damview Community School. The local school, extended and refurbished by SOS Children, enables more children from the Children’s Village and the surrounding area to receive a high-quality education. SOS mother Jemima used to be a teacher, and provides extra tuition for her children to help them to catch up with their education.

With the love and empathy of their SOS mother Jemima, and the opportunity they have been given, Anna and Joseph will be able to build a brighter future for themselves.

*The names of the children have been changed to protect their privacy.

Help children go to school

With your help, we can ensure that education is more accessible, and improve the life chances of Zambian children.

Just £15 per month would give a child an education at the Damview Community School.