Educate A Child (EAC), a program of Education Above All, is a global initiative launched by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar, which aims to significantly reduce the number of children worldwide who are out of school.

The goal of the Leaders, Educators, and Parents (LEAP) project is to increase access to equitable and quality primary education completion for children in seven target districts of Oromia and Tigray region. Through enrollment and retention of 63,428 out-of-school children, the project will actively engage 431 remote rural communities to remove obstacles currently preventing children from attending school by providing learning opportunities.

Ethiopia has come a long way in developing primary education over the last 20 years, but there is a long road ahead. With over 2.65 million out-of-school children, Ethiopia ranks 6th highest in the world. Improving the quality, equity and efficiency of the education system remain critical issues facing the country.

This project will begin by training influential community leaders and Parents, Teachers, and Student Associations (PTSAs) to identify and enroll out-of-school children through organized community-based go-back-to-school campaigns. The project will also construct model schools in each of the seven districts, four in the region of Tigray and three in the region of Oromia, to create access to quality education. 431 schools will participate including 21 new schools being constructed with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities.

This ambitious project will impact:

  • 337,140 primary school-age children
  • 3,017 teachers
  • 1,293 Parent, Teacher, Student Association members
  • 431 school principals
  • 10,510 community leaders

It will also indirectly benefit 902,517 residents in the community and help over 1.25 million people through increased enrolment and retention of out-of-school children, improved quality of teaching and learning, and an increase in school leadership capacity.

The LEAP project will span three years and cost $8.2M USD – half of which is made possible through a generous grant from EAC and the other half through funds raised by imagine1day. This is not the first time imagine1day has partnered with EAC, having worked together on the “Bale Out of School Children Initiative” and “Community Driven Primary Education for All”, that reduced the number of out-of-school children by more than 93,000 across seven districts of the Oromia and Tigray Region. The incredible success of this program demonstrates the power of two committed organizations coming together. Imagine1day is thrilled to be commencing this new chapter alongside EAC.

Fundraising for the LEAP project kicked off with contributions from long-standing imagine1day partners Run for Water and Costa Foundation, local communities, and the Government of Ethiopia.

You, too, can be part of this amazing project by making a donation on our website, click here to make a donation.

Together, we can achieve EAC’s Zero Out-of-School Children Initiative and the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goal #4.