There are many barriers to education in Sub-Saharan Africa: not enough schools, not enough teachers, not enough resources. These are macro problems that concern governments, the World Bank, and the UN. On the ground, however, at the level of families trying to make decisions about the education of their children, there is generally one overriding barrier: COST. Most of us in the developed world are not aware that poor families must spend 33% or more of their total household income in school fees and other education expenses.  Fortunately, of all the barriers to education, school fees may be the easiest to resolve, at least when viewed from the perspective of a single child. EducateMe is dedicated to resolving the school fees crisis, one donor and one child at a time.

School Fee Scholarships are not new. For years, many schools in Africa have had children whose school fees are sponsored by outside donors or churches. The problem has been the coordination and management of these relationships, which is not something the schools are equipped to do.  Even the best schools can only manage a few sponsor relationships, meaning they must focus on the minority of families who can afford sufficient school fees to keep the school afloat.  And this ad hoc approach isn't just a problem for schools, it is a problem for donors as well.  Most people who might want to sponsor a child's education wouldn't even know where to begin, or more important, how to ensure that the education being paid for is of high quality.

EducateMe helps resolve this issue for both schools and donors. Our local African staff identifies quality schools with whom we partner, then works with these partner schools to identify students in their communities who cannot otherwise afford to attend school. On the other side of the equation, we reach out to potential donors and provide them a simple, effective, and fully accountable means of providing an education scholarship for an African child.

EducateMe focuses all it's energy on this one issue . . . the problem of school fees as a barrier to poor families educating their children. There are other issues that are critically important to education in Africa. More schools need to be built. More teachers need to be trained. Public schools need to be better funded and operated. It is our belief, however, that the place to start is access to education for poor families who are already in close proximity to a quality school. This is the proverbial "low hanging fruit" of African education. By sponsoring a child at one of these schools, you not only fund that child's education, but ensure that this school can train it's teachers and expand its reach to serve other children in its community. Please consider sponsoring a child today, or reach out to us through the Contact Us page to ask us any questions you may have. We each have the opportunity to change one child's future.