Quality education can deliver extraordinary results, including reduced poverty, employment, improved health and fewer preventable deaths in childbirth.  But in vulnerable communities that are geographically isolated, ravaged by poverty or fractured by war, education is too often absent, inadequate or severely interrupted. Education is a human right, but 250 million children and young people around the world are out of school for social, economic and cultural reasons.

CJI and its Jesuit partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America work to ensure that people have access to their right to education by providing early childhood, primary and secondary education, vocational training and knowledge sharing. CJI supports formal and informal education projects, including distance learning, practical training and workshops.

Where war has caused widespread destruction and closed schools, access to learning can be a lifeline for children and young people. CJI-supported education programmes, such as those run by the Jesuit Refugee Service in countries like South Sudan, Colombia and Lebanon, provide a supportive learning environment where displaced students can thrive and dream of a future. Initiatives such as Accelerated Learning Programs enable refugee children to make up for lost years of education.

Our partners’ education projects pay particular attention to people who are often excluded because of their gender, ethnicity, religion or disability.  CJI supports gender-responsive education that focuses on increasing girls' access to education and advocating for change.

Jesuit partners in Darjeeling and Nepal focus on providing quality education to Indigenous populations (Adivasis) and other marginalized communities. In the Amazon region, CJI partner Fe y Alegría International Educational Network implements intercultural and bilingual education curricula tailored to the culture and environment of local communities.

Many governments do not allocate adequate funding for education. CJI donors provide scholarships, bursaries, teacher salaries and training, and funding for large and small education programs that overcome financial barriers to education.

CJI-SUPPORTED PROJECTS

• The Amazon: Care for our common home education project (Latin America & Caribbean)
• Education for vulnerable communities (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Pavilion & toilet facilities at St. Xavier’s School (India)
• Quality education at Moran Memorial School (Nepal)
• Sowing Seeds for Social Transformation program (South Sudan)
• Purchase of vehicle & equipment for Jesu Ashram (India)
• St. Alphonsus Social and Agricultural Centre scholarships, (India)
• Repair &  renovation of classroom, St. Peter’s Primary School (India)
• Wheelchairs & peacebuilding (Cambodia)
• Support for gender-based violence victims, Kangemi (Kenya)
• Outreach at St. Anne’s Community Centre & St. George’s College (Jamaica)
• Education of Darjeeling Jesuits (India)
• Free medical treatment for the poor (India)
• Ensuring quality education for St. Xavier’s School students (Cambodia)
• Reconstruction of toilets at St. Peter’s High School (India)
• Scholarships for Nicaraguan students at Central American University (El Salvador)

Total number of beneficiaries: 26,838