"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." – Nelson Mandela
The Need
Adequate schools are often scarce in rural areas of the developing world – a factor that contributes to continuing poverty and inhibits economic development. It is not uncommon for young children to walk several hours each way to attend school. Many of the schools that do exist are often ramshackle collections of crumbling bricks, loose sheet metal and dirt floors. Although these structures are unsafe for children, they continue to be used because the community has no alternative.
In other villages, the school structure might be sufficient – but classrooms are often grossly overcrowded, with as many as 80 students jammed into a room designed for 40 students. Unfortunately, these schools cannot count on government funding for education. In many countries, public funding is sparse and the government does not support infrastructure development and maintenance.
Dilapidated or overcrowded schools are not conducive environments for successful learning and academic development. Without clean, bright, well-constructed classrooms to complement competent teachers and quality learning materials, children will not be able to reach their true educational potential.
Our Approach
Room to Read established our School Room program to provide children in the developing world with better access to appropriate learning spaces. Our School Room program sets high standards and expectations while partnering with local communities to meet specific village needs in building primary and secondary schools, and in some cases, preschools.
We work to rectify the lack of adequate and safe schools by:
- Constructing buildings or extra classrooms for primary and secondary schools which currently have unsafe structures or overcrowded classrooms.
- Establishing a Room to Read library in most primary and secondary schools so students have access to enhanced educational materials.
- Constructing preschools to build local capacity to prepare younger children for primary school.
Room to Read shares project management responsibilities with the communities in which we work through our Challenge Grant model. Also, we jointly monitor construction progress and quality during the building process. After construction is completed, all schools and libraries are owned and operated by the community or local government and are run like other public schools in the country.
Our Results
- Room to Read has partnered with local communities in five countries (Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam) to build 765 schools and 92 libraries as of July 2009. We launched the School Room program in a sixth country, Zambia, this year.
- Thousands of young students are now learning in safe, child-friendly environments that encourage their mental and physical development.
- Through our School Room program, local communities are investing in their future by improving educational opportunities and access for their children.
| Country | Total Thru 2009 | 2010 (Projected) |
|---|
| Bangladesh |  | - | - |
| Cambodia |  | - | - |
| India |  | - | - |
| Laos |  | 142 | 30 |
| Nepal |  | 659
| 201 |
| South Africa |  | - | - |
| Sri Lanka |  | 207
| 78
|
| Vietnam |  | 121 | 0
|
| Zambia |  | - | - |
Click to learn more about our School Room program.