‍The current state of education in Pakistan is severely lacking where equitable access is concerned. According to UNICEF (2021), the most recent counts indicate that just under 23 million children aged 5-16 – 44% of the total population of the age group – are currently out-of-school. This places Pakistan in second place on the list of countries with the largest number of out-of-school children across the globe.

Iza, together with Sunbeams School Systems are focusing on early childhood education by building a two-room school to bring education to 50 students in Phulgran, Pakistan.

In this project current UNSW PhD candidate, Luke Steller, will partner with the Ladakh ESEP program to co-deliver educational experiences with local teachers and community members. Through a focus on experiential learning, this project will harness the Ladakhi people’s already strong connection and knowledge of the landscape, using it to inspire and engage in science education.

The estimates of victims of modern slavery have reached the highest number of ever before, with one of the most common forms being human trafficking. Did you ever think “what happens after the rescue”? Research shows that survivors face external hardships to secure a sustainable job and decent income. To support the return of survivors back to the labour market and community, reintegration takes a crucial role. Through the “EmpowerFULL: personal development education with vulnerable girls and women” initiative, we will be using interactive formal and non-formal teaching methods to strengthen soft skills and prepare participants to enter the labour market. The tools are suitable for participants with low levels of education and incorporate participatory action approaches such as visual storytelling, role play, and art-based exercises.

Final year students at senior high schools(SHS), usually wonder what next for them after school and begs the question, what would I be doing after school? Should I move to the southern sector to look for greener pastures? Or Should I go and get myself married since I have no plans after school?  This project aims to fill that gap and it is projected to impact over 5000 final year students in senior high schools in Ghana to prepare their minds for life after SHS and to help them make informed decisions in their career path.

Adaptive socio-emotional tools are critical to a woman’s health, safety, and well-being in her lifetime. This project seeks to leverage digital mediums to reach out to adolescent girls in peri-urban India and provide accurate information at the right stage in their life. Through creating open-access self-use toolkits we hope young women can experience and articulate different choice sets towards more empowering futures. The toolkit creation, training, and dissemination will be led by Nishtha Tewari along with Commonplace - a collaborative of researchers and designers who share a vision of creating knowledge commons for communities in the global South.