How Theirworld is empowering girls with digital skills for their future

International Day of the Girl was marked this week with the theme Digital generation. Our generation.

Theirworld celebrated by visiting Gachororo Secondary School in Kiambu County, Kenya, where girls are learning valuable digital skills thanks to our Skills for Their Future programme. It aims to empower young girls by equipping them with skills that will help them get a job or start a business in the future.

At the school, we made a video to show how Theirworld and our partners Youth for Technology Foundation are delivering a comprehensive digital curriculum. Jacinta, one of the students, said: “The first time I heard about this programme, I was excited. I said, “Wow, we are lucky'.”

Put education at the heart of UK’s international development strategy

The United Kingdom’s newly-merged aid department is writing its first strategy at a difficult moment for the aid sector and the wider world. When the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office called for evidence to inform its thinking, Theirworld urged it to prioritise programmes, policies and financing for education.

We know that education helps to unlock solutions for many other development challenges - from climate change to migration and pandemic recovery. In a thought-provoking blog, Theirworld consultant Lorriann Robinson outlines why education is a smart investment for UK aid and must be at the heart of the next international development strategy.

Lebanon school system is ‘at a tipping point’

The education system in Lebanon is on the brink of a crisis that could see hundreds of thousands of children miss out on schooling for another year. A combination of factors has seen more than 700,000 children kept out of school by prolonged shutdowns since March 2019.

The warning from major organisations that the system is “at a tipping point” leads our weekly roundup of global education news. We also look at how - despite restrictions elsewhere - girls are still going to secondary school in some parts of Afghanistan.

💬 Quote of the week 💬

"We need policymakers, key decision-makers and international leaders to pay attention to the early learning crisis, lending their support and voices to prioritising early childhood programmes. Children are not the future. They are the present!"

Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of the LEGO Foundation in an interview with Education Cannot Wait.

Did you know? 🤔

1 in 4 girls

As the world marked International Day of the Girl this week, nearly one in four girls aged 15 to 19 globally are not in education, employment or training - compared to one in 10 boys. Source: United Nations.

📖 What we're reading this week.

📲 The government of Sierra Leone is using technology to address the ongoing teaching and learning crisis and to deliver inclusive, quality education. Find out what they're doing.

✏️ Only 25% of women in the Central African Republic completed primary school. In Niger, 56% of all girls are out of school. These startling statistics are included in a look at the five most challenging places to grow up as a girl. Read more.

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Thank you,

The Their News team