.JPG)
For example, Protsahan Girl Champions Program aims to rehabilitate and reintegrate marginalised and disadvantaged girls facing sexual and gender-based violence. Protsahan’s HEART Model of Healing with Art is a holistic model that prioritises physical, mental, material and emotional well-being to support children who are at-risk of or are survivors of abuse.
Since they work with children who have usually never attended formal school, they have to first focus on bringing them out of their shells and into a healthy learning environment. This is done through their creative arts and technology skills programme. Students learn skills including Madhubani and Warli art, Bharatnatyam traditional dance, film-making, photography, theatre, and better understanding of gender rights and menstrual hygiene through digital storytelling.
The holistic elements of this program work together to break the intergenerational cycle of childhood abuse and poverty.
.JPG)
After the ten-month bridge course, the child is enrolled in a government school. While attending the government school, they can still continue to attend Protsahan in their slum area to learn creative arts in a supportive environment. The holistic elements of this program work together to break the intergenerational cycle of childhood abuse and poverty.
Kizazi is also working on the global challenge of children’s education with a holistic approach. They work with local partners to develop, implement, and spread breakthrough school models in under-resourced communities.
For example, in Sierra Leone, Kizazi partnered with the National Youth Awareness Forum (NYAF) to transform 67 government primary schools by focusing on the whole child. The model featured daily socio-emotional routines to support students' well-being, culturally relevant learning materials, and regular coaching for teachers to create safe and inclusive classrooms.
This integrated approach, involving schools, teachers, parents, and the community, ensures positive relationships, an environment filled with safety, and rich learning experiences for students.
To ensure rigorous, evidence-based foundational learning, Kizazi and NYAF also introduced structured student workbooks and detailed teacher guides aligned with both national standards and global best practices. Beyond the classroom, parents and caretakers were engaged through school-community partnerships, and a mother-led girl-child empowerment program offered a safe space for girls to discuss challenges and build confidence. Child safeguarding structures were set up across all school communities to ensure students, families, and their communities established practices for harm prevention, reporting, and rehabilitation.
Students during a morning activity at primary school, Sierra Leone
This transformation helped to improve students’ maths and English skills, as well as increased students' sense of safety and care, with 95% of children reporting they feel safe to make mistakes in school. This integrated approach, involving schools, teachers, parents, and the community, ensures positive relationships, an environment filled with safety, and rich learning experiences for students.
Another way of prioritising whole child development is through social-emotional pre-school education. Vaikystės Sodas developed a systemic approach to students’ wellbeing through Mindful Minutes in Early Childhood Education. Through their social-emotional curriculum, they integrate regular mindfulness practice, yoga, positive discipline, role-playing games, music and art therapy into pre-school education.
This curriculum teaches children how to navigate their emotional world, set clear boundaries, and community confidently and effectively. This lays a healthy foundation for better academic performance and fosters harmonious living within society.
Digital tools can provide insight into students’ experiences to help educators understand their needs. Closegap is a free digital tool that allows educators to conduct fun, interactive daily check-ins for students to capture information about their emotions, energy levels, and physical needs. The data is compiled in a dashboard and organised to allow educators to spot trends over time.
Closegap dashboard displaying student energy levels
Schools using Closegap have prevented suicides and uncovered cases of self-harm, sexual assault, bullying, trouble at home, and more.
Holotracker is another digital tool that allows educators to capture whole-student development. Using any web-enabled device, teachers can make observations of students’ character growth. The tool then uses generative AI to reveal learning patterns at the individual, group, and institution levels. This data can help educators understand individual and group learning cadence, social dynamics, and identify key learning gaps in classrooms.
Growth in qualities like wellbeing, 21st century skills and character are often too abstract and difficult to measure tangibly. Making observations with Holotracker makes these “whole person” qualities visible in a systematic and meaningful way, creating a healthy ecosystem of giving regular formative feedback.
These innovations demonstrate how not only academics, but also physical and mental health should be prioritised to ensure that children flourish.
Download the Global Collection 2025 Report to learn more about impactful education innovations like these.
Submit your innovation to be considered for the next collection.
