“What stands out in these solutions is of course their impact in local contexts but also their relevance globally. They challenge us to rethink how education can drive societal change, including in the Global North. These initiatives show what becomes possible when we no longer see these communities merely as beneficiaries, but as drivers of change.” - Inge Vandevyvere, Global Strategic Education Advisor, VVOB.
These initiatives show what becomes possible when we no longer see these communities merely as beneficiaries, but as drivers of change.
All solutions selected for this Spotlight originate from the Global South and are founded by and within the communities that they are serving. Deep connections to local stakeholders, co-design processes, and the uplifting of communities that are excluded, are three common scaffolds that boost impact and support the sustainability of these approaches. The selected solutions show that impactful educational approaches are already happening across the Global South, often beyond dominant Western narratives, and are actively driving societal change.
The 15 selected educational solutions* for this Spotlight demonstrate the power that education has to ignite societal change:
Amuno Rural Hub
Amuno addresses educational equity in rural Uganda by training youth aged 13-18 as Literacy Champions to ride bicycles to villages and teach literacy, numeracy, and essential life skills through culturally relevant, play-based methods.
This approach builds confidence and agency among both learners and youth educators, fostering a generation ready to challenge inequality and promote peace. By involving parents and local leaders, the program strengthens community ownership and supports lasting change.
Career Readiness Ecosystems
The Antarag Foundation is addressing school drop-out rates in India by establishing Career Readiness Ecosystems - embedding career readiness programmes into the existing education system to support equitable transitions for youth aged 14-18.
Antarang’s programme addresses societal change by transforming how career aspirations are shaped and supported in low-income communities. It challenges entrenched biases around gender, caste and ability through inclusive curricula, teacher training and parent engagement. By embedding career education into public systems, it enables students - especially girls and first-generation learners to make informed choices and pursue diverse futures.
Circle of Teachers' Learning (CTL)
The Circle of Teachers’ Learning (CTL) transforms how teachers in Indonesia learn, collaborate, and support each other using a structured 30-minute weekly routine using the 5Cs Framework—Connect, Convey, Collect, Consider, Commit. This fosters teacher collaboration, emotional well-being, and data-driven reflection.
By empowering teachers as continuous learners and role models, CTL strengthens educational equity and inclusivity, ensuring better learning for students in diverse communities. Teachers become agents of change, equipped to nurture compassion, critical thinking, and resilience in learners skills society needs to address challenges such as inequality, climate change, and social cohesion.
Climate Class Connection
In Pakistan, climate disasters shut schools, sidelining girls first. Climate Class Connection transforms these schools into resilience hubs where: teachers integrate climate science into daily lessons through project-based learning; the Teacher Parliament unites educators to co-create adaptation plans and influence local policy; and girls and mothers lead Climate Baithaks and Kitchen Climate Labs, sharing knowledge and shaping solutions.
Instead of just “teaching about climate change”, they are transforming schools into spaces where learning leads directly to action. This approach shifts traditional hierarchies, placing power in the hands of those most affected by climate change. By linking classroom learning to community adaptation and policy advocacy through the Teacher Parliament, the programme nurtures a culture of shared responsibility, empathy, and problem-solving. Over time, this fosters more inclusive schools, confident youth leaders, and stronger, climate-resilient communities.
empowerED classrooms
EmpowerED was created to support students struggling with low self-confidence, broken relationships, and poor academic performance - issues that often stem from the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as neglect, poverty, exposure to violence, and parental substance abuse. On the other hand, research shows that Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) can help counter the effects of ACEs.
EmpowerED reshapes how teachers respond to struggling learners and helps them create safe, nurturing classrooms where learners can heal and thrive. This shift not only improves academic outcomes but also fosters emotionally intelligent, compassionate, and resilient individuals—contributing to a more caring and mentally healthy society.
Global Project: Five Safe Fingers
In Vietnam and many countries in the Global South, child sexual abuse remains a sensitive yet urgent issue, often underreported due to cultural stigma and lack of awareness. Five Safe Fingers provides a safe, structured, and culturally adaptable program that equips children with body safety knowledge and empowers teachers to address protection openly in classrooms.
The programme addresses societal change by breaking the silence around child sexual abuse and creating a culture of openness, protection, and empowerment. It equips children with the language and skills to recognize unsafe situations and assert their rights, while also giving teachers tools to guide sensitive conversations confidently.
Kids Education Revolution
Kids Education Revolution (KER) aims to create a movement of students and educators who reimagine education together - by creating safe spaces for student voice, working in partnership with children, and helping students unleash their potential for a better world. It is a platform consisting of in-person and virtual spaces, curriculum and teacher training, webinars and online courses, retreats and musicals, programs and workshops, and online resource sharing.
KER’s philosophy focuses on the holistic development of students, unleashing their greatest potential. Their education is co-created with students, emphasizing the uplifting of others and fostering change through leadership built on love.
My Village
My Village mobilises communities in rural Nepal and Tanzania to run 45-day level-based camps, SEL sessions, libraries, and parent SMS tasks to boost learning.
Unlike the traditional western model of schooling that relies on top-down interventions, My Village is citizen-led: parents, youth, teachers, and local leaders co-deliver learning and own the data. They rely on level-based, rather than grade-based instruction, so that all children can progress at their own pace. This approach drives societal change by shifting how communities view and participate in education. Learning becomes a shared community endeavour where parents, youth, teachers, and local leaders collaborate to support every child. The programme also builds local capacity, strengthens teacher mindsets, and encourages government adoption, creating systemic change.
Over time, these changes strengthen education systems to be more equitable, adaptive, and capable of delivering foundational skills to all children.
PadHer
PadHer supports girls education, using comics, animations, interactive games and an AI-powered support companion to inform young African schoolgirls about periods, puberty, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
In Africa, limited menstrual education, cultural stigma, and taboos leave many girls uninformed and unprepared about their periods, causing shame, absenteeism, and low confidence. Through PadHer, adolescent girls are empowered with knowledge and confidence about menstruation and puberty, thereby breaking cultural taboos and stigmas. The programme also engages schools, parents, and communities to create a supportive environment that normalizes menstrual health, promotes gender equity, and enables girls to stay in school and participate fully in society.
Project Msingi
Project Msingi supports educational equity in Kenya’s most marginalised communities using a holistic whole-school approach. Instead of using isolated interventions, Project Msingi transforms education through five interconnected pillars: improving numeracy and life skills; training teachers; destigmatizing mental health; educating parents; and training students to solve local challenges.
Project Msingi targets junior-to-senior transition rates via improving numeracy, problem-solving skills and life skills: this means more students complete education, break poverty cycles, and drive the development of their community. Teacher empowerment training creates ripple effects, helping teachers to become community advocates for educational equity. The programme provides support to destigmatise conversations about mental health in communities where stigma has silenced suffering. Podcasts directed at parents transform homes into supportive learning spaces. Msingi takes a multi-pronged approach to education, shifting the goals from individual achievement to community transformation.
Project Vaayu
Many under-resourced schools in India lack the proper infrastructure for cooling classrooms during heatwaves, preventing students from concentrating. Project Vaayu offers an eco-friendly solution by using terracotta chai cups to create coolers that can lower classroom temperatures by 6-10°C, and significantly reduce electricity consumption. This helps to promote better learning environments for children in underprivileged schools to allow them to thrive both academically and socially.
It also empowers students to understand environmental science, engage in sustainable design, and apply circular economy principles in real life. In the long term, this cultural and behavioral shift creates awareness-driven citizens who value sustainability and equity, driving systemic climate resilience from the classroom outward.
Storytelling and Digital Technology for Inclusive Education
Tai Tanzania addresses Tanzania’s education gap using animations, comics, and radio stories to transform educational content into engaging and relatable formats. This approach increases access for both urban and rural communities.
By working with over 200 schools and partnering with local and international organizations, it reaches millions through both digital and traditional platforms. Teachers gain new methods to engage students, while communities begin to see education as a shared journey, not a privilege. This shift builds empathy, confidence, and collaboration, cultivating a generation that learns to question, imagine, and shape a more equitable society.
Trabün's Social-Emotional Learning Program
Endorsed by Chile’s Ministry of Education, Trabün strengthens students’ social-emotional development in vulnerable schools through an evidence-based, curriculum-aligned programme taught by each school’s own teachers during the regular school day. Using playful, relationship-centered pedagogy, it enables meaningful learning and fosters students’ long-term wellbeing.
By making SEL a systemic priority across the whole school community, Trabün is contributing to forming more empathetic, responsible, and resilient future adults who can contribute to more peaceful and caring communities.
Udhyam Shiksha
Udhyam Shiksha is a system-wide model that strengthens Indian public education by building entrepreneurial mindsets at scale. Through a 4-year curriculum facilitated by teachers in government schools, students select project ideas based on their interests and local concerns. Students generate ideas, test prototypes, and even access government seed funds to bring their ideas to life.
This drives societal change by building entrepreneurial mindsets in government school students and strengthening public education. These shifts prepare a generation to navigate uncertainty, create opportunities, and contribute to India’s social and economic development.
Y-Ultimate: Ultimate Frisbee for Youth Development
Y-Ultimate is using ultimate frisbee to help children in underserved communities in India to build teamwork, conflict resolution, and gender inclusion.
By placing boys and girls on the same team with no referees, children must communicate, listen, and resolve disagreements respectfully. This challenges gender norms early and normalises shared leadership and respect. As children gain voice and agency on the field, this confidence carries into school, home, and public spaces. The programme creates a visible change in how communities perceive young people as capable leaders rather than passive recipients.
Societal change is a goal that takes time and effort - no single innovative practice can transform a whole society overnight. HundrED Advisory Board member insights encapsulated this well. They noted that the solutions demonstrate how each country, each community, has its own contextual needs influenced by past history and current resources: change involves a reclamation of local knowledge and resources. It is practical, slow, local, relational, and should be community-led for systems to adapt. In many cases, it is about social justice and returning dignity to people and communities who are excluded, and is grounded in their agency - this is essential for the solutions to take root and be sustainable in the long term.
*Descriptions are adapted from the innovators' own words about their educational solutions.
Learn more about the Spotlight on Education for Societal Change.
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