Street Child’s ‘Family Business for Education’ helps impoverished caregivers develop a more sustainable source of income which in turn allows their children to attend school.
The scheme operates in Sierra Leone, north-east Nigeria and Liberia.
The scheme was originally developed in Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries where 40% of children don’t complete a basic education. Children from the poorest households are least likely to go to school due to costs associated with school and the opportunity cost of children not earning an income. Similar circumstances exist in north-east Nigeria and Liberia where Street Child also operates. Therefore, addressing the economic barrier to education is vital to improving children’s access to education. The scheme is sustainable; increased income provides caregivers with capacity to shoulder parental responsibility and keep their children in education.
Caregivers receive business development training and a grant to help start a small business. They participate in a 20 week savings scheme where support officers provide mentoring and track progress. After 20 weeks savings are matched. The financial support is softly conditional - family business officers hold caregivers to account for their children being in school but it is not a precondition. Survey results show that monitoring and mentoring are highly appreciated by the caregivers. This low-cost, scalable, transferable scheme has supported 22,000 of the most deprived children with a strong track record of getting and keeping children in school.
Street Child is an NGO helping children into education in the world’s toughest places. We currently operate in 10 countries. The ‘Family Business for Education’ scheme is managed by Megan Lees-McGowan, Head of Programmes – Africa. Megan led the design of the scheme in 2015-17 whilst living in Sierra Leone. Megan is a Cambridge University graduate with an MSc in Poverty & Development and has over 10 years' experience in international development with a focus on Africa.
