Can a publisher help give every child an education?
Every child deserves an education. But around the world, millions of children are not in school because of conflict, natural disasters, and other emergency situations. These children are vulnerable to the risks of child labour, early marriage, and recruitment into militia groups. To help tackle this critical issue, Pearson and Save the Children UK joined forces in 2015 to launch Every Child Learning.
The Syrian conflict has led to over 2.8 million Syrian children to be out of school. In Jordan, there are 655,365 Syrians registered, with 261,000 of school age. Only 61% of them attend school. Many in school are still not learning — they often haven’t been in a classroom in months or even years, making learning at the appropriate level particularly challenging.
Investing in education
To help tackle this critical issue, Pearson has been working with Save the Children on Every Child Learning, a partnership to deliver high-quality education to Syrian refugee and host community children in Jordan. Working with children, parents, teachers, school leadership, and the Ministry of Education, the partnership aims to secure improvements in overall academic performance, build resilience, and strengthen child wellbeing.
Space Hero
Pearson has committed £4.5m to support an in-school program, led by Save the Children, that focuses on after-school learning, psycho-social support, teacher professional development, and school-community relations. They have also developed a math learning app called Space Hero, which is deployed through the program. Space Hero (Batlalfada) is a fun and engaging math learning app, designed by Pearson in collaboration with refugee and Jordanian children, aged 9–12, to strengthen their math skills. In addition to being used in the in-school program, it is available to the public to download for free on Google Play. In 2018, the app had over 28,000 new users and it is Pearson’s highest rated app in the Google Play Store.
This story shows how Pearson supports Goal 4: Quality Education, specifically Target 4.5: “By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.”
About Pearson
Pearson plc is a multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England. It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s. It is the world’s learning company with more than 24,000 employees operating in 70 countries – and was once the largest book publisher in the world.
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