Improving access to quality education in sub-Saharan Africa since 1989.
What We Do
Link Community Development works at all levels of the education system – with communities, schools and governments – to identify and remove the obstacles to quality education.
We currently work in rural districts of Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda, and there is demand for us to extend our work to other countries.
Link also works with schools in England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland and the USA. We build support for development and raise awareness of important global issues through our Link Schools Programme, as well as raising funds and supporting our work in sub-Saharan Africa.
How We Do It
We work with national governments because they are responsible for providing education. It is therefore important to work within national education policy and to ensure that our work is developed with the support of the government.
We work with local government and every school in at least two districts in a country. In this way we develop a deep understanding of the education system and the practical difficulties that schools face. Our work at district level reaches hundreds of schools and communities and thousands of children. Each country we work in is different, so we take time to understand the context and to find appropriate solutions.
We provide district education authorities and schools with the tools, training and support to understand how schools are performing, measure performance and to plan for improvement. Often improvements can be made within existing resources, but when schools need extra support we provide this through School Development Projects.
We work with local government and every school in at least two districts in a country. In this way we develop a deep understanding of the education system and the practical difficulties that schools face. Our work at district level reaches hundreds of schools and communities and thousands of children. Each country we work in is different, so we take time to understand the context and to find appropriate solutions.
We provide district education authorities and schools with the tools, training and support to understand how schools are performing, measure performance and to plan for improvement. Often improvements can be made within existing resources, but when schools need extra support we provide this through School Development Projects.
We use the practical knowledge and evidence gained at district level to work with central government to develop national education policy, which has the potential to improve the education reaching every school child in the country.
We work with communities, so that they understand what their school should be providing, and how they can play a role in raising standards. We then support communities to be active agents for change.
We take a long-term approach, because real change takes time, and progress is not always smooth.
