Krousar Yoeung
With nearly 20 years’ experience in the field of Early Childhood Care and Development (“ECCD”), Krousar Yoeung (“KrY”) is recognized as a leading Cambodian educational NGO, through its establishment of community-based and primary school-based preschools, innovative pedagogy, community mobilization, parent support, and education advocacy activities.
Since it was established, KrY has supported rural and sub-urban communities in establishing and uplifting hundreds of pre-schools, approximately 85% of which continue to thrive (long after KrY’s involvement has ceased) thanks to the community leadership and management, and, in many cases, the adoption of the schools’ ongoing running costs by the government.
Through the Phoenix Foundation’s financial support, KrY has already established an additional 26 pre-schools (with associated community mobilization, education advocacy and capacity building programs) in rural communities across Cambodia, and will continue to expand the project over the coming years.
PEPY - Empowering Youth
PEPY is a Cambodian NGO dedicated to helping rural youth maximise their educational and vocational potential, so as to break the cycle of poverty in their communities.
Operating in Siem Reap province (one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia despite the tourism industry associated with Angkor Wat), PEPY runs integrated programs to make rural youth aware of their own potential and career opportunities, and provides holistic capacity building, relevant context-based instruction, and community outreach services.
PEPY also provides university and vocational college scholarships, which include academic, vocational, practical and emotional support, to a cohort of carefully selected, highly motivated students each year.
The Phoenix Foundation provides financial support for all aspects of PEPY’s operations, which have significantly increased the tertiary education participation rates in the target communities, and which have seen nearly 100% of the organisation’s scholars graduate and go on to find meaningful employment.
Collaborative Schools Network
Collaborative Schools Network (“CSN”) intervenes in struggling public schools in Nepal, transforming the quality of education they provide to some of the country’s poorest children. This is done through two core programs:
School Management
CSN adopts and manages underperforming public schools through partnership agreements with local governments. These agreements grant CSN the authority to manage all day-to-day school operations.
CSN assigns two team members as full-time ‘School Leaders’ to each school. These leaders work alongside existing teachers and the school principal, teaching, coaching, and driving a school improvement plan focused on four key areas: (i) improving the quality of teaching, (ii) enhancing management, (iii) strengthening community relations, and (iv) upgrading infrastructure.
CSN’s model is scalable, sustainable, and cost-effective because it operates within the existing public education system, in collaboration with local governments. CSN currently manages nine schools—six in the Kathmandu Valley and three in the Tanahu district (central Nepal).
Curriculum and Coaching (LEAP)
The LEAP program provides pre-primary and primary teachers with lesson plans and coaching support. These lesson plans, along with accompanying materials and student workbooks, enable teachers to significantly improve the quality of their instruction. Since the lessons are aligned with government textbooks, teachers feel comfortable and confident using them.
In 2023, CSN’s work directly benefited more than 4,000 students.
The Phoenix Foundation is supporting CSN’s core programs in three districts: Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Tanahu.
Human Practice Foundation
Human Practice Foundation creates schools, quality education, and entrepreneurial projects that give children and their communities the power to build a better future.
The Phoenix Foundation supports Human Practice Foundation’s programs in the Taplejung district of Nepal. The families living in this area have little or no income and therefore rely on smallholder farming to get food on the table. One key reason for the lack of jobs and opportunities for income generation is that the educational sector is severely challenged by a lack of government resources due to the remote location. The school facilities are often damaged, timeworn, and insufficient, and most teachers only have a 3-month long education after secondary school. Because of the unstable situation of their parents, many students are not attending school and it is common for teenagers to travel to the Gulf states to work under inhumane conditions to provide for their families.
Human Practice Foundation’s activities to uplift the schools and communities in the region are having a demonstrable impact, with significantly improved academic outcomes and dramatically reduced drop-out rates.
Open Learning Exchange Nepal
Open Learning Exchange Nepal (OLE Nepal) is dedicated to enhancing access to quality education in Nepal through the integration of technology in classrooms. Since its inception in 2007, OLE Nepal has pioneered the use of technology in schools and provided open and free access to quality education and innovative learning environments.
The organization creates and distributes high-quality digital learning materials aligned with the national curriculum. To support teachers, OLE Nepal offers comprehensive training in IT literacy, child-centered interactive teaching methods, and the seamless integration of ICT-based instruction. In addition, OLE Nepal assists schools in setting up cost-effective, low-power computer labs connected to an offline server and Wi-Fi router, enabling access to learning resources in areas with limited or no internet connectivity.
To date, OLE Nepal has deployed over 1,700 servers across all 77 districts and collaborated with more than 400 public schools across the country, training over 3,000 teachers and benefiting over 300,000 students nationwide.
The Phoenix Foundation is funding the expansion of the ICT in Education program, which is critical for equipping schools with essential technological infrastructure and providing comprehensive teacher training.
Samaanta Foundation
Samaanta Foundation is a Nepal-based non-profit organization that promotes equity and empowerment by providing quality higher education opportunities to academically talented government-school graduates from low-income backgrounds who are at risk of dropping out.
Samaanta Foundation offers comprehensive Fellowships that cover all direct and indirect costs, including tuition fees, room and board, transportation, uniform, lab and exam fees, English language and computer training, civic engagement and leadership workshops, extracurricular activities, as well as mentorship and support. The program is fully residential.
The initial Fellowship agreement covers two years of higher secondary education. Support is extended for an additional 4-5 years for selected graduates pursuing bachelor’s degrees, contingent upon the Fellows meeting expectations for academic excellence, commitment to service, leadership potential, and paying it forward.
Since its inception in 2012, Samaanta Foundation has supported 121 Fellows. Currently, Samaanta Foundation has 59 active Fellows: 21 are pursuing bachelor’s degrees, 28 are enrolled in higher secondary schooling (+2) in Nepal, and 10 are pursuing high school or bachelor’s education abroad on full scholarships (in Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Germany, and the US).
The Phoenix Foundation’s support will help Samaanta Foundation expand and deepen its Fellowship program while building institutional capacity to address key challenges and align with long-term strategic goals.
The Citizens Foundation
The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a professionally managed, non-profit organization set up in 1995 by a group of Pakistan citizens who wanted to bring about positive social change through education. Nearly 30 years later, TCF is now one of Pakistan’s leading organizations in the field of education for the less privileged.
TCF builds and manages schools in the heart of urban slums and rural communities, ensuring a high quality of education and holistic support for its beneficiaries.
Catering to the most needy, and with an all female faculty and a 50% female student gender ratio, TCF works to remove barriers of class and privilege to make all citizens of Pakistan agents of positive change.
The Phoenix Foundation supports TCF through the provision of funding for an innovative program which gives children in remote communities access to secondary education.
Bahay Tuluyan
Bahay Tuluyan is an award winning, grassroots-level NGO dedicated to preventing and responding to abuse and exploitation of vulnerable children in the Philippines.
Beginning as a drop-in centre where children could go to have a bath, rest, eat and play in the Malate area of Manila in 1987, the organisation currently manages an integrated suite of child-centred programs across three sites in areas including:
- Emergency and Residential Care
- Social Work and Case Management
- Formal and Informal Education and Training Services
- Community Outreach through Mobile Units and Street Educators
- Advocacy and Research.
Bahay Tuluyan provides intensive, individualised services to hundreds of extremely vulnerable children each year, with expert case management and direct services aimed at healing and assisting recovery. They also touch the lives of thousands of children and their families each year through their community-based activities. The Phoenix Foundation is proud to support all aspects of Bahay Tuluyan’s work.
Teach for the Philippines
Teach for the Philippines (“TFP”), a member of the ‘Teach for All’ global network, is dedicated to transforming the Philippines’ public education system to ensure all children have access to relevant and excellent education.
TFP selects and intensively trains some of the country’s most promising graduates and young leaders, and places them in 2-year teaching posts in schools in underprivileged communities throughout the Philippines. TFP’s ‘Teacher Fellows’ educate and inspire thousands of students each year, who consistently show significant improvements in educational attainment compared to control groups.
After their 2-year teaching placements, the Teacher Fellows are provided with career counseling, mentorship, leadership training, and networking opportunities to help them secure meaningful work in the fields of education, government, social enterprise, and the private sector. Nearly 80% of TFP’s alumni go on to work in ‘Education Reform’ – decision-making roles in the fields of education, government, development, and social enterprise.
The Phoenix Foundation provides support for all aspects of Teach for the Philippines’ operations.
Stairway Foundation Inc.
Stairway was established in 1990 as an alternative program for the most marginalized and endangered street children in the Philippines. The organization is now a leading advocate on children’s rights in the region, especially in respect of the protection of children from sexual abuse and other types of exploitation.
In addition to their advocacy work on children’s rights, and in response to obvious needs in their local community, Stairway established a local Community Assistance Program (“CAP”) to provide: educational assistance bursaries for hundreds of poor and deserving students each year; a summer resource and recreational program; community education and crisis intervention; a school feeding program; a medical program; and a livelihood program for the local indigenous people.
The Phoenix Foundation supports Stairway’s activities through the provision of funding for CAP, which has increased in significance since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, through which a significant proportion of the local community lost their livelihoods.
Through the CAP program, Stairway provides scholarships and financial support to almost 700 local children (and their families) each year. CAP also provides the broader community with support and education in respect of nutrition, health, sustainable income generation, and child protection.
Young Focus
In the ‘Smokey Mountain’ area of Manila, thousands of families rely directly or indirectly on the garbage ‘industry’. Jobs range from scavenging for recyclable materials to driving bike taxis. The average family income from these jobs is around US$5 per day. Extreme financial hardship, as well as a lack of social support, means that a significant proportion of children in the area are unable to complete any meaningful education.
Young Focus provides a range of education-related services to help young people realize their potential and, in doing so, escape the cycle of poverty. Young Focus’ programs include:
- early childhood education for 3-5 year olds
- scholarships and bridging education for school-age children
- life skills training and vocational support for marginalised teenagers who have never received an education
- food relief and nutrition education to address malnutrition in the area
- social care and community development services
The Phoenix Foundation provides financial support for all aspects of Young Focus’ operations, which provide an invaluable lifeline to many hundreds of children, as well as their families and the wider community, every year.