‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’
1 Peter 5:7 NIV
The Salvation Army has a long history of engagement with education and currently works with more than half a million children in more than 2,500 schools, supported by 20,000 teachers in 45 countries.
We aim to remove barriers to education for the most vulnerable, providing high quality teaching that enables children to either move confidently to the next stage of education or feel empowered to look for employment.
Salvation Army education seeks to develop compassionate people of integrity and character with the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding to achieve their full God-given potential in the community.
We work with children in rural-remote or urban-complex communities who might not otherwise be able to access a quality education system to ensure they are able to do so.
We believe that all children should have access to education and we have a clear focus on enabling those with special needs – complex disabilities, learning needs, sight issues or hearing loss – to be empowered to go to school.
In a number of areas we therefore have schools that provide specialist education and living support so that pupils can achieve independence and go on to play a fulfilling role in their community when they leave school.
We also believe that we should do everything we can to support girls to stay in school as long as possible.
There is plenty of evidence that says that every year spent in school for girls in developing contexts reduces their chance of early marriage, gives them a better opportunity to have healthy babies that survive childhood, and greatly reduces the risk of them being trafficked and exploited in the workplace or home environment.
This means we need to ensure proper sanitation facilities which make it easier for girls to attend school, that schools need an ethos which encourages and values girls, and that girls are aware of their opportunities for further study and career development.
Josfridah, a student at Joytown School in Thika, Kenya, shares her story.
We have many programmes that support children to make the most of their education.
These may be in the form of a homework club, an after-school youth group, or psycho-social support programmes to enable children to access school who have become disengaged from the formal education system.
We wholeheartedly endorse holistic education. High-quality learning and teaching needs to be supported by fun, physical activity.
This has clear health, social, team-building and self-esteem benefits that positively impact cognitive learning.
Caring for children who may have known rejection, abuse and pain is a tremendous responsibility and one which we take very seriously.
As well as providing food, shelter, and space for play and leisure in a caring environment, our residential centres also act as places where children can grow and develop. Our mission is to create brighter futures for children and young people in our care and help them to achieve their full potential.
In 2024, we embarked on an exciting Journey for Change, aiming to reduce reliance on residential care for children.
Our mission is to expand our ministry, focusing on supporting and strengthening families to ensure that children can thrive within their own homes and communities.
Our community and institution sponsorship programmes aim to ensure holistic development of children.
Sponsorship supports corps-based programmes and our residential and day centres. Funds are usually used for shelter, safe spaces, education, care and health to help children living in vulnerable settings build a better life. Sponsorship should end the cycle of poverty and our vision is for a world where it is no longer needed.
