UWS has built more than 280 schools across Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar and Madagascar, providing local access to safe, inclusive and effective learning environments for all children.

Reducing distance. Optimising opportunity.

Geographical remoteness is the major barrier to education in the countries where UWS works. When children have to endure a long and difficult journey to reach a basic government-run school, it has a devastating impact on attendance and retention. And even where governments have established local schools, there remain challenges – for example, a lack of qualified teachers willing to work in remote regions.

Physical isolation is often compounded by social stratification – many children in the communities we work face multiple layers of exclusion due to factors such as gender, disability, poverty, ethnicity, religion and language.

Building access takes a community

UWS helps communities challenge and overcome cultural barriers to education. We work closely with local people and groups from the very beginning of each school project, involving them at every step of the school’s development. Our role spans recruiting and training community members as teachers, to forming governing bodies that provide locally relevant governance and oversight. And beyond this, we also proactively engage with national governments, to safeguard long-term funding and secure a sustainable future for each school.