International Journal of Education, Learning and Development

Vol. 10, No.1, pp.24-43, 2022

Print ISSN: 2054-6297(Print)
Online ISSN: 2054-6300 (Online)

THE ROLE OF NGOS IN PROMOTING EDUCATION: SUCCESSES AND

CHALLENGES

Fawzia Reza, Ed.D.

American College of Education

Fawzia Reza (2022) The Role of NGOs in Promoting Education: Successes and Challenges,
International Journal of Education, Learning and Development, Vol. 10, No.1, pp.24-43

ABSTRACT: Universal basic education is a key requirement for social justice, but it must
be developed and delivered in a culturally sensitive manner. Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) play a very significant role in the education sector in many
developing countries. The primary focus of this paper is to understand the role of six
specific NGOs (in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Malawi) in
promoting education in developing countries and explore their successes and challenges.
Based on their experiences, the author has proposed certain strategies that might assist
NGOs who operate in other countries, and even educators in the public and private sectors
in all developing countries, to ensure that all children receive quality primary and
secondary education. Policymakers, Non-Governmental Organizations, and school
administrations might be able to leverage the findings to better advocate for universal
access to quality education in their home countries.

KEYWORDS: Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), literacy, developing countries,

education

INTRODUCTION
Recommendations and even directives regarding seeking out and encouraging education
are pervasive throughout human history. For example, as early as the seventh century AD,
the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, has been famously quoted as saying “Seeking Knowledge
is an obligation on every Muslim.” Within European societies, similar encouragement is
found starting in the Middle Ages. Early European settlers in the North American continent
often quoted biblical verses to promote moral education among young children. Bishop
Johann Comenius (1592-1670) advocated for education for the rich and poor and the
philosopher John Locke (1632 –1704) taught that a child is like a blank slate and the
environment is responsible for molding his personality (Johnson, & Reed, 2011; Crain,
2015). Locke wrote against authoritarian regimes and taught that power should be shared
by all members of society. Many early educators believed that the aim of education is to
impart moral education to students and Piaget (1896-1980) and Kohlberg (1927-1987) even
considered that cognitive development was directly linked to moral development (Weber,

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1984; Crain 2015). These educators and philosophers believed in the value of education to
impart knowledge and become skillful and moral citizens.

An educated population is now acknowledged as the backbone of any country and serves
as the foundation for the development of a nation (Hussain, 2013). Primary education,
which is at the base of the pyramid of education, is one of the basic human rights,
considered essential for greater economic growth and development (Patrinos, 2016;
Ventura, 2019). While this essential component of human capital growth establishes the
foundation for any nation’s prosperity, in many countries, especially in the developing
world, this basic right is not appropriately recognized or encouraged.

LITERATURE REVIEW: INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES TO

DEVELOP EDUCATION
Many action plans have been proposed to encourage education in developing countries.
For example, in 1990, 1,500 delegates from 157 countries participated in the Jomtien
Declaration Conference (also known as the World Declaration on Education for All:
Meeting Basic Learning needs) held in Thailand to promote universal elementary education
(Deep, 2017). Article 2 adopted by the members of the Conference states that the goal of
education “requires more than a recommitment to basic education as it now exists. What is
needed is an "expanded vision" that surpasses present resource levels, institutional
structures, curricula, and conventional delivery systems while building on the best in
current practices.” In 2000, 164 countries again participated in the Dakar Framework for
Action, which proposed that six education goals should be universally achieved by 2015
(Piseth, 2020). These included providing quality early childhood education, free universal
primary education, equitable access to resources for young and adult students, improving
the adult literacy rate (especially for women), gender equality in education (ensuring both
boys and girls have access to education) and ensuring excellence and quantifiable growth
in learning outcomes. The Dakar Framework also proposed 12 strategies to achieve these
goals. The Incheon Declaration for Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable
quality education and lifelong learning for all, adopted in May 2015 by over 1,600
participants from 160 countries, proposed a new set of goals for education for the next
fifteen years (Akkari, 2018). This new framework is divided into three sections. The first
outlines the vision, rationale, and principles of Education 2030. The second describes the
global education goal and its associated seven targets and three means of implementation,
as well as indicative strategies. The third proposes a structure for coordinating global
education efforts, as well as governance, monitoring, follow-up, and review mechanisms.
The Incheon declaration also examines ways of ensuring that Education 2030 is adequately
financed and outlines the partnerships needed to realize the agenda at country/national,
regional, and global level (Education 2030).

Despite global commitment, and proposed reforms to reduce the educational gap between
developed and under-developed countries, developing countries often struggle to enroll
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students in schools. The Global Partnership for Education reports that “one in 10 children
worldwide do not have access to primary school” (Global Partnership, 2014). According
to them, there has been a reduction in the aid that was provided for children to receive basic
education, which has constrained successful implementation of the millennium goal.
Although the vision and goals of the proposed reforms/declarations are laudable, to
successfully implement these goals, we first need to use a microscopic lens to understand
the challenges faced by organizations who are attempting to provide educational within
developing countries.

Universal basic education is a key requirement for social justice, but it must be developed
and delivered in a culturally sensitive manner. NGOs now play a very significant role in
the education sector in many developing countries. The primary focus of this research is to
understand the role of six specific NGOs (in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia,
India, and Malawi) in promoting education in developing countries and explore their
successes and challenges. Based on their accounts, the author has provided
recommendations to assist educators in the public and private sectors in all developing
countries as well as NGOs who operate in other countries, so that all children receive
quality primary and secondary education. Policymakers, Non-Governmental
Organizations, and school administrations might be able to leverage the findings to better
advocate for universal access to quality education in their home countries.

THE ROLE OF NGOS TO PROMOTE EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING

COUNTRIES
Developed countries such as the USA, UK and France often have resources and
enforceable requirements that yield virtually universal enrollment rates. However, school
enrollment often lags in developing countries, for example in South Asia, South East Asia,
and Sub-Saharan Africa. Children in these countries might not have appropriate resources
or even access to schools that can provide them basic education. Within many developing
countries, education is imparted through many sources including public or government,
private, and non-government organizations (NGO). The government or public sector is
often controlled by the administration of the country and can be resource constrained or
poorly staffed and managed in developing countries (Hillman, & Jenkner, 2004). The
private sector is usually driven by profits and charge high fees that are out of the reach of
the poorer segments of the population. In contrast, NGOs often subscribe to altruistic
values, funded by worldwide contributions, and seek to serve as catalysts for promoting
sustainable educational development for everyone within the country they serve. The
functions and characteristics of NGOs can vary according to the needs of the different
regions and societies they serve.

It is appropriate to digress just a bit to trace the evolution of NGOs and how they have
become relevant. Records describing humanitarian work can be traced back to 1,400 BC,
when stone miners in ancient Egypt collected funds to help individuals of mining accidents
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(Dang, 2009). Records of NGO’s can be traced back to 1807, after the slave trade was
abolished by the British. This prompted the formation of several non-profit movements
who addressed issues related to abolishing slavery and attempted to improve the conditions
experienced by slave labor (Potapkina, 2006). Organizations such as Save the Children,
The Red Cross, and International Rotary Clubs soon followed, and began to focus on other
humanitarian causes. After World War II, NGOs started expanding and have become
advocates for social change around the world (Dang, 2009). NGOs are now gaining
widespread attention because they are often viewed as alternative resources that can
promote greater awareness, change and development in societies that are underserved or
facing challenging issues that affect their quality of life.

METHODOLOGY
A qualitative study design was utilized to explore the role of six NGOs in promoting
education in developing countries, the successes, and challenges that they face. The NGO's
were selected, based on geographical diversity, established initiatives in promoting
education in developing countries, and willingness to participate in the proposed study.
Interviews to collect data were conducted with the founding partner/s and the principal,
teacher or a representative designated by the NGO via Zoom at a time that was convenient
for them.

The researcher was previously aware of two NGO's who she thought would be interested
in participating in a study of this nature. On this basis, she proposed and received
Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from her sponsoring institution. She formally
contacted these organizations to confirm they would like to participate in the study. The
consent forms explicitly shared the purpose of the research and the potential risks and
benefits of participating in the study. After she received the signed consent forms, she
followed up with them for a date/time for the interview. The researcher informed the
participants that pseudonyms would not be used, and the interview would be recorded for
accuracy purposes. Once the interview with the founding members had been completed,
the researcher requested them to identify principals or designated representatives from
within their organization for additional questions related to how the initiatives are being
implemented.

The researcher then contacted the representatives of the NGOs who were identified by the
founders and sent them a consent form (similar to the form that she had previously sent the
founders) to review and sign. Once she received the signed forms, she then asked them to
suggest a time that was convenient for them to be interviewed. Before starting the
interview, the researcher briefly explained the purpose of the study and informed the
participants that the interviews would be recorded, and that pseudonyms would not be used.
She also told the participants that the study was voluntary, and they did not need to answer
any question that they were not comfortable with.

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The researcher also asked the founders if they were aware of any other NGO’s who would
be willing to participate in the study, a snowball sampling approach to complete interviews
with the proposed number of organizations within the IRB approval

ESTABLISHING METHODOLOGICAL RIGOR

The researcher utilized the following methods to verify the accuracy of the data collected
and confirm that the interpretation and analysis is consistent with the participants’
experiences.

Member-checking. According to Birt et al., (2016), member checking allows findings to

be shared with participants to check for accuracy of their responses and interpretation.
Accordingly, the researcher provided the transcript and a summary of the analysis relevant
to their NGOs to her study participants to allow them to verify the information and provide
feedback regarding the researcher’s interpretations.

Thick description. According to Linclon and Guba (1985), transferability and therefore,
external validity, can be achieved through a thick (i.e. rich) description. The researcher
designed the interview questions so that the participants could provide insightful and
comprehensive responses regarding their efforts in promoting education in developing
countries. This enabled researcher to understand the successes and challenges that are
faced by NGO’s serving in different parts of the world in a rigorous manner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NGOS AND STUDY PARTICIPANTS

Six NGOs were ultimately selected for the study. All work in developing countries to
promote education and provided rich (thick) descriptors of their approach and why they
felt it was necessary to work in their focus country. A description of each NGO, and the
founding member and representative interviewed for this study appears below.

Organization 1: Speak Up for the Poor. Speak Up for the Poor aims to empower girls in
Bangladesh by providing them access to education. They list three primary goals on their
website; Homes, where they provide young women a safe space, where they can pursue
their dreams to receive quality education and be insulated from potential exploitation;
Education, wherein they provide girls with basic knowledge and help them get professional
training so that they can serve their communities and country; and Justice, wherein they
partner with the judiciary system to handle cases related to illegal child marriages,
kidnapping, rape and other types of sexual abuse and harassment issues. These issues are
relatively common in Bangladesh. The founder and international director of this NGO,
Troy Anderson, has a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has
also served as a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County justice department.
He selected the name of his organization to highlight their mission to advocate for justice
and access to basic rights for the poor and marginalized. Troy shared his reason for the

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creating the organization as, “I could work through the organization as a lawyer one day
on those issues of human trafficking, forced prostitution exploitation of minors.”

The interview to explore how the mission of the organization is being implemented was
conducted with Pitar Sen, the Girls Education Program (GEP) Field Director for Speak up
for the Poor. He manages 55 teachers and 17 staff members who report to him in the field
office in Bangladesh and oversees 30 villages serving more than 1300 girls. In his
interview, he explained that the girls served by his department all live at home. This is
different from a college or dormitory, in traditional educational settings. He decided to join
this NGO because he wanted to help underprivileged girls who do not have proper
education and to change the mentality of the “people who believe that girls are only for
marriage and baby production.”

Organization 2: Developments in Literacy. Developments in Literacy (DIL) has a

fortuitous acronym. In the Urdu language, dil means heart, and being big hearted very
appreciated in Pakistani society. This NGO provides low-cost but high-quality education
to children across Pakistan. Their mission statement highlights that it is necessary to
provide quality education to all children in Pakistan, so that they have an opportunity to
reach to their full potential and become productive members of the society. DIL has
demonstrated their dedication by creating an organization that is transparent in their
dealings and funding and has previously received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator
which highlights the efficiency of this organization. Fiza Shah is the Founder & CEO of
Developments in Literacy (DIL). She founded the NGO in 1997, after she recognized that
the public and private sectors were unable to provide quality education to underprivileged
children in Pakistan. Under her tutelage, DIL has flourished and successfully educated
thousands of children with quality education across Pakistan. Fiza shared that “Pakistani
Americans move away from Pakistan they come to foreign land they do take away resource
that the country has actually invested in them…so I felt that the best way I could give back
to Pakistan was by you know, giving back that what I owed them, and the best way was
through education.”

The interview to explore how the mission of DIL is being implemented was conducted
with the principal of a school principal funded by the organization, Kiran Zia. Kiran
initially joined DIL as an IT teacher. However, after she was hired, she realized that there
was a lot that she did not know. According to Kiran, “I learned a lot during training change
my life in also give me a passion for never giving up.” She currently oversees their Rehmat
Chowk Campus in Karachi, Pakistan.

Organization 3: Creative Life Foundation. Although education is free in Thailand

through the 12th grade, many children drop out before the 9th grade to secure menial jobs.
Many are also sexually exploited. Creative Life Foundation was created in 2013,
specifically to assist women and vulnerable children who are at risk of “being caught up in

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the commercial sex industry “in Thailand. According to the co- founder, Tim Hupe, he
created the NGO “to connect vulnerable and marginalized children and parents in urban
and rural Thailand to resources that will create a path to freedom and prevent human
trafficking.” By providing them education, the foundation hopes to break the cycle of
poverty and from being exploited.

The interview to explore how the mission of Creative Life Foundation is being
implemented was conducted with a project leader, Yadfon Boonlab. Yadfon described how
the Karen tribe people, who live in the outskirts of Thailand are not considered Thai and
are stateless. The Karen Hill tribe originated in Tibet and its members have moved to areas
alongside the Thai-Myanmar border, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, with some
presence in central Thailand. Many of these people marry early so that they can help in the
family farms. Since they do not have easy access to education, the Creative Life Foundation
and other NGOs are promoting opportunities for this marginalized community.

Organization 4: Love Without Boundaries. In 2003, a boy was saved in China following
a successful heart surgery. This prompted the idea of creating an organization where
dedicated individuals would come together and create a better world for everyone. Love
Without Boundaries was created to provide “hope and healing to vulnerable children, and
their underserved communities, through education, foster care, healing homes, medical
care, and nutrition programs. The organization now has branches in Cambodia, China,
India, and Uganda. Sokleng In serves as the director of the Cambodia program. His “mercy
ministry” previously provided education to children in remote areas. He shared how he
became involved with Love without Boundaries; he had participated in a research study on
human trafficking in Thailand and the researcher connected him to the Love Without
Boundaries Organization.

The interview to explore how the mission of Love Without Boundaries is being
implemented was conducted with an education manager Leat Lann in Cambodia. Leat has
been working for Love without Boundaries for a few months. She joined the organization
because she feels that the mission is “really helpful” and they assist the “Cambodian kid
who is abandoned or fallen in a situation that is hopeless.”

Organization 5: Pahal. Pahal means initiative in Hindi. Lakbir Singh, the founder of the
NGO, explained that their primary mission is to serve humanity. The organization works
on different projects to help local communities, including projects in education, health, and
the environment. During the final editing of this paper, the author learned that Mr. Singh
passed away in 2021. However, his interview and member checking of the transcript had
been completed before he passed away. Lakbir was a professor, activist, and social worker.
He explained that the mission of his NGO is to “create a holistic society… where all the
needs of a person” are met. Pahal aims to educate the citizens with measures to circumvent
the degradation of the environment in India. To achieve their goal, the organization meets

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with school and college students they promote to advocate for causes such as conserving
water, reducing air pollution and carbon emissions, and the preservation of biodiverse
regions.

The interview to explore how the mission of Pahal is being implemented was conducted
with a Harvinder Kaur who worked with her late husband (the founder of Pahal). Harvinder
serves as the principal of the Nirmaan school that Pahal operates and motivates young girls
to take care of their hygiene and health and at the same time provide them education for a
better and satisfying professional career.

Organization 6: Teach the World Foundation. The overarching mission of the Teach
the World Foundation is to enhance literacy through digital technology. This NGO has
partnered with some of the poorest countries with the highest illiteracy rates including
Malawi, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The organization runs three types of digital literacy
programs: In-school, micro-school, and smartphone to develop literacy. Shafiq Khan is the
president and the co-founder of Teach the World Foundation. He shared that he and his
partner, Mr. Imran Sayeed were enjoying successful careers when they decided that “we've
done well in the world it's been a gift and we want to start giving the gift back.” Therefore,
they started their NGO to create social impact in “areas where impact is highest” and
focused on education. The mission of their NGO is to establish and deploy effective and
scalable models of literacy and learning by leveraging the power of digital technology.

Ms. Susan Cabon joined Teach the World Foundation a few years ago. She serves as the
country manager and since Teach the World sponsors one of the centers at Joshua, she was
able to provide some information regarding how literacy is promoted using the tablets
provided by the NGO. Susan previously worked as a teacher in an international school for
20 years and wanted to and explore if she “could do something that was more connected
to most of Malawi, rather than the kind of elite international school.” At a friend’s
recommendation, she joined the Joshua Orpah and Community Center, which has 17
preschool/childcare centers near Blantyre.

FINDINGS
Seven broad themes emerged from the interviews conducted for this study. 1) What
motivated the founders to create the NGO; 2) The successes they have achieved in
promoting education in their chosen countries; 3) The challenges that they face to promote
education in their chosen countries; 4) How they promote parental involvement; 5) Do they
offer career advice to their graduates; 6) Do they sponsor professional development
activities for their staff and teachers; and, 7) Are they familiar with the UN millennial goals
and how they meet these within their organization.

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MOTIVATION TO START THE NGO
The term motivation is derived from the Latin word motivus, which means a moving cause
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). There must be an incentive to move or create a change,
which can be extrinsic or intrinsic (Bloisi et al., 2007). Extrinsic motivation may be due to
a desire to get promoted or get a pay raise. Intrinsic motivation is a genuine concern to
resolve a concern and contribute towards creating a better world. A study by Cappellari et
al., (2011) on 1400 Italian workers demonstrated that intrinsic motivation plays a major
role in what makes people to dedicate themselves into voluntary activities. Non-profit
organizations, including NGOs, are often less capital intensive and more labor-intensive
due to the nature of their work. Therefore, intrinsic motivation is their primary driving
force, and determines whether the organization will make progress towards achieving their
vision. The researcher attempted to better understand what motivated the founding
participants to create their organization.

Although all NGOs in the study focus on providing educational opportunities to

marginalized populations, the specific reasons the founders originally created their NGO
varied. Troy shared that his primary motivation was to create a mechanism through which
“they can empower girls so that they're never susceptible to being trafficked are forced into
child marriages.” Tim shared similar reasons for starting his NGO, to “prevent human
trafficking.” As these NGOs matured, it became clear that providing better educational
opportunities was the most effective way of empowering those most vulnerable to
exploitation. In contrast, Fiza, Sokleng, Lakbir, and Shafiq were motivated to start their
NGOs after recognizing that existing educational opportunities in many countries were not
adequate and they could effectively supplement available opportunities for marginalized
populations. Shafiq shared, “if you're going to do it for social impact let's go find the areas
where impact is highest… and supplement or make up for the deficit that you have in the
education capabilities of largely the government.”

SUCCESSES IN PROMOTING EDUCATION

NGOs supplement essential services and provide humanitarian assistance in many
underdeveloped countries. Because they are usually funded by charitable donations, they
typically have efficient and effective organizational structures, and access to donor-
resources to promote education, provide better health care, and help alleviate poverty
through sustainable development. Asamoah (2003) shared how work performed by NGOs
is especially effective and needed where governmental funds are scarce and the country
has limited resources due to the low level of per capita income which restricts the ability
of people to maintain a decent living for themselves and their families. In recent years,
NGOs have emerged as successful in promoting education by supplementing and
collaborating with government efforts.

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The researcher wanted to explore the effectiveness of the NGOs in this study in promoting
education within the countries they operate in. Troy shared how there has been a reduction
in child marriage rate in the villages that they work, and more girls are completing higher
education. He explained that while their organization operates primarily in Bangladesh,
they also “have small projects that we fund in Cambodia and in Lebanon for Syrian refugee
girls.” When he was a law student and even working as a lawyer in the early days he was
very interested in “helping get girls and young women out of trafficking or out of brothels
and there's a lot of need for that those kind of removals after care. But over time, I realized
that a lot of the, what, is needed, and perhaps 95% of the money and emphasis needs to go
into preventative side so that you can empower girls so that they're never susceptible to
being trafficked or are forced into child marriages or into other exploitative situations.”
While Speak up for the Poor does not build schools because the government funds free
public education for children through 12th grade, they provide “these girls the academic
support they need to stay in school, giving them books school supplies tutoring.”

Fiza explained that DIL schools are “producing kids who are you know who have the
required soft skills.” She further explained, these include “the critical thinking, problem
solving, communication and all those skills that are required in the workforce, because in
the end, education is a conduit to success.” Another success she shared is the use of
Technology Enabled Academic Learning (TEAL). TEAL based learning is student
centered and is imparted through videos that students watch using a tablet. “This frees the
teacher from standing in front of the board and teaching in a very passive manner.” Instead,
the teacher is involved with the student and the can view the “post test results in real time
so she knows exactly who got it who didn't get it.”

Tim shared that his NGO is promoting “education as the way to prevent both break cycles
of poverty, but then also prevent some of these of root causes of issues like human
trafficking.” English is the third language for some students they serve, and he is proud
that two of his students have progressed sufficiently that they are now qualified for and
attending an “International school.” Initially, his primary mission was to provide
educational materials to children who were begging on the streets to provide for their
families or homeschooling a few students. However, as Tim explained, “you know what
we were doing was good, but it wasn't you know it wasn't effective, you know and, and so
we wanted to try to do something to remove you know this handful of children that we
knew that we're putting themselves at risk every day.” Therefore, Creative Life Foundation
began to partner with local Thai leaders and “expanded what we're doing as far as
homeschooling into the scholarship program for at risk youth within the city.” After one of
his staff members moved to Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand, they are getting more
involved with hill tribe communities because “that hill tribe specifically girls and women
were also high risk for trafficking, because they weren’t documented and so, so this right
to citizenship, you know got on our radar as well as girls specifically who weren't finishing

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school therefore getting married at a really young age, and so that was something that we
wanted to use education to eliminate as well.”

Sokleng described how Love Without Boundaries is promoting higher education and
“providing scholarships so they can go to university.” He explained that since many parents
work to earn their basic livelihood, young children are often left to the care of their older
siblings. Some students would even come to school with their younger siblings and could
not focus on studies. To address this issue, “the organization created a baby care” where
“older children can drop their babies to the baby care and then they can focus on learning.”

Lakbir shared how his NGO is providing “technical” education to students. He explained
that “Child Labor is a big challenge in India. You see, there are many places where children
are working. In stalls, dhabbas (local, informal restaurant), workshops, even in factories.
The girls are working in houses with their parents for cleaning the house. Their NGO is
“handling two child Labor schools where in one school 50 children, boys and girls who
belong to some of them are laborers and some of them belong to a labor background” are
being taught.

Shafiq described an experiment by his NGO to determine if the tablets were in fact making
a difference. He enrolled “completely illiterate kids, who in 95% to 96% of the case(s) also
had completely illiterate parents” in their experimental group classroom and provided these
children “tablets and had them learn from them.” He also had a “control group which was
from the same community, same aged children, getting an education in a traditional setting
and made a comparison.” Results demonstrated that “on average the learning gains were
twice as much as the kids who were getting a traditional education.” He attributed two
reasons for this ‘the quality of the application, the quality of the software and the in the
engagement that it generates”, and “the quality of education provided at the government
schools in particular is so bad that you know our kids really outperform.” Susan agreed
“NGOs are useful to Malawi, because they provide a variety of kinds of early childhood
education, but the government doesn't provide any so education in Malawi starts when
children are six that standard one that's the beginning of primary.”

CHALLENGES TO PROMOTE EDUCATION

Troy, Fiza, and Tim shared that one of their primary challenges is obtaining sustainable
funding for ongoing initiatives within their respective countries. Tim explained how the
current pandemic has created a significant barrier in funding for his organization, “money
does create a barrier, as far as how many kids can be enrolled in the program as far as how
much resources, we can actually provide it depends on how funded we are…” He further
added, “this [Covid and the inability to fundraise in person] took a big hit for us and we're
small, as it is.”

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Fiza also shared that finding quality teachers can become a challenge because, “you have
to make them unlearn and then teach them again.” Sokleng described poor school
attendance as an ongoing challenge. Some parents cross the Cambodian border to go to
Thailand and take their children with them. In Thailand, these children are used for
begging, … for selling flowers… or they abduct children.”

Lakbir discussed how extreme poverty can prevent some from continuing their education,
despite the support provided by his NGO. For some people, “to earn bread today is more
important than to get knowledge to get study for the future.” Shafiq added that some of the
challenges in promoting education are “technology barriers, the broadband, for instance, is
not uniform.” He added, “the commitment to learning or understanding of the value of
learning is one of the biggest barriers.”

Susan feels that language barriers can also affect the quality of education they can provide,
“I think one of the tidbit difficulties that we have with the digital learning is only that when
they [children] go to school, they learn in English, and they don't speak English at home.”
The software includes items that children might not be familiar with, so it takes additional
time for teachers to explain it in their native language. She provides examples of words
such as hamburgers and spaghetti are very common to the students in the west. This may
not be the case with students in Malawi who adhere to simpler diets of “maize and a small
vegetable every day of their lives.”

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Parents are their children’s first teachers and remain central to their learning experience
throughout the school years. While some parents can work with their children effortlessly,
others face challenges, including language barriers, resource constraints, or an education
deficit, which preclude them from effectively coaching and mentoring their children.
Developing parental self-efficacy regarding child-rearing can make them feel comfortable
and confident in becoming more involved in their children’s schooling. The researcher
explored whether the NGOs facilitate parental involvement (for example via dedicated
resources or training/workshops) and how often they reach out to parents.

Speak Up for the Poor provides training meetings every month for parents. Troy shared
that these meetings are typically attended by women since “mom is at home and the dad is
working in the field or, you know, driving the rickshaw or whatever his, labor is some most
dads are not available during the day.” Pitar corroborated him, “every month, we have a
parent's meeting in every village” … although it is called “parents meeting but it's mostly
mothers right yeah 95%.”

Developments in Literacy also promotes parental involvement via regular meetings. Fiza
shared that during harvest season, older girls start missing school. Teachers and
administrators will contact parents if they see that their children are not attending school
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and will conduct a meeting “either collectively or separately” to ensure that students attend
more regularly. Kiran, stated that “In our NGO, students are not only connected with us,
the parents are also connected”, she emphasized that she holds regular meetings with
parents.

Creative Life Foundation recognizes that many parents are unable to help their children or
become involved in their school because they are not educated. To address this, Tim
proposed an adult literacy program because “they [parents] see the doors that will open
once they can read and write and once they see the value of education.” Yadfon added that
their literacy program helps parents to develop linguistic skills since “most of them are
couldn't speak the Thai language as well.”

Love without Boundaries has an open-door policy wherein parents can come and ask
questions that they might have regarding their children. However, they do not offer any
training or workshops. Leat shared that their teachers are always willing to provide
“advise” to parents. Pahal has tried to hold meetings but very few parents showed up for
these. Harvinder explained, “parental involvement is very less because they're [parents]
laborers they are busy.” To promote greater involvement and meet the parents, they invite
parents to their school and offer gifts on local festival days, e.g., “Divali, Lohri.”

Parental involvement is extremely important to Teach the World. As Shafiq explained,

some parents are difference makers. He shared the example of a parent promoted the idea
of a smart phone literacy program. They contacted the Chief Implementation Officer and
Director of Operations and asked her to help with homeschooling her and some other
children in their areas who were homebound during COVID. With proper scaffolding and
regular check-ins with parents and students, Teach the World Foundation is promoting
literacy to a wider audience. However, as Shafiq explained, day-to-day constraints can
make it difficult for most parents to become more involved “while it is important, I mean
to me” and is “a crucial differentiator, it is very unfortunate that with the people that we
are working with in the vast majority of cases that can is at best, involved in, you know
seeing the children off to school getting them ready and so on.”

CAREER ADVICE TO GRADUATES

In a report for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD,
2018), Musset et al., highlight the benefits of career guidance and counseling for
individuals and for the society. The authors explain that “it helps individuals to progress in
their learning and work, but it also helps the effective functioning of the labor and learning
markets, and contributes to a range of social policy goals, including social mobility and
equity.” Many young individuals, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds,
often lack resources or networks to obtain information on where and how to apply for
adequate positions. The researcher solicited responses from the participants regarding how
their NGOs address this need.
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Troy explained that although Speak Up for the Poor helps their students to achieve higher
education, due to shortage of staff, they are unable to assist them with job placements. Pitar
elaborated that they help their students with their resumes and coach them how to give
interviews. Fiza shared that DIL cannot place their students into jobs but “we try to connect
them with places where they can get that.” Kiran confirmed that the NGO conducts “career
guidance sessions and many other sessions and make our hub for our graduates when we
find or we when we hear about any job requirements or we just inform our graduates to
apply there or things like that.” Tim explained that Creative Life Foundation does not
provide career placement services “for all students, because not all students are necessarily
looking for that.” However, the NGO will help students who ask for assistance. He
provided an example of a student who was looking for a job and they connected them to a
coffee shop. The owner of the coffee shop was so impressed with their work that she
“actually became a board member because she loves what we do.” Yadfon confirmed that
“we connect them to the company or to the job that we can provide them.”

Sokleng shared that Love without Boundaries does not have “people or don't have
resources to do this [provide career placement support] yet.” Leat agreed that while they
indirectly prepare their students for jobs by providing them with education, they do not
have any mechanism specifically “for a job.” Pahal also does not provide career advice to
their students and Harvinder explained that because they serve young children, “there is no
job, so we can't.” Shafiq and Susan shared a similar constraint. Teach the World Foundation
works with young children and therefore, there are no opportunities (or demand) for career
advancement or placement.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAFF AND

TEACHERS
Professional development training is essential for educators to understand the latest
research and best practices regarding how to scaffold student development. Teacher who
are well trained can achieve better academic outcomes and create a student-centered
classroom environment that promote the 4 competencies identified in the Partnership for
21st century learning (P21). The 4 C’s include Critical Thinking, Communication,
Collaboration, and Creativity.

The researcher asked the designated representative from each NGO whether they were
provided formal training and responses varied. Kiran shared DIL provides them “training
at every stage of our work now, so the resources to work effectively with our students”
Yadfon (Creative Life Foundation) shared that “like every year and then, when we have an
extra training, we always have a training and more like do things to use resources.” Leat
(Love Without Boundaries) receives training from her director or boss regarding “child
protection” and “school policies”.

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In contrast, Pitar (Speak up for the Poor) and Harvinder (Pahal) do not receive any specific
training or workshops. Shafiq shared Teach the World Foundation “have a five-day training
program in which we actually train a facilitator to begin to run this [software program]. We
offer them you know troubleshooting support ongoing which you have to”. Susan
explained that from “teach the world, we received the guide, the training handbook” They
“have a regular meeting every week with teach the world” and further elaborated, that “they
receive training from the foundation on how to conduct assessments … (but) the people
from the office receive that training we don't ask the caregivers to do the digital
assessments”.

MEETING UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM GOALS

Even though policies and reforms have been developed to address and promote the UN
millennium goals in many developing countries, developing effective implementation
strategies is still necessary to achieve these goals. All participants unanimously agreed that
they were aware of the UN Millennium goals, specifically as they relate to education. In
this context they highlighted two specific goals as especially relevant, MDG-2 (Achieve
Universal Primary Education) and MDG-3 (Promote Gender Equality). All NGOs. are
working towards achieving these goals. Tim elaborated how the connection between
MDG-2 and MDGG-3 and how his organization is furthering progress in these, “like by
supporting you know girl’s education, I believe you know that's directly impacting gender
equality”. He added, “as far as the providing access to education that's directly, tackling
root causes of poverty and what keeps people in poverty, and so you know, poverty is one
of them”.

DISCUSSION
Based on the data collected and analyzed, the researcher revisited the primary purpose of
the study which was to understand the role of six specific NGOs (in Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Malawi) in promoting education in developing countries
and explore their successes and challenges. The researcher analyzed their success and
challenges and developed recommendations for sustainable practices based on the study
findings.

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
The Bruntland Commission Report defines sustainable development as meeting the needs
of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs
(United Nations General Assembly, 1987, p. 43). Ravindranath explained how sustainable
development can be applied to education, is applicable which states, “all aspects of public
awareness, education and training provided to create or enhance an understanding of the
linkages among the issues for sustainable development and to develop the knowledge,
skills, perspectives and values that will empower people of all ages to assume responsibility
for creating sustainable futures”. (Ravindranath, 2007, pp. 191-192).
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For an NGO to be successful, their efforts and solutions must be sustainable. Therefore, all
NGOs require continued and consistent funding from their donors, which can be a
significant challenge. Fiza shared how DIL has modified their approach to take advantage
of existing infrastructure, “we are going to start now adopting government schools and
bringing about change there because we feel that that is the most sustainable solution”.
Pakistan has many schools that physically exist but are either poorly funded, suffer from
poor administration, or do not have appropriately trained and committed teachers. The
government-NGO partnership she described will relive DIL from constructing new schools
and allow them to work with existing resources to improve educational outcomes. Troy
from Speak Up for the Poor shared a similar strategy, “in some areas we will partner
directly with the school, rather than having even the tutoring need to be at our centers,
having some of the tutoring be at the schools.”

Tim explained that Creative Life Foundation partners with schools to provide books and
supplies. For example, they conduct an “English camp, wherein they bring their own
materials, because they understand that it might be challenging for schools to supply
additional resources and “we don't want to take from them.” Teach the World sponsors
different types of programs to develop educational literacy. In their school programs,
students attend school in person. They also sponsor micro-schools, which Shafiq explained
as “you rent a room in a community that has really badly short of schools. We hire a mom
usually moms are good managers, ideally, we want mom who is also a teacher. And then
we give her 25 tablets and set her up with solar and everything right in the room that we
rented, so there is a fan and the light, and you know clean nice clean room in the bathroom.”
They have also recently started the smart phone program in which children learn by
downloading an app on their parent’s smart phones. According to the Teach the World
Foundation website, “Our facilitators have regular check-ins with parents and students take
weekly online quizzes to reinforce learnings.” The NGO currently only has the smart phone
and micro-school programs available in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The current pandemic has reiterated the importance of sustainable practices. Susan
explained how “during lockdown we sent the tablets out with the caregivers to various
people's homes” This simple step helped children continue receiving some education and
avoid what some people call, Covid-slide (a metaphor based on Summer slide, in which
children from low socio-economic backgrounds lose a month of academic learning each
summer).

Even if schools are accessible, well-funded, and staffed with qualified teachers, efforts to
promote education can only be successful if local students demonstrate interest and enroll.
For example, females are discouraged from attending school in many developing countries.
Troy described that one of the ways Speak Up for the Poor creates greater opportunities
for girls is by getting “some after school support that they [students] need. So we're
working on that. But we have a close friendship with political figures with principals and

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teachers at every school that our girls go.” This helps foster and promote greater interest in
girl’s education. Love Without Boundaries develops greater interest in enrollment by
meeting the nutritional needs of underprivileged students. Leat explained “you know when
the kid come to the school parent will expect who will feed the kid or who will take care
of the kid…. we provide that warm feeling to the parent that we will look after the kids and
the kids will have some food at school.”

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURALLY RELEVANT

PEDAGOGY
Promoting growth and development opportunities is a perquisite for developing committed
and qualified teachers. Bredeson (2002) highlights the importance of professional
development opportunities for teachers as critical to the successful implementation of the
various educational reform initiatives. Based on the research findings, professional
development opportunities are not consistently offered by the NGOs studied.

Professional development is more effective if the content is culturally relevant. Culturally

relevant pedagogy, as developed by Ladson-Billings in the 90s requires that educators
actively educate themselves and their students on the personal and sociopolitical issues that
impact their students, their students’ communities, and the world. The NGOs in this study
are active in different countries and their teachers will benefit if they are provided
opportunities to develop cultural sensitivities. To be effective scaffolders of their students,
the teachers must be regularly trained on how to develop cultural competence to best serve
their students. This is consistent with Bochman (2011) and Broussard (2007) who highlight
the significance of aligning the curriculum to the local context to achieve positive learning
gains. A one size fit all approach cannot work.

ENCOURAGE GREATER PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Schools that develop strong partnerships and involvement of all parents ultimately provide
a richer and more satisfying school experience for their students with better academic
outcomes and higher student retention (Epstein, 1987).

The family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and utilizes a systems-
based approach to describe the complex inner networking within the unit (Kerr, 2000). It
is grounded in the idea that the family members are intensely connected emotionally. If
teachers understand that how the connection between family members can affect their
thoughts, feelings, and actions, they can create greater opportunities for family members
to become involved in schools.

Families differ in terms of ethnicity, race, and culture; language; economics; gender roles;
religiosity; and geographic location. Therefore, teachers should also develop cultural
sensitivity to work effectively with diverse families and honor their cultural differences

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and the funds of knowledge that they bring to our classrooms. By exploring the collective
aspects of parental involvement, language, literacy, behavioral outcomes, cultural
challenges, socioeconomic status, environment and emotional development in depth,
educators can help prepare themselves to meet the ever-growing need of families.

While most of the NGOs in this study promote parental involvement, some do not prioritize
this aspect because they feel that parents are too busy just earning a basic living. This
contradicts a study by James (2008), who demonstrated that most parents he studied would
participate in more school related activities if they could find the time to do so. Vassallo
(2000) also agrees that time constraints can make it difficult for many parents or caregivers
to regularly volunteer at school and school related activities. Given the demonstrated
benefits of parental involvement in making parents stakeholders in their children’s
education, the NGOs might consider additional creative ways and incentives to promote
parental involvement. While there is no one-size fits all model, Pahal’s approach of
providing gifts on festival days is a good start. Providing free meals during regularly
scheduled workshops might be another option.

CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS

NGO’s play a significant role in promoting education in developing countries and can
successfully reach many children who would not have received any education without their
efforts. However, they also face challenges to effectively implement educational reforms.

This qualitative study explored the roles of six NGO’s in promoting education within the
countries they operate in and examined the successes they have achieved and the challenges
that they face. Study participants shared several effective and sustainable solutions that
they have implemented with their organization to promote education in the face of limited
funds. The challenges faced by these NGO’s are also shared to create greater awareness
and possible solutions to their issues.

Although the findings of the study cannot be generalized due to the limited sample set, the
researcher included thick descriptions that explored how each NGO promotes education in
their respective countries to facilitate transferability and external validity. Future studies
using mixed method or quantitative methodologies should be conducted to complement the
study findings.

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