International Day of Education: reflecting on our education projects across the world

South of Johannesburg, in a typical, dusty settlement on the outskirts of a big South African city, sits the Aman School of Excellence, an oasis which quenches the thirst for education and community cohesion. Entering its second year of operation, the Aman School epitomises Africa Muslims Agency’s (AMA) focus on Quality Education as set out by SDG4.
South Africa provides free and subsidised education, so in the process of establishing the school, the question did arise as to why another school. The key is Quality Education. Through our years of working in many countries in Africa and around the world, AMA understands that an education which raises underprivileged children to the level of their peers is the only way to build a sustainable future. A report card which represents a school without adequate facilities or correctly trained teachers usually means little for the average school leaver. But to equip children from low socio-economic strata with skills like coding and robotics, facilities like libraries and physical education programmes, means that these children have a far greater chance of being eligible for higher education or job opportunities which can one day lift their families from deep poverty, and allow them to become tax payers, contributing to building the next generation of South Africans.
The Aman School Finetown is, in fact, the 2nd Aman School to be established by AMA. The first was a school established in Lebanon in 2021, catering for Syrian and Palestinian refugee children who had no other access to education. Here too, the focus has always been on a world-class level of education, bearing in mind the end goal of breaking the cycle of poverty for refugee families.
In Afghanistan, AMA runs education projects including a madrassah for girls, again creating an opportunity for marginalised groups who would otherwise have no access to education.
In Africa, AMA focuses strongly on building water wells and boreholes, which removes the greatest barrier to education for young girls who would otherwise spend their days searching for water.
In South Africa and many other countries, every child who receives an education and becomes employable assists not just their nuclear family, but often, extended families, and so the impact of educating a single child has far-reaching effects that change multiple lives.
The International Day of Education is a reminder to us all that education truly is the pathway to upliftment and a better future for all.