In 2000, the UN committed to achieving universal primary education by 2015, in the second of their Millennium Development Goals. Last year’s reports claimed impressive progress towards that target – with 91% of children being enrolled into primary education in developing regions.
However the reality behind these figures is inevitably less rosy – in particular, attention and money has been shifted away from secondary education, with the focus squarely on increasing primary education enrolments.
This means that in Sub-Saharan Africa, one in four children have access to secondary education – leaving 22 million children without access to education beyond the age of 11.
PEAS was set up to change this, and to create a world where all children enjoy an education that unlocks their full potential. In the 8 years since, PEAS have become one of the leading providers of non-state secondary education in Africa.
PEAS uses international fundraising for the costs of building a new school, and an innovative partnership with the Ugandan government to cover their operating expenses.
The remainder is made up from day fees (which predominantly cover the cost of lunch) and boarding fees, which means tuition is highly affordable, enabling some of the poorest children in Uganda to study at PEAS schools.
PEAS has not only achieved scale – educating 14,250 Ugandan students – but also quality: PEAS enables disproportionately vulnerable students (52% of whom are girls) to achieve grades above the national average.
In 2016, CAF Venturesome approved a commitment of £240,000 to PEAS, enabling them to sustain and grow their impact, expanding their schools network to be educating 25,000 children by 2019.
‘This support from CAF Venturesome protects our cash position through a period of uncertain funding. It will allow PEAS to make long-term investment decisions which in turn will ensure our ability to grow our impact further in the coming years.’
John Rendel - Founder/CEO
Want to know more? Talk to our team on
03000 123 300 or email us at
venturesome@cafonline.org and we’ll be happy to help.