Schools for Schools

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Schools for Schools is a fundraising program created by the nonprofit Invisible Children Inc. The goal of the program is to have students and schools in the western world creatively compete to raise money and rebuild schools in northern Uganda, a region whose education standards and facilities have suffered due to the long-lasting war in the north of the country.

Contents

[edit] How the program works

Schools for Schools is one of the first fundraising programs to function using a real-time, interactive website. When a school registers on the site, they are assigned to one of 10 “clusters,” each of which is partnered with a specific school in northern Uganda. The goal of each school cluster is to raise as much money as possible for their partner Ugandan school.

The money raised goes towards rebuilding and refurbishing the partner schools in five main categories: water and sanitation, infrastructure and facilities, teacher training and incentives, equipment and resources, and technology.

As progress in fundraising is tracked on the website, students can compare how their school is performing relative to other competing schools. Students can also watch a real-time progress bar that allows them to see what their funds are helping to rebuild in northern Uganda.

At the end of the competition, the top fundraisers from each cluster are awarded trips to Uganda to help implement the money they have raised.

[edit] In Uganda

Over 90% of the funds raised from the Schools for Schools competition go directly to northern Uganda for implementation. The other 10% is used for related administrative and material costs for the program.

Invisible Children’s development philosophy relies largely upon working with affected communities and building a partnership, rather than simply offering aid or a handout. To hold Schools for Schools to this same standard, a research team was created in Uganda to oversee the development and completion of the construction projects on the ground.

The purpose of this team is to make sure all funds raised through Schools for Schools are implemented in the places they are needed most.

This research team chose which 10 partner schools would be rebuilt in northern Uganda. The schools that applied were evaluated in four main categories: administration and management, finance and accountability, teaching and learning, and logistics and planning.

The schools selected created local development committees with educational stakeholders that continue to assess the needs of each school.

The end goal of Schools for Schools in Uganda is to rebuild secondary schools (high schools) to a quality level that will give students a better chance at succeeding in their studies, while also creating long-lasting, sustainable change in the region’s educational system.

[edit] Pilot session

The pilot round of Schools for Schools was launched in February 2007. Over 580 schools registered online. Within the 100-day competition period, these schools collectively raised over $1.2 million.

Implementation of the funds raised began for five of the partner schools in July 2007 and the remaining five schools in October. All initial projects selected for these schools should be completed by June 2008.

[edit] Semester two

Launched in September 2007, Semester Two, or Schools for Schools 2.0, is currently active. This semester is set for 150 days. It will end in February, 2008. As of January 13, 2008, $877,081 has been raised.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Invisible Children Inc.