The Global Schools Forum (GSF) has announced finalists for the Education Empowerment for Rural, Urban Slums Initiative (EERUi).
The four selected organizations, Education Empowerment for Rural and Urban Slums Initiative (EERUi), Jackfruit Finance, Lake Region Development Programme (LRDP), and TotoCare, were chosen for their innovative approaches and dedication to serving children aged 0-6 years in low-income communities.
The CEO and Founder of GSF Aashti Zaidi Hai, expressed excitement about the second iteration of the Labs programme in Kenya, emphasizing its commitment to expanding access to quality ECED services.
“Our second Labs programme, Early Years in Kenya, will partner with locally led childcare and ECED organisations focusing on children aged 0-6 years in low-income communities. After receiving applicants from 39 inspiring organisations across Kenya,” Hai stated.
“The team and I are excited to begin our journey to work alongside these four organisations to scale the reach and impact of their inspiring work to improve equitable access to quality childcare and ECED services,” he added.
GSF underscored the critical importance of providing nurturing care and holistic development opportunities for young children to ensure their resilience and readiness to face future challenges.
“The overall goal of the Early Childhood Education and Development sector in Kenya, as prescribed in Vision 2030, is to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education. However, current efforts at scale by the government are focused on provisioning for children between 3-5 years.”
GSF’s Impact at Scale Labs programme aims to identify, fund, and support promising, locally led education organisations to scale.
The comprehensive programme includes an extended 18-month duration for intensive support, offering up to GBP 75,000 in grant funding tied to milestones and providing one-on-one coaching and expertise for solution challenges, strategy building, and ongoing implementation.
Additionally, participants gain access to a vast local and global education community, fostering vital relationships with government representatives, private sector implementers, funders, and other strategic partners.
The programme ensures organisations are embedded in the GSF network, providing opportunities for peer interactions, training and development, and participation in GSF networking and learning events.
