More than a technical resource, it is a practical guide shaped by evidence and experience across six EAC partnership projects.

Placing self-agency at the heart of education access and retention, the framework illustrates how confidence, autonomy, and resilience can be nurtured through peer support, co-agency models, and community-led interventions.

Beginning with a compelling foreword by Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi, Executive Director of EAC, this framework sets out a simple but powerful idea: when children believe in themselves, they are better able to navigate barriers and act in their own best interest.  

This is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

Rooted in six diverse contexts, this framework presents key strategies for fostering self-agency, helping children not only access education but also stay, thrive, and lead.

It offers a grounded, accessible guide for practitioners, educators and policy makers - those committed to rethinking inclusion from the inside out.  When children are empowered to act, they do. And when they do, positive change can follow.

This is not only about getting children into classrooms. It’s about unlocking their agency to shape their own futures once they’re there.