Education Above All, through its global programme, Educate A Child, has partnered with UNICEF to provide access to quality primary education to 30,000 OOSC in Paraguay. The “Quality Education for Out-of-School Children in Paraguay” project aims to reach, mobilise and enrol children from urban and rural areas, including those who are overaged; have a disability; and/or are from an indigenous community. The project will target key barriers to access and retention, such as poverty, social exclusion, a low perceived value of education, gender discrimination and lack of infrastructure.

The goals of this joint project will be achieved through several strategic interventions, which include: door-to-door campaigns to identify and enrol OOSC; quarterly parent-teacher meetings to help prevent the incidence of dropout; the development of an early-warning system, based on specific criteria to assess OOSC progress and identify potential dropouts; alternative learning programmes; community mobilisation; teacher training; provision of school-based technology; and capacity-building initiatives for district councils in planning and improving learning conditions to promote the enrolment and retention of OOSC.