Varkey Foundation

  • F Funder
  • R Researcher

Description

At the Varkey Foundation, we believe in a quality education for every child. That’s why, together with our partners, we work to build the status of teachers to ensure that the quality of teaching is enhanced, and outcomes will improve. Our vision is a quality education for every child – through boosting the status of teachers and celebrating the profession. Teachers matter. Every day, in classrooms around the world, teachers do amazing things. But too often, their work goes unrecognised and unrewarded. Research by The Varkey Foundation carried out in 2013 and 2018 (Global Teacher Status Index) found that few people see teaching as a high-status job and few think pupils respect their teachers. Relatively few parents say they would encourage their children to be teachers. We also know that there is a shortage of teachers across the world – with 69m more teachers needed to provide universal primary and secondary education by 2030. And too often, teachers are not trained or supported to be effective – and that means pupils are not learning. One recent study from the World Bank showed that only 9% of teachers in sub Saharan Africa had the minimum required knowledge of pedagogy to effectively teach the curriculum, and only 7% could correctly mark a year 4 test on spelling and comprehension. We believe that teachers are critical to our global future. Through our work across the world, we’ve seen how great teachers can transform the lives of their students and their wider communities for the better. Today we work, research and campaign all around the world, and everything we do is driven by one simple belief: teachers matter.

Primary Functions

  • Funding
  • Research - policy analysis
  • Research - project evaluation

Secondary Functions

  • N/A

Geographic Scope

  • Global / regional

Areas of work Back to Top

Education topics addressed

Attainment

  • Primary completion
  • Primary enrollment

Other

  • Other

Other skills

  • Life skills/sexuality education
  • Social and emotional learning
  • Vocational training

Quality

  • School quality
  • Teacher training

Skills

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy

Cross-cutting topics addressed

  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Early/child marriage
  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Other aspects of sexual and reproductive health
  • WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)

Funders and partners Back to Top

Current girls’ education funders

Locations and contact information Back to Top

Website

Varkey Foundation

Headquarters location(s)

  • London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Office location(s)

  • Argentina
  • Ghana
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates

Locations of current girls’ education work

Map showing countries (listed below) where the organization is involved with girls' education programs

  • Argentina
  • China
  • Ghana
  • India
  • Japan
  • Kenya
  • Republic of Korea
  • South Africa
  • Uganda

Projects Back to Top