SAVE A REFUGEE SCHOOL !!

Hello! My name is Eleanor Ross, and I am currently a student at Duke University fundraising to keep open the refugee school known as the Beyond Borders Academy in Egypt Learning Centre in Cairo, Egypt. I hope you will help!

This spring, I traveled to Egypt with my “Africa and Arabia” class and had the amazing opportunity to visit this refugee school. Upon my arrival, I learned that non-Arabic-speaking refugees and low-income students are often unable to enter the Egyptian public school system because of their language capabilities and a lack of documentation from previous education. If these 25,000+ children want education, they can only attend “community schools" since private or international schools are too expensive (families live on incomes of $100-200 per month).

Notoriously underfunded, overcrowded, and staffed by those with inadequate teaching degrees, the majority of these community schools do not provide quality education. Of ALL secondary school graduates of community schools in Egypt last year, only four students passed the bar to go to university. And yet, since these other community schools provide low-cost education, they are these students’ only viable option.

Beyond Borders Academy is different. As the ONLY community school that has a legal status as an NGO in the country, its classes boast between 5 and 15 students instead of the typical 30-50 for community schools.

While community schools teach the Sudanese curriculum, the Beyond Borders Academy teaches the American curriculum and provides its students with excellent learning materials. While there are some exceptions to the poor quality of community schools, such as ones with church support, the overwhelming majority do not provide quality education.

Other than providing widely-recognized quality education, the Beyond Borders Academy fills another gap in Egyptian learning: secondary school. As most community schools in Egypt end after primary school, the Beyond Borders Academy teaches students that want to continue their studies into their teens. Without opportunities like the Beyond Borders Academy, students must end their education.

Background on the Centre:

The Beyond Borders Academy, then called the CAWU Learning Centre, was created in 2018 to combat education inequality for refugees and low-income students in Cairo. Its founder, Kees Hulsman, started the school after he met Diana, a 16-year-old daughter of a domestic worker who had come to Egypt after the civil war in Liberia. Although Kees helped Diana obtain legal documents and enroll in a community school, its resources didn’t provide her with the education she needed. After finding this problem pervasive in Cairo and Egyptian society, Kees decided to create Beyond Borders Academy to provide refugees and students from low-income families with quality education. Over the past five years, Beyond Borders Academy has taught more than 150 students, and there are currently 13 enrolled. Further, it has the best rate of any community school in Egypt for sending students to continue their education—whether in high school in the US, or universities in Egypt or abroad.

Beyond Borders Academy strives to provide education for refugee students at an affordable price. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provides 1,000 Egyptian Pounds (about $33) per student per year for students registering at any community school until the age of 21. Although the Beyond Borders Academy charges a fee of 5,000 Egyptian pounds per student per year, student families only need to pay 4,000 Egyptian Pounds due to the UNHCR funding. The tuition for Beyond Borders Academy is in the middle range of community school tuition—none of which is completely free.

Yet, Beyond Borders Academy's education offerings are unmatched. Moreover, when students cannot afford to pay the tuition, the school offers scholarships. Donations like yours will help keep tuition rates low, fund more scholarships, and ensure that the Beyond Borders Academy can stay open for the foreseeable future.

Please consider donating, and we look forward to helping Beyond Borders Academy stay open!

For more information:

If you are a Dutch taxpayer, your donation can be tax deductable: