Our first School under the Sky opened in Burundi on 11 February 2026.
The project exists for children who cannot attend an ordinary school because of poverty, distance, or simply because no education is available to them.
The principle behind it is simple: to start teaching children you do not need to build a large school. You need a teacher, a safe place to hold lessons, and the will to give children knowledge.
Its first pupils were Batwa children. There are around 50 children in the local community with no way of attending a state school. In the twenty-first century, half the population of Burundi cannot read or write. For these children our school is quite literally the only chance of getting out of absolute poverty.
The project exists for children who cannot attend an ordinary school because of poverty, distance, or simply because no education is available to them.
The principle behind it is simple: to start teaching children you do not need to build a large school. You need a teacher, a safe place to hold lessons, and the will to give children knowledge.
Its first pupils were Batwa children. There are around 50 children in the local community with no way of attending a state school. In the twenty-first century, half the population of Burundi cannot read or write. For these children our school is quite literally the only chance of getting out of absolute poverty.
School under the Sky is the simplest, most affordable model of primary education there is:
We deliberately keep the school simple to run, so that classes like this can be opened wherever children have gone years without education.
- one class of up to 80 children;
- one teacher;
- three to five lessons a day;
- a snack during lessons;
- a five-day school week.
We deliberately keep the school simple to run, so that classes like this can be opened wherever children have gone years without education.
How the school works
What the project sets out to do
End illiteracy.
Batwa children have never been to school. We teach them to read, write and count, and give them the basics across a wide range of subjects.
Batwa children have never been to school. We teach them to read, write and count, and give them the basics across a wide range of subjects.
A way out of poverty.
Without education a child has almost no way of changing their life. The school gives them knowledge that can become the basis of a trade and an income of their own.
Without education a child has almost no way of changing their life. The school gives them knowledge that can become the basis of a trade and an income of their own.
Company and growth.
The school is a place where children not only study but meet other children, learn to work together and find out more about the world around them.
The school is a place where children not only study but meet other children, learn to work together and find out more about the world around them.
Equal chances.
Children do not choose the family or the circumstances they are born into. But every child deserves the chance to learn and to develop their abilities. We help make education available to them.
Children do not choose the family or the circumstances they are born into. But every child deserves the chance to learn and to develop their abilities. We help make education available to them.
Strengthen the local economy.
When children are educated, it is not only their own lives that change. A literate person has a better chance of learning a trade, finding work and providing for a family. Over time that helps break a long cycle of poverty and creates the conditions for whole communities to develop.
When children are educated, it is not only their own lives that change. A literate person has a better chance of learning a trade, finding work and providing for a family. Over time that helps break a long cycle of poverty and creates the conditions for whole communities to develop.
