Suas Educational Development
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Mission:
Suas Educational Development is a movement dedicated to supporting quality education in under resourced communities.
Vision:
A world where all young people are given the opportunity to realise their potential to effect positive change in our society.
Suas works in partnership with local schools and community development organisations in Ireland, India and Kenya addressing local solutions with local problems and providing educational support to over 13,000 children each year.
What is Suas About?
Suas is an ambitious, education-focused social change organisation that supports programmes in Ireland, India & Kenya. Founded in 2002, Suas has grown quickly to become a leading mid-size organisation in development within Ireland. We now employ thirteen full-time staff, with an annual budget over €1M.
We promote quality education for all by providing short-term volunteers, financial and technical support to our Partner schools in India & Kenya. In Ireland we support young adults to engage with social change through service-learning programmes, thereby developing their team and leadership skills. We are also developing a mentoring programme and a new educational model for Transition Year students to provide project and team-based approach to learning.
We view education as key to social transformation – change education and you change the world. Key issues are not just about access but also quality – helping children and young people to go beyond the 3Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic) to realising their full potential to enable them to positively shape their futures and that of their communities and countries.
We believe that we need an education system that also develops the 3 Cs: Character, full Capability and Commitment to others.
This requires many changes: including a shift from a more instructive based approach to experiential learning within a values-based ethos.
We view change and development as a process and see ourselves as a catalyst for change and growth within individuals and organisations. We view leadership as essential and espouse a servant-leader approach, serving the cause and our partners.
Strategic Framework:
Educate: We support partner education organisations, catering for 3 to 18 year olds, in under-resourced communities that share similar values to Suas.
Engage: We engage our active and passionate youthful volunteers in service-learning and fundraising programmes that address educational disadvantage.
Inspire: We operate programmes that help young people to be better informed and connected with global issues, with a view to engaging them in our vision and mission.
Values and Principles:
We expect all Suas volunteers to subscribe to these beliefs. We will only seek partnerships with organisations that could show demonstrable evidence of sharing similar values.
Education: We believe the type of education an individual receives can considerably influence their likelihood of achieving their potential and playing a meaningful role in shaping their communities. We believe a holistic education combines formal education, the acquisition of a broad range of skills, a process of self-discovery and substantial exposure to both community and global perspectives.
Role of Young People: We believe investing in young people is essential for long-term sustainable change in the world. Our work is personified in the vibrancy, passion, optimism and energy of youthful people of all nationalities who we seek to engage as volunteers. We believe strongly in the value of peer-to-peer education.
Partnerships: We believe maximum impact can be achieved through effective collaborations between the social, government and private sectors and by employing the unique skills of each. We believe the objectives of the education organisations that we seek to partner with must always be to the forefront of our thinking.
Respect & Diversity: We believe in the innate dignity of all people and believe we share an underlying common humanity. We believe in a society where an individual's opportunity is defined not by their network, geography, colour or creed but by their own ambition, potential and fundamental rights. We are secular and respect and value diversity including religious diversity.
Local Solutions: We believe the problems of any community have to be overcome by the members of that community. We support local solutions to local problems.
Leadership & Society: We believe that leadership is best learnt through service to others, understanding their needs and putting them first. We believe that we all have a role in shaping our society. We just need individual responsibility, the collective will and capacity to effect change. We believe that we can best serve where our leadership talents meet the needs of communities.