Do you want to join us in empowering vulnerable children and youth to create a safe, enjoyable learning community where they gain hope, go back to school and become leaders, teachers, change agents and social entrepreneurs who help others?

Do you want to support our young leaders build a sustainable community and spread the EDS method globally?

Do you want to learn, do teacher training or research with us?

Welcome!

Teach & mentor

Education is the key to development and to create a better future for oneself, one’s family and community. Dropout rates in Bangladesh are high: 14%, 37% and 22% from primary, secondary and high school respectively2.

Our children and youth in EDS teach all school subjects grade 1-12 at four different locations in Khulna, Bangladesh. They are both students and teachers, so they learn and teach. Also students from the Khulna University of Technology and Engineering and Khulna University teach in EDS, and we collaborate with Blindern high school and Marikollen secondary school in Norway.

EDS children and youth who once saw themselves as troublemakers or failures now feel proud to be leaders, teachers, change agents and volunteers who make a positive change for themselves and others.

Join us in this journey to create a world where every child can thrive!

You may teach in person in Khulna, or through internet.

Global youth collaboration

Through our collaboration with Blindern high school and Marikollen secondary school in Norway, the youth learn from each other. Our EDS youth inspire the Norwegian youth by sharing their transformative learning journey, how they’ve overcome obstacles, gotten education and create a better future for themselves, family and community. The Norwegian students teach ICT and English through word games.

The youth also learn how youth live in other parts of the world and build trust, understanding and friendship.

Does your class or school wish to collaborate with EDS for mutual learning?

Welcome to contact us and discuss possibilities!

Educational scholarship

With higher education, the young EDS leaders will have more influence and can motivate more people for positive actions. They can also better support their families as many of them are the breadwinners of their family.

How can I support?

  • Inform us about educational scholarship for higher education in Bangladesh and internationally. Especially scholarships requesting experience with social work and education.
  • Contribute economically to EDS educational scholarships. We provide these scholarships dedicated EDS youth leaders who have proven long term commitment to teaching and mentoring in EDS. With this scholarship they can continue higher education and continue volunteering in EDS.

Empower women, young leaders and social entrepreneurs

Girls in Bangladesh face complex challenges like negative social control, domestic abuse, lack of safety and child marriage, which often leads to school dropouts, early marriage and becoming dependent on their in laws.

The unemployment rate (for youth aged 15-24) in Bangladesh is around 15%1. Many children and youth work in hazardous environments that may cause health problems or are at risk of being recruited to youth gangs, illegal work or violence.

We need to ensure that our large human resource of children and youth, boys and girls, get the chance to contribute towards sustainable development for themselves, their community and country.

Our Women empowerment team works to bring out of school girls back to school, prevent dropouts, teach health and hygiene, mentor girls to realize their inner power so they take leader roles in EDS, get higher education, work and become independent.

To tackle the youth unemployment, EDS youth take initiatives to develop small-scale social entrepreneurships where they sell clothes and grow crops and fish. The income goes to support their education, EDS educational and social activities and re-investment in their social entrepreneurship. Some of the produce is distributes among needy youth and their families. EDS youth also get electrician training so they may start their own small-scale entrepreneurship and generate income.

Our EDS children and youth have proven that they can

  • take responsibility
  • teach and help other children get education
  • develop their community
  • make parents, schools, police and local leaders work for the child rights
  • be innovative entrepreneurs
  • find and implement solutions to problems when they get responsibility

Although they run EDS, teach, mentor and create positive change, they still face criticism and harassment from people who look down upon volunteer work and say our youth leaders waste their time.

You may empower these young leaders, women and social entrepreneurs to take continued action by:

  • Inviting them to trainings in leadership, management, economy, agriculture or pedagogy. Our young leaders will share what they learn with their EDS students and use it to develop EDS so more children get education and a safe childhood.
  • Inviting them to projects/organizations where they learn more about leadership, sustainable development, pedagogy and entrepreneurship.
  • Inviting them as guest speakers to events, trainings and educational institutions where they can share how they conduct research and use the EDS method to encourage transformative learning and positive change.
  • Learning about and acknowledging their achievements by writing encouraging comments on their stories in Facebook and YouTube.
  • Sharing their powerful stories so everyone can see that “Everything is possible when we work from our heart and have faith in our dream!”
  • Visiting EDS to learn from and acknowledge how they run and develop EDS
  • Acknowledging the volunteer work of the Women empowerment group
  • Investing in their small-scale social entrepreneurships or buy their clothes and sport equipment
  • Sharing your expertise in business or agriculture with our young social entrepreneurs

Collaborative research and teacher training

We create a psychologically safe practice community where children, youth and adults learn together and explore questions like “How can I/we improve my/our practice?”.

The children and youth run action-reflection cycles where they identify challenges, plan, act, observe and document, critically reflect on results, process, own role, how to improve the plan and own behaviour and try again. In the process, we enjoy learning through critical reflection about our own and shared experiences.

Together with NMBU Professor emeritus Erling Krogh and Professor Sigrid Gjøtterud, Professor Jack Whitehead and Head Editor Marie Huxtable from the University of Cumbria, UK, we conduct collaborative research and Living Educational Theory Research. See our living posters and how we practice our values at EDS gp page 120125

Learn more from our published research articles here Link Publications

Md. Hafizur Rahman PhD and Trine Lund have Practical teacher education from the NMBU and Md Alamin has MSc in Education from Bangladesh. We collaborate with the NMBU by having giving lecture on EDS as an example of action research for the teacher training department and students, and having supervised NMBU teacher students during their practical teacher training in EDS.

Do you want to conduct research with us or do your teacher training in EDS?

  • You are welcome to do your scientific research or teacher training practice in EDS. We can guide you in action research.
  • We always search new perspectives and to learn from constructive criticism from a place of love and curiosity. Welcome to share your ideas on sustainable development, organizational development and management of human and natural resources.

Become member & donate

We are convinced that feelings is the heart and driving force for sustainable development. When we interact and live with children, youth, the EDS community and nature over time, we create feeling and bonds which motivate us to become more human and do more for the people and nature we love. Read more about it here Feelings as base for sustainable development.

For 20 years, Md Hafizur Rahman has used his salary and savings to provide basic living costs, paid medical expenses, equipment for sports, joy and education as well as excursions and picnic for the EDS children and youth. Everything to help them conduct interdisciplinary teaching and learning, enjoy, thrive and keep them away from the streets, youth gangs, child labour and child marriage. 

Now we dream to build a house where our EDS girls can do sports and become healthy in a safe environment.

Becoming an EDS member, you strengthen EDS’s voice in Bangladesh and internationally. All the economic support from membership fees and donations will be used to aid EDS children and youth to run educational activities, get responsibility and experience transformative learning, become leaders, social entrepreneurs, teachers and change agents who create a better life for themselves, their family and vulnerable people in their community.

See here for more information on our finances