Application procedures for education

We will confirm to have received your information and will contact you for more details if we find your project matches our grant making policies. Information sent to us will not be returned. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

We only support projects that match our objectives and meet our conditions. There is no use in submitting an application that does not conform to our policies and criteria.

Policy focus:

   We aim to increase access to high-quality education in selected developing countries. We focus on:

• primary education (from the age of 6);
• secondary education;
• and vocational training, as a specific area of interest.

• We support educational projects that focus on:
  • underprivileged children and youths in developing countries;
  • teaching basic skills (primary and secondary education) and vocational skills (vocational training);
  • improving the quality of education.
• Furthermore, it is important to us that:
  • the projects are carried and/or executed by a local organisation with a strong leadership and a track record of similar projects;
  • the project fits the local needs and possibilities, the request is based on a local initiative, and the target group itself states the exact need;
  • the executive organisation and the target group each contribute to the project (by bearing part of the expenses or labour, for example);
  • the projects do not aim at specific, limited target groups such as orphans, street children, AIDS orphans et cetera.
• The following exceptions apply:
  • Individuals: we only accept donation requests from organisations, institutions and groups;
  • Special needs education: we only support projects that aim at general education;
  • Educational projects for children under the age of 6;
  • Projects focused on university level education.

• We give preference to educational projects that focus on:
  • schools that have a solid management;
  • quality improvement of the school management;
  • teacher training;
  • girls, because of their disadvantaged situation in education in many countries;
  • education that teaches about sustainability in one’s immediate environment;
  • contributing to the realisation of independent middle classes;
  • preventing brain drain, since we consider education to be a contribution to the community as a whole.
• We prefer to fund projects that also receive financial support from other sources. Our “education” grants will therefore mostly consist of a partial funding.

• Building projects are only funded if a solid plan outlining the first six years of running costs is available, and a provision for the building’s maintenance is included.
• Vocational training projects are only funded if these include short vocational training programmes, work placements and job mediation.
• Projects aimed at the supply of books/other educational tools are only funded if they include teacher training in order to realise the effective use of these educational tools.
• ICT is regarded as an educational tool. We do not fund the implementation of ICT at schools as a purpose in itself.
• We will not usually fund local organisations directly, but rather through a Dutch partner organisation. Only in special circumstances when a local initiative has exceptional references from Turing Foundation partners will they be considered for direct funding.