HOPE III

HOPE III is a two-year education programme, eastern Chad (August 2024–July 2026), funded by a private donor and designed to expand and improve access to quality primary education for vulnerable girls and boys. 

The programme responds to persistent system challenges in the region, including limited school infrastructure weak teacher capacity, and inadequate access to water, sanitation, and learning materials. In many rural areas, classrooms are heavily overcrowded, often with around 100 pupils, restricting effective teaching and learning. These conditions, combined with poor facilities such as the lack of safe classrooms and gender-segregated latrines, continue to affect attendance and retention, particularly for girls.

These pressures have been further intensified by displacement linked to the Sudan crisis, which has increased demand for already overstretched education services with over 1 million people fleeing the country.

In this context, HOPE III supports schools and communities through an integrated approach that improves access to education, strengthens the quality and stability of the education system, and promotes student wellbeing, while remaining flexible to respond to evolving humanitarian needs.

HOPE III builds on HOPE II (May 2022-July 2024) by strengthening support to existing schools whilst expanding into new communities across Sila Province. The programme supports 21 schools in total, including 13 previously assisted schools, where support is gradually reducing to promote self-sufficiency. As well as 8 additional schools receiving more intensive support. 

Expansion has been targeted in areas where Concern is already implementing longer-term development programmes, including Green Graduation and RESPECCT. Enabling stronger links between education and livelihoods; exploring whether household-level income-generating activities can contribute to greater school enrolment and retention. 

In displacement affected communities, the programme provides flexible support including additional classroom space and teacher capacity, to ensure children affected by the Sudan crisis can continue their education. 

HOPE III is implemented in close collaboration with the Provincial Education Authority in Sila, which provides oversight on teacher training, school supervision, and technical support to education actors. 

The programme also works closely with Students’ Parents Associations, School Management Committees, community members, and local authorities to strengthen community ownership and support the long-term sustainability of schools. 

In addition, HOPE III engages strategic partners such as SONKE Gender Justice to address gender norms and promote safer, more inclusive school environments. 

These partnerships are complemented by linkages with other Concern programmes operating in the same areas, helping to strengthen synergies between education, livelihoods and resilience interventions. 

• Community teachers are critical to continuity: In the continued absence of sufficient government-deployed trained teachers in rural schools, sustained support to community teachers remains essential to maintaining access to learning and minimum quality standards.
• Economic constraints shape school participation: Household poverty, seasonal labour demands, and competing livelihood activities reduce attendance and increase the risk of dropout.
• Community financing requires gradual approaches: While community ownership is important, income-generating activities alone do not provide reliable fundings for teachers and are more effective as part of a broader, progressive co-financing model.
• Girls’ education requires sustained engagement: Sociocultural barriers continue to limit girls’ enrolment, attendance, and transition, highlighting the need for long-term engagement with families, communities, and local leaders.
• Flexibility is essential in displacement-affected settings: Education responses must remain adaptive to changing levels of displacement, evolving learning needs, and pressure on schools and services in host communities.
• Institutional collaboration strengthens sustainability: Close engagement with education authorities is critical for improving teacher deployment, strengthening school support, and enabling longer-term system strengthening.