Educational support

About the programme

Most of the children we work with do not have, at home, an adult who can sit down with them over homework. Not because parents or grandparents do not want to — but because they work two shifts, or because they no longer remember how to solve a quadratic equation, or because, simply, there is no parent in the house. The educational-support programme covers exactly this gap: the presence of a patient adult who understands the subject and who is there consistently.

We work with each child at their actual level, not the level the school expects. That sometimes means recovering multiplication tables at age 12. Other times it means preparing a confident written assignment in Romanian. The important thing is not speed — it is that, week after week, we show up.

More than homework — a steady adult

As we work with a child week after week, educational support also becomes a relationship of trust. The volunteer does not only come to explain a lesson — they come to be there: to listen, to ask, to remember what was said last time. Many of the important choices between the ages of 12 and 18 are made not on the basis of missing information, but on the belief that “someone thinks I can”. That is exactly why we ask volunteers for a long-term commitment — because a relationship that breaks off abruptly can be more harmful than its absence. The pairing between a child and the adult who accompanies them is made with care, based on each one’s interests and temperament.

How it works

• Weekly tutoring, one-to-one or in a small group, with trained volunteers (teachers, students, professionals from various fields).
• Preparation for national exams and the baccalaureate — focused on the subjects the child actually needs, not on what the curriculum dictates.
• Workshops on self-confidence — because for a child who has received poor grades for years, the first obstacle is not the material, but the belief “I can’t”.
• Access to books and learning materials through our partnership with Editura Niculescu.

Who it serves

Children in primary and secondary school, plus teenagers preparing for the baccalaureate. The communities we focus on: orphaned children, those raised by grandparents, in family placement or from severely disadvantaged backgrounds.

Impact so far

The programme runs online, throughout the school year (from September to June), through meetings held three times a week.

• 900+ hours of children’s participation in educational-support sessions
• 1,800+ hours offered by volunteers
• 6 children supported consistently throughout the school year
• 5 areas covered: Giurgiu, Mehedinți, Dolj, Vaslui and Bucharest
• 6 learning areas: English, Romanian, logic, geography, French and the arts

The volunteers come from different fields — teachers, educators and specialists from multinational companies — and commit to consistent involvement of at least one hour a week, over a school year.

How you can get involved

• As a tutor volunteer — if you can dedicate 1-2 hours a week to a subject you know well (maths, Romanian, English, physics, chemistry, logic), sign up here.
• As a company partner — we can turn your employees’ volunteering into a structured programme, with hours coming out of working time or after work, without pointless red tape. Details on Partners.
• As a donor — a month of tutoring for a child costs little, but it is real. Support a child.