We believe education is the most powerful engine for progress. It can enable young people to flourish as they discover and develop their talents, resulting in a healthier, happier and more successful life. It has the power to change societies from within and to support sustainable, inclusive and safe communities. Edukans is committed to unleashing the power of education. To realise its full potential for improving the well-being of people and communities, especially those who are marginalised and displaced. We work towards education that equips children and young people with the skills they need to participate in a rapidly changing world, ranging from reading and writing to social and digital skills. 

The need of future-proof quality basic education

Globally, literacy rates have gone up, school enrolment rates have risen, and dropout rates have fallen over the past decades. But despite this many children cannot read, write or count sufficiently, whether they have attended school or not. This is primarily due to large classes, a lack of learning resources, and often insufficient teacher training and support. Poorly educated children are more likely to face a future of unemployment and therefore to remain trapped in a cycle of poverty. This ‘global learning crisis’ is a very real missed opportunity, leading to a lack of trained talented young people in developing countries.

Close the skills gap

When students do manage to complete their primary education, they are faced with the next challenge. In many developing countries there are simply fewer secondary schools which means they are often harder to reach and, in addition, attendance does not always lead to improved future perspectives. Vocational schools or training have little connection with available jobs in the labour market. This results in high unemployment rates among young people. Each year about 12 million young people enter an African labour market that creates only 3 million formal jobs, while at the same time the global labour shortage is expected to reach 85 million workers by 2030 (sources: Randstad, AFDB).

Education in emergency situations

An estimated 36.5 million children around the world have been forcibly displaced (source: UNICEF). Only half of refugee children attend primary school, and less than a quarter are in secondary school. Without an education, childhoods may be lost to child labour, child marriage, recruitment by armed groups or other life-threatening activities. In refugee situations psychosocial problems among children and young people are common. Students deal with situations of adversity, violence and loss, and they need to gain skills to build peaceful societies. Our method, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), is so important to increase students’ resilience.

Professionalising school leaders, teachers and pupils through exchange

In a lot of countries in which we work, there is a lack of continuous opportunities for the professional development of teachers and school leaders after they have finished their training. The motivation of teachers is a challenge due to large classes, lack of materials, and insufficient support within the schools. In addition, a lack of the right soft skills among pupils is common and can make it harder for them to shape their futures with confidence, the goal which Edukans strives for. Through an exchange between peers (teachers, pupils, and school leaders from different continents) on learning, teaching, and management skills, our participants learn from each other and improve as (future) professionals in education. Aligning our exchange activities with respect for equality, sustainability and inclusiveness is an important topic, which we will address in 2023 by drafting a new strategy.

1.3 Our approach

Ambition

In 2022, we further rolled out our strategic agenda. To shape sustainable futures the education system needs to be redefined and the upscaling of our interventions is necessary, while maintaining the professional, personal, and solid method of working that is so characteristic for Edukans. The approach of Edukans aims to ensure the best possible education for children and young people and is based on four pillars: Basic Education, Skills for Work and Life, Education in Emergencies and Exchange.

Edukans Theory of Change 

With over 20 years of experience, we have developed a solid Theory of Change that is guiding our work for quality education. 

Approach: Skills for Work and Life

Skills for Work and Life is an Edukans programme for young people which helps them to develop their skills in preparation for work and for meaningful participation in society. The programme uses several different methods making it highly effective.

Labour market relevance and quality of skills training

• Edukans ensures that its skills programmes are labour market relevant and future proof by connecting with the private sector demands. Including Life Skills, Entrepreneurship skills and climate change related skills on water, waste, and energy to make sectors more resilient towards climate change.
• We offer a continuous improvement cycle for skills training through the implementation of Edukans’ 7-Steps to WORK approach. We adapt each training to local labour market demands and improve relevance and quality continuously.

Work Based Learning
We facilitate meaningful quality Work Based Learning opportunities for young people, providing them with relevant, practical real-life working skills for the labour market.

Entrepreneurship
We support the development of entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills for self-employment. Business mentorship is set up and young people receive business start-up kits to ensure a successful start to self-employment endeavours.

21st century (Life) Skills
We promote life skills, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights education (SRHR), ICT skills, social-emotional learning, and life skills for lobbying to close the 21st century skills gap.

Digitalisation
The marginalised areas where Edukans often works are lagging behind in an increasingly digitalised world. They face multiple challenges to being able to respond efficiently to the external demand for new digital skills and engage in their own digital transformation.

• In this context, Edukans has developed a digital pedagogy course for TVET/Skills trainers to provide them with the support they need to engage in their digital transition, to leverage technologies for digital inclusion, and to bridge the digital divide for marginalised populations. The training provides trainers with digital skills and capacity to design, implement and evaluate learning in blended training courses.
• Furthermore, Edukans is digitalising its own training courses to make them available to even more beneficiaries and further roll out the trainings and methodologies. The training courses are available on the SkillEd digital platform.

Lobby
We lobby for certification of the practical skills of young people, gender equality in all TVET and skills education programmes and on the work floor. We also lobby for the integration of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) education in Ethiopia’s TVET curriculum.

Approach: Exchange 

Edukans’ exchange programmes – Going Global, World Teacher and DARE2GO – bring together teachers, school leaders and pupils from across the world. We aspire to have our Exchange programmes better embedded in and aligned with other projects in the countries, and to contribute directly to good quality education. Exchange will go through an in-depth evaluation in 2023 that will guide us in setting the right steps towards the future of the different Exchange programmes. 

In 2022 we worked on 42 projects across the world. We have offices in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and the Netherlands. We have reached 456,586 children and young people and 5,033 teachers. Although these are good results, not all targets have yet been realised, due to challenges in obtaining funding and implementing the system strengthening and upscaling strategy. Through our comprehensive education approaches we ensured that these children and young people could embrace their right to learn. Through our scaling-up approach we do expect to accelerate our impact and reaching more children and youth.

We did, however, face a number of challenges. The security situation and internal conflict in Ethiopia for example, made it challenging to do our work. Some project locations were inaccessible and, due to economic problems, graduates have a hard time finding a job or starting their own business. In Uganda schools only reopened in 2022 after a two-year closure. Not all children returned to school and project implementations were delayed.

It continues to prove difficult to involve an even number of men and women in our programmes, with more men participating than women. Women unfortunately have to deal with prejudices or socio-cultural norms that make it difficult for them to participate. Giving more attention to achieving gender balance and reaching more women in our programmes is high on Edukans’ agenda.

Despite the challenges we faced, we were able to create opportunities, enabling children and young people to shape their futures with confidence.

2.1 Impact Basic education

To ensure the best possible education for children our work within the pillar Basic Education is important. We have been running projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ghana, India, DR Congo and Lebanon. In this paragraph we sum up the results and take you through several project highlights.

Project highlight Basic Education

Malawi: eco-education on climate change

This innovative project – an ecological variant of Edukans’ proven Star School approach – was a result of collaboration between Edukans Foundation Malawi, EEDF and the Education Commission of Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, with financial support from Edukans and Wilde Ganzen. The project involved 20 primary schools across four districts in Malawi.

To stay relevant, education needs to address climate change and the challenges the climate crisis brings. The goal of the project was to ensure sustainable livelihoods via microprojects: school gardening, rearing animals, and selling the products. Active citizenship was promoted via Learner’s Parliaments and through development of knowledge, skills and attitudes in the education of the children. The project has been evaluated and one of the recommendations from the Ministry of Education was to adopt the Eco-Star model in its curriculum and consider scaling up the project.

Major outcomes:

• 22,268 learners (11,549 girls and 10,719 boys) were retained in school and empowered to shape their future.
• 108 teachers (31 females and 77 males) were trained and empowered with knowledge and skills in ensuring participatory and active teaching and learning in targeted schools.
• 316 community members (151 females and 165 males) were sensitised and empowered to promote quality education and rights-based approaches.
• 9128 trees were planted as part of climate change response following environmental reviews and awareness campaigns across the 20 schools.
• Microprojects were introduced to aid quality teaching and learning as well as enhance sustainable livelihoods and practices.

How we have made the difference with this project:

• Teachers integrated practical aspects of teaching into the existing curriculum while learners and the community gained skills necessary for self-sustaining livelihood activities such as vegetable farming and animal (poultry/pig) farming. The project has successfully cemented the relationship between the communities and the school. The communities are more supportive of the schools than before (KII District Level TTC).
• The mode of teaching and the pass rate have improved in the schools. Learners in the Eco-Star schools are doing better than in the past, with the pass rate increasing from 40% to 65% (KII District Level, DEM).
• Learners with specific learning difficulties are now experiencing great confidence in the classrooms. (Salima FGD School | Level Chikowa)

Project highlight Basic Education

Malawi: improving opportunities for children through mentorship programs

What
The School-based Blended Education Mentorship Program (SBEMPro) aims at improving opportunities for children through mentorship programmes for teachers and students, leading to greater job satisfaction and improved learning outcomes.

Where
In the nine pilot districts of Dowa, Lilongwe, Salima, Dedza, Mangochi, Machinga, Thyolo, Chiradzulu and Nsanje.

Partners
This project is implemented by Edukans Malawi with support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy through UNICEF.

Reach and impact
The project is targeting 360 schools (270 primary schools and 90 secondary schools), 9000 teacher mentors and 180,000 learners including learners with special needs. The project is also aimed at creating a community of practice within the catchment areas, where schools will learn and share experiences with other schools within their community of practice and different groups at school level can also learn from each other.

Expected major outcomes

• 30 master trainers trained in teacher and student mentorship.
• 9000 teachers from 360 schools mentored in effective teaching practice, life-long learning, career development, and enhanced job satisfaction.
• 1800 school leaders trained as teacher mentors to establish mentorship programmes in 360 schools.
• 180,000 learners, including those with special needs, (150,000 for primary school and 30,000 for secondary school) from 360 schools mentored in study skills, study pathways, and life skills.

Once phase one is completed successfully, Edukans Malawi hopes to continue with phase two of the project aiming at further scaling this game changing project. 

Absenteeism as number one problem

At Malunje Primary School in Lilongwe absenteeism was the order of the day. Teachers resorted to giving remedial lessons to late comers and frequent absentees, but this did not improve attendance or performance. Little did the teachers know that tools to change the situation at the school were already in their hands. The mentorship sessions with learners paid off within a short period of time. The teachers were surprised to see improvement in terms of attendance. “On a normal day about 200 out of 497 learners would attend classes, but now there is so much improvement such that every day over 450 learners attend classes. This has been due to the mentorship sessions we have with learners at this school”, said the headteacher with a smile. Learners’ academic performance in class has also improved. “As teacher mentors, we are monitoring the progress and we keep on mentoring the learners to ensure that there is almost 100% daily attendance, and they improve on their academic performance in class” – headteacher Malunje Primary School.

2.2 Impact Skills for Work and Life

Our work within the pillar Skills for Work and Life is important to help young people develop their skills in preparation for work and for meaningful participation in society. We have been running projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. In this paragraph we sum up the results and take you through several project highlights.

Project highlight Skills for Work and Life

Capacity building of trainers on Digital Pedagogy at Bukura Agri College in Kenya

Over a period of 12 months Edukans built the capacity of Bukura Agricultural College to train and equip 30 trainers with digital and e-learning tools to enhance their pedagogical and technical skills.

The training programme focused on subjects such as:

• Understanding digital platform and ICT tools for supporting learning and teaching.
• Development of content and curriculum of blended learning.
• Active teaching and learning through ICT tools.
• ICT and e-learning tools to access and monitor learning outcomes.
• Coaching and mentoring using ICT and digital platforms.

How we have made the difference with this project:

• The capacity building equipped the teachers with skills in the use of digital tools for learning.
• Teachers can create and upload content, and subsequently teach through the Moodle-platform: an open-source customizable learning management system that educators, teachers and trainers use for blended learning.
• Teachers were supported in making their online training more participatory and now know how to implement active teaching and learning.
• The project gave the Bukura Agricultural College an opportunity to explore partnerships to support them in areas where they lack capacity, for example in server hosting.
• The institution has received 6 laptops so that each trainer is able to use a device.
• Support in an ICT learning strategy will assist the institution to chart a way forward in implementing the next phases, to realize successful blended learning in their institution.

Joseph Mutuku, Lecturer Crop Sciences 

“I have been able to gain quite a number of skills in student engagement, development of online content, assessment of students on online platforms and also upload further reading materials on different online platforms.” – Joseph Mutuku, Lecturer Crop Sciences 

2.3 Impact Education in Emergencies

To provide access to education, high quality learning, and enhanced well-being in crisis-affected contexts our work within the pillar Education in Emergencies is important. We have been running projects in Ethiopia, Lebanon and Kenya. In this paragraph we sum up the results and take you through several project highlights.

Project highlight Education in Emergencies

Make education possible for (refugee) students in Lebanon

Basic living conditions for Syrian refugees in Lebanon are in continuous decline. In 2022, 90 percent of Syrian refugee families were in need of humanitarian assistance to survive, with the most basic needs out of reach due to inflation.

In Lebanon we support local organisations to make education possible for Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese (refugee) students. Within the programme we focus on three issues: access to education, the quality of education and the wellbeing of students.

Major outcomes:

• Effective functioning of JCC education centres for 1,125 Syrian/Palestinian refugee children and young people in Lebanon.
• 190 teachers were trained in 2022 and at least 80% apply effective teaching methods and materials in their classrooms.
• Students show improved learning outcomes. In 2022: 202 secondary students went to Syria, 166 of which passed their diploma. This is more than 82% (in Syria itself, the pass rate is between 60 and 65%).
• Students received psychosocial support and experienced improved wellbeing: 70 students took part in music classes and 30 students in drawing classes. The music, drawing and painting classes brought happiness to people in a very difficult camp. Many talents were revealed and all attendees are happy to come and reluctant to go.

2.4 Impact Exchange 

Our projects within the pillar Exchange bring together teachers and pupils from across the world. For the first time our Exchange programme Going Global Uganda went digital. In this paragraph we sum up the results and take you through a project highlight.

In 2022, we received a total of €5,913,950 from our supporters. Thanks to the generous donations of our partners and donors we made it possible for 456,586 children and young people to embrace their right to learn.

As a result of ongoing violence worldwide and the consequences of the climate crisis, many households faced an increase in their cost of living. The support from private individuals, companies, schools, foundations and institutional donors was heart-warming. Funding is important if we are to achieve the desired impact on education. The continuously changing donor landscape and the role of Civil Society and INGOs require thorough reflection and the ability to adapt to these developments, without losing the focus on our mission and realisation of our strategic agenda.

2022 has also been a year of transition to explore and design new funding strategies, to be further elaborated in 2023. There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure every child and young person can fully realise their right to education. Edukans will continue to explore (alternative) funding pathways.

Private donors

In 2022, the amount we received from private donors decreased by €50,874 to €2,844,316, a decrease of 2%. High inflation in 2022 effecting household income is believed to have had an effect, especially on donations resulting from direct mail. More than 65% of our 41,623 private donors provided structural support. In the past year, we were able to welcome 3,506 new structural donors, mostly due to successful telemarketing campaigns and recruiting new donors door-to-door and on the streets. However, the results from door-to-door fundraising activities were less than expected probably because these took place in the aftermath of the corona pandemic. Scaling back up again has been a challenge, but proper measures have been taken. This led to a slight and steady increase in new door-to-door donors in the last quarter of the year, promising better results in 2023.

Trust funds

For the year 2022 the income provided by 57 foundations was €419,932. Due to lower income from shares and bonds fewer foundations were able to support Edukans financially up to the amount we had budgeted for. In the past year we have also experienced several foundations changing their funding strategy to support local partners only. The war in Ukraine and the urgence of the climate crisis are also taking a big share of the fewer funding opportunities available. Edukans is looking into these trends and how to rethink our fundraising strategy to secure funding for education on the longer term.

Several examples of funds supporting our work:

AFAS Foundation
In 2022 we received a grant from the AFAS Foundation, a new strategic partner from Edukans. The €420,000 grant we will provide 9,000 young people in Kenya with relevant training at 30 TVETs over the course of the next 3 years. The launch of the project was in October and 200 partners, representatives of the Kenyan Ministry of Education and other stakeholders, were present.

CCHO
CCHO a trusted and esteemed fund for entrepreneurship and self-sustainability provided Edukans with another annual gift of €25,000 for a Skills for Life project in northern Ethiopia for refugees and internally displaced persons. This amount is part of the co-funding Edukans has to provide for projects funded by UNICEF.

UNICEF and several Dutch Foundations
Edukans carried out several bigger projects in the north of Ethiopia. A major part of the funding was provided by UNICEF, complemented by the required co-funding provided by several Dutch Foundations, such as Stichting 75 jaar NBB.

Dioraphte
Diorapthe assigned €100,000 to education for Eritrean and Ethiopian children in refugee camps and in the surrounding communities.

Turing Foundation
Turing Foundation made its final contribution to a project on Active Teaching and Learning at Salvation Army schools in Congo.

Companies

In 2022 Edukans’ work was supported by 158 companies in The Netherlands. The total of all business donations amounted to €114,634. Except for financial support, companies also provide Edukans with knowledge and services or support our work by mobilising their network and platforms. We feel very supported by the companies in the Netherlands. Companies indicate that investing in education and in the futures of children and young people remain of great importance. In the coming years Edukans will further build relationships and engage with companies to achieve more impact for children and young people. A few examples of inspiring collaborations:

Noordhoff
Noordhoff has been supporting the work of Edukans since 2007. We are very proud of this partnership. In 2022 Noordhoff supported our Exchange program World Teacher. In addition, Noordhoff mobilised support among their network for better education and emergency support for families in Ethiopia.

SucceedIT
SucceedIT has been supporting Edukans since 2017. In 2022 SucceedIT enabled our pilot project for primary schools in Ghana. The project is focused on school improvement and better learning outcomes for children in Ghana through the digital tool EDU- Q Card.

Quoratio Groep
On a regular base, Quoratio Groep makes one of its professionals available for Edukans, free of charge, helping optimise several operational processes within Edukans.

Churches

Each year, Edukans can rely on the commitment and support of churches in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2022, churches supported our emergency campaign for the crisis in Ethiopia with an amount of €1,432.75. The total amount that Edukans received the past year through various church congregations and church organisations is €123,382.

Schools

Edukans received €75,115 from schools. We are very pleased with this support. Despite the difficult year due to Covid-19 and travel restrictions, we received funding from Dutch schools, individual teachers and our supportive group of Dutch congregations. The Going Global programme received a total of €141,098 from schools, private donors and corporations. A special word of gratitude goes out to the schools that believe in our activities and contribute to quality education.

3.3 Lobby: education on the political agenda

In 2022 the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (BHOS) presented a new policy document on development aid. In the coming years, the Netherlands will intensify its support for poorer countries to tackle the root causes of climate change and poverty. The new development cooperation policy will focus more on specific pre-determined countries and is more supply-driven than demand-driven. The ministry will focus on continuity to achieve truly sustainable development results. However, basic education is not a part of the new policy, and only youth employment and skills training for young people are included under it.

Edukans believes Education is the most powerful engine for progress and should therefore be integral part of the development agenda. We are persistent and remain convinced that education is the solution to many man-made problems such as poverty and climate change. In 2022 our lobby efforts were focused on giving a voice to the solution that is education. We have written and supported several resolutions on the importance of guaranteeing quality education and more attention for the right skills for young people. These resolutions were put forward by several members of parliament in the debate on the BHOS policy.

Together with three other NGOs, we established a new lobby group called PerspActive that has the purpose of gaining attention for skills training and youth employment for specific marginalised target groups. As a member of PerspActive, Edukans organised and participated in a session called “youth employment and private sector development”. The results of this session were sent to Partos (Partos is a collaboration of Dutch NGOs) to be shared with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a consultation on their new Africa Strategy. A strategy that will be part of the BHOS policy and that will be introduced in 2023.

In 2022 Edukans also actively participated in the Global Campaign for Education in the Netherlands (GCE), as a member and as vice-chair. For GCE we organised and participated in several expert sessions on education and asked critical questions of BHOS on their budget and coherence policy. In 2023 Edukans will be chairing GCE-NL.

Strategy

Worldwide, we are creating opportunities enabling children and young people to shape their futures with confidence. One of the key lessons resulting from both internal and external reflections is that to shape sustainable futures, education systems often need substantial reforms. This means, amongst others, policymakers, schools, parents, and other stakeholders in the education ecosystem working together on shared learning objectives, so that going to school actually leads to improved learning and increased literacy. To extend education opportunities to the hardest to reach children and young people we need to foster innovative approaches. Over the last 20 years Edukans has gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience on what works well, both in terms of programmes supported and in approaches and products developed. Our next step will be upscaling our interventions into bigger programmes in coalition with other partners. Edukans recognises the champion role played by teachers. This is illustrated by one of our projects in Kenya where we identified teachers who served as role models for other teachers. These teachers were selected as Trainers of Trainers. They also helped to identify new high potential teachers. Their commitment and motivation resulted in a professional and competent team of trainers for our teachers.

Youth participation and skills development

For effective programming all stakeholders (including targeted young people) need to be involved from the start in the design of the project. We have also learned to pay more attention to (young people) peer-to-peer skills-transfer. This provides support to young people to become adaptive learners, knowing how to navigate through their personal, social, economic and environmental challenges.

Emerging issues such as climate change and the importance of circular economies need to be included in our programmes if they are to stay relevant. It is time to realise there is a paradigm shift on the perspective of climate. Climate change is the core crisis which needs to be addressed with a multi-disciplinary approach. For Edukans, this requires a rethinking of how education can be part of the solution to the climate crisis.

It is also very important and relevant to work on digitalisation. The digital divide is of growing concern: some two thirds of the world’s school-aged children and young people do not have internet connection in their homes, restricting their opportunities for further learning and skills development. Consequently, digital skills development needs to be an integral part of our education modules and be integrated in pedagogical and didactical skills. An excellent way to achieve this is through our educational modules as we make e-learning and blended learning an integral part of education systems. Besides training and skills development our projects require a big investment in internet connection, software and hardware to get schools and training institutes connected to the digital world.

Partnerships

Establishing and maintaining relationships with both state and non-state actors is key for success. Edukans has strong working relationships with Teacher Service Commissions and with the Ministries of Education, school leadership and teachers. Through these relationships our interventions and support are embedded in the national education systems, which means the programmes well researched and impactful. The result is that Edukans has a good reputation which enables us to create future opportunities for collaboration. Edukans has deliberately invested in these relationships by constantly involving these parties in our project cycle and by engaging with them even outside the formal Edukans work environment. Partnerships should be a precondition in the design of programmes. In working with partners, we forge crucial links with employers to ensure the quality and relevance of skills training necessary for (self) employment. Connecting education/training to practical work and the needs of the industry is also an important way of providing access to employment. We work hard to mobilise the private sector in order to open up opportunities for young people, creating a win-win situation: advantageous for employers and young people.

Edukans was founded in 2002 and is pursuing a worldwide mission to create opportunities, enabling children and young people to shape their futures with confidence. Edukans’ work could not succeed without our professional and dedicated staff across the world, our dedicated volunteers, and our ambassadors. 

5.1 Organisational chart

5.2 Organisational structure and cornerstones approach

Edukans works across borders to enable as many children as possible to achieve better results in learning. In 2022 we continued to learn and develop towards a borderless organization with decentralized roles and responsibilities.

In our focus countries, the country directors take the lead in and are responsible for securing and carrying out projects. The Edukans team in the Netherlands has a complementary facilitating and empowering role.

Governance and decentralisation

Since 2021 the governance of the organisation has shifted from the management team in the Netherlands to an international leadership team. In 2022 we continued the process to decentralise responsibilities. We believe that together with local leadership this will make our interventions more effective. Country offices effectively engage with local actors and communities and are taking ownership of project implementation.

Cornerstones approach

Together with all Edukans colleagues we have embarked on a journey to becoming a truly borderless organisation with decentralised responsibilities.

What does it require from the organisation to unleash the power of education? What is our Edukans DNA and what do we stand for as an organisation? A thorough reflection by the IMT in Nairobi resulted in the adoption of the cornerstone approach. In consultation with all colleagues this approach has been elaborated, validated and visualised.

5.5 Supervisory Board

The members of the Supervisory Board of Edukans are appointed for a period of five years and may be reappointed twice. As per 31 December 2022 the Supervisory Board consisted of the following members:

• Mr F.J.J.A. Kat, chairman, CEO of Deafblind International, an international not-for-profit membership organisation focused on the needs of individuals who are deafblind, their families and the professionals who provide services. Field of expertise: education (reappointed in 2021).
• Mrs M.C. Verstraeten, Principal at UniC, school for secondary education in Utrecht. Field of expertise: education and international collaboration (reappointed in 2021).
• Mr D.M.J. Haaksma, chairman audit committee, manager planning, control and risk at Stichting Hogeschool in Utrecht. Field of expertise: accountancy (appointed in 2022).

None of the members of the Supervisory Board have declared additional positions which may conflict with their membership of the Supervisory Board of Edukans. Each year, the members of the Supervisory Board receive a remuneration according to the relevant standards.

The document ‘Regulations of the Supervisory Board’ is a compilation of rules about the provision of information, the profile and the recruitment of Supervisory Board members and members of the audit committee. The committee focuses on the assessment of financial management and the quality of controls. It also assesses the work performed by the accountant and reports on this to the Supervisory Board during consultations about the annual accounts. The Supervisory Board held 6 meetings in 2022. The Supervisory Board monitors continuity, supervises the realisation of strategic objectives, reviews the quality of management, and advises the management board about relevant social developments. The Supervisory Board approves the strategic plan, the budget, the annual accounts and the annual report.

The Strategic Agenda 2021-2025 was developed in 2020 and was approved by the Supervisory Board in November 2020. In December 2022 the Supervisory Board approved a revision of the strategic plan supporting sustainable investment in the development of Edukans as one global organisation as part of the annual plan 2023.

6.1 Statement of responsibility

Edukans holds a quality mark issued by the Dutch Central Fundraising Bureau (CBF). It includes the Code of Good Governance of the Wijffels Committee. In the statement of responsibility, Edukans indicates how it implements the three main principles of the CBF quality mark:

1. Distinguishing supervision, management and performance
2. Optimisation of effectiveness and efficiency of spending
3. Optimisation of dealings with stakeholders

1. Distinguishing supervision, management and performance

Edukans has a board with a two-tier structure with an emphasis on dialogue with stakeholders and focus on achieving consensus. This governance model follows the subsidiary principle to ensure decisions are made as closely as possible to the deepest levels in the organisation with checks and balances between local and international decision-making in place.

The International Management Board of Edukans consists of four Country Directors, the Programme Manager, The Fundraising and Communication Manager, the HR Manager, the Finance & Operations Manager and the statutory CEO.

To guarantee a separation of functions and to prevent conflicts of interest, no close relationships are permitted between members of the Supervisory Board and the International Management Team. In addition, no connections are permitted between any of these members and an organisation with which Edukans, in the normal course of its work, conducts transactions that can be valued in monetary terms. In case of a potential conflict of interest, this will be resolved through discussion.

2. Optimisation of effectiveness and efficiency of spending

Edukans is always seeking to improve quality. For the implementation of its educational programme Edukans has an extensive knowledge system that monitors the quantitative and qualitative results that were targeted for each programme. This shows both the increase in the number of children and young people going to school or enjoying better quality schooling as well as the extent to which learning outcomes have improved and whether young people experience increase of employment opportunities as a result of the interventions by Edukans. For each programme, several qualitative results are also monitored, for example the available educational resources or the level of training of the teachers. Both the availability and quality of education are key indicators for Edukans. Through the strategic plan and the budget, Edukans will determine the guiding objectives.

Following the CBF guidelines on ratios for effective and efficient spending, the management board has set standards for objectives and the costs that may be incurred to achieve the objectives. A multi-annual forecast and annual budget is prepared, discussed in the audit committee and approved by the Supervisory Board. In case of a deviation of the spending of resources in relation to the budget, this is reported to the International Management Board, addressed in the audit committee and stated in the management report to the Supervisory Board.

3. Optimisation of dealings with stakeholders

The direct stakeholders of Edukans are children and young adults, teachers and public and private partner organisations in developing countries, donors, subsidy providers, employees and volunteers. Expectations and means of collaboration are made explicit in Memoranda of Understanding and other legal agreements. Due diligence is performed to mitigate financial, capacity and integrity risks. Contact with these stakeholders is maintained through various means of communication. Regularly, stakeholders are requested for their feedback which is then used to improve our services. Guidelines and procedures are laid down in the ISO procedure. In addition to personal contacts, collaboration with partner organisations is given substance through partner consultations, closely connected as they are with future policy development.

6.3 Compliance, quality and transparency 

Edukans, as a recipient of public funds, and receiving gifts and donations from private donors, foundations and companies, churches and schools, needs and wants to be transparent, accountable and efficient. This is why continuous learning, improvement of quality, progress and efficiency are laid down in the strategic plan, the management report and the quality system (in accordance with ISO standard 9001: 2015 and the Partos Declaration 9001-2015, version 2018).  

ISO 9001:2015 & Partos Declaration (version 2018)

Edukans has been ISO-certified since 2006. Edukans is certified under the ISO 9001:2015 standard and holds a valid Partos declaration (version 2018). The ISO-standard provides a quality management framework and ensures a philosophy of continual improvement, good governance, integrity and transparency. The Partos Declaration is a sector-specific application to implement ISO 9001:2015 (version 2018) which takes into consideration specific circumstances of our work and kind of activities with specific attention to integrity.  Operations are audited internally and externally by KIWA, and findings are discussed with management and the Supervisory Board. At the beginning of 2022 Edukans was again assessed with no shortcomings. The recommendations of the audit in 2021 were addressed successfully. Edukans received the recommendation to update the policy on corporate social responsibility. In response to this, Edukans is developing an Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) policy. 

Central Bureau on Fundraising (CBF)

The Central Bureau on Fundraising (CBF) monitors all philanthropic bodies in the Netherlands and evaluates their management and policy, in order to increase the transparency of the charitable sector. Edukans holds the CBF Seal of Approval and complies with its requirements. 

Tax Authorities

Edukans is recognised by the Dutch Taxation Department as a charitable institution (ANBI), which means that donations and bequests to Edukans are not taxed. Donors can obtain income tax deductions for their contributions to Edukans. 

Dutch Association of Fundraising Organisations (GDN)

The Dutch Association of Fundraising Organisations (GDN – Goede Doelen Nederland) is the umbrella organisation for philanthropic organisations that raise private funds in the Netherlands. Edukans upholds the principles of GDN in relation to respect, reliability, openness and quality. 

Dutch Accounting Standards Board (DASB)

Our annual accounts are drawn up in accordance with the Guidelines (650) for Financial Reporting by Fundraising Institutions of the Dutch Accounting Standards Board (DASB). External reporting includes an annual report and accounts, which are verified by an auditor and accompanied by an auditor’s statement. Edukans has appointed Crowe Foederer as its external auditor. The external audit covers the audit of the annual accounts as well as those for various projects. The auditor does not provide any non-auditing (e.g., advisory) services. 

OPTA

In its telemarketing activities, Edukans complies with the laws and regulations of the Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority of the Netherlands (abbreviated in Dutch as: OPTA). For donations via text messaging through ‘Geef SMS (4333)’, Edukans complies with the SMS Service Provision Code of Conduct and the Advertising Code that applies for this. 

Complaint procedure 

If anyone would like to make a complaint, Edukans has a complaint policy and multiple channels for reporting published on the websites of Edukans. This includes one facilitating anonymity on integrity complaints.

Education programmes

Through our 20 years of experience we have learned which models can be used effectively and how to apply our interventions successfully. Our work focuses on upscaling these interventions through trickling down models, and also through working at another level to ensure as many schools, teachers and students as possible can be reached. To shape sustainable futures, education systems often need to be redefined, and upscaling of our interventions is necessary, while maintaining the professional, personal and solid method of working that is so characteristic for Edukans.

Thematic focus

Edukans is committed to improving the quality of education through 4 programmes: Basic Education, Skills for Work and Life, Education in Emergency and Exchange programmes. It has been decided to treat Education in Emergency as a separate programme pillar, since the context and target group require a different approach, and it is broadly recognised as a different programme.

These programme pillars are complemented with themes which recur in each of the programmes, forming an integral part of our global strategy. These themes will be further developed and integrated in 2023.

Climate change

Climate can no longer simply be considered a cross-cutting theme. It is time to realise that a paradigm shift has occurred, and the climate crisis is THE core crisis that has to be addressed with a multi-disciplinary approach. For Edukans, this requires a rethinking of how education can be part of the solution to the climate crisis.

Digitalization

The digital divide is of growing concern. Some two thirds of the world’s school-aged children do not have internet connection in their homes, restricting their opportunities for further learning and skills development. Digitalisation is a high priority in all countries we work in. Consequently, digital skills development needs to be an integral part of our education modules and be integrated in pedagogical skills. An excellent way to achieve this is through our educational modules as we make e-learning and blended learning an integral part of education systems.

Gender and Inclusion

In joint collaboration with the countries Gender & Inclusion champions a transformative Gender & Inclusion policy will be finalized and deployed in 2023.

Strategic partnerships

We are fostering educational opportunities through strategic partnerships with a limited number of strategic partners with whom Edukans has a long-term relationship. Strategic Partnerships will be built both at global and national level. Edukans values its partners and strives to be perceived as a reliable partner who delivers as promised. Partnership goes beyond project relationships.

Introduction

Edukans made a loss of €1,063,208 in 2022. €296,598 are costs covered for these projects reserved restricted funds for which income was received in 2021 and €58,301 are costs made as part of the Sustainable Borderless Organisation, an earmarked reserve established by the one-time gift received from UnieNzv in 2021. €417,640 is an unrealized loss in investments. The conservative investment approach that Edukans adopted did not sufficiently protect the investment portfolio from the very difficult economic circumstances. As the unrealized losses were not anticipated, the remaining loss of €290,669 is in line with the budget. 

The table below provides an overview of the budget realisation of Edukans where we compare the actuals to the budget of 2022.

Income and expenses

In 2022 total revenues were €5,913,950, a decrease of €-989,646 compared to 2021, excluding the one-time gift from UnieNzv of €2,200,000. The difference can be explained as follows:

1. Funding from private donors decreased slightly by 2.4%. From 2022 onwards, individual donations raised through schools are included in this total. An increase of almost 4% was budgeted.
2. Income from private organisations remains stable.
3. The annual contribution of €500,000 from the Dutch Postcode Lottery provides a stable financial basis.
4. Income from institutional fundraising in 2022 shows an increase of 13% by the amount of €197,659. The total new contracted amount for Institutional Funding increased in 2022 as compared to 2021. In 2022 Edukans committed €3,400,000 to spend on multi-annual projects. Due to several contracts having been signed in the third trimester; a major part of the income will be reflected in 2023. In the last quarter of 2022 Edukans received advance payments from UNICEF and Enable that will materialise as income as of 2023. Partnerships with UNICEF, Enable and UNHCR are expected to contribute to a stable income for the coming years. The consolidated figures include the contribution by UNICEF and UNHCR in Ethiopia.
5. In 2022, income from other non-profit organisations was €633,044 which is €431,989 lower than 2021. Income from other non-profit organisations contribute to the financing of short-term projects and co-funding of projects financed through grants. Approximately €300,000 is raised through schools. Starting in 2022 this amount is included in the figures for individual giving and no longer under non-profit organisations. Due to Covid-19 the physical exchange programme had to be converted into an online programme resulting in less income generation by schools. The remaining amount not raised contributes to the overall negative results.
6. With a total amount of €6,559,518 expenses are 0.4% lower than was budgeted in 2022.

Programme – spending ratio

In 2022, an additional programme objective “Education in Emergencies” has been developed responding to the in-country requests for short term and flexible projects tailored to the education and mental health support needs of refugees, internally displaced people and their teachers, providing education in volatile environments. Edukans spent €5,223,884 on its objectives, a slight increase on the €5,164,623 spent in 2021.

Income-to-spending ratio

Spending on objectives relative to expenditure remains stable at 79.6%. Spending on objectives relative to income has increased to 88.3%. This reflects the decrease in revenues in 2022.

Fundraising costs ratio

In 2022, the percentage of the fundraising costs in relation to the income (excluding subsidies) showed a slight increase from 21% to 23%.

Management and administration ratio

Management and administration costs in 2022 were slightly higher than in 2021 at 5.5%, due to changes in FTE, which is above the maximum standard of 5% set by management. With the changing management and governance model incorporating cross-border decentralisation of responsibilities this figure is expected to increase slightly in the coming years. In 2022 the overhead costs allocation key of 12.7% across all objectives was allocated to Management and Administration, in 2021 this was 9%. In 2025, at the end of the strategic framework 2021-2025, Edukans will redefine the standard to match the organisation management and governance model.

Continuity reserves

The loss of €708,309, including the unrealized loss of €417,640 in investments, has been allocated to the continuity reserves, which amount to 0.95% of the annual organisation costs. In 2021, 50% of the one-time gift was added to the continuity reserves in anticipation of higher operational costs. This increase is partly due to the expected costs involved in the transition into the decentralised management and governance of the organisation, and partly in anticipation of the increased costs to mitigate the risks to security and safety, and of inflation, considering the volatile environment INGOs are currently operating in.

Earmarked reserve “Sustainable Borderless Organisation”

An earmarked reserve of €1,100,000 was established in 2022 as part of the Sustainable International Edukans one-time gift from UnieNzv of €2,200,000. This earmarked reserve, referred to as “Sustainable Borderless Organisation”, enables Edukans to invest in developing further as a financially sustainable, innovative and professional civil society organisation. Sustainability, a diversified donor portfolio, and long-term partnership building, innovation in education, and one cross-border Edukans with a decentralized management and governance structure are key in creating impact and unleashing the power of education. In 2022, costs of €58,301 were allocated to the earmarked reserve of which €39,471 was spent on a one-time salary increase for staff in country offices to compensate partly for the high inflation rates which, in some cases, were more than 30% due to increased costs for food, gas and electricity. The remaining costs were spent in support of the cultural trajectory of one-borderless organisation.

Restricted funds

A total of €296,598 was allocated for costs of the restricted funds (Dare2Go, and Emergency Fund) for which reserves have been built over previous years.

In 2023 the total anticipated budget is €8,779,000, an increase of 19% compared to the 2022 annual budget. Edukans anticipates implementing 30 projects in 2023. A budget of €144,000 from the continuity reserve will be used to fund part of the operational costs. A budget of €381,000 will be made available from the earmarked reserve to invest in “Sustainable Borderless Organisation”.

Edukans expects to grow gradually in the coming years, aiming at an annual turnover of €9.5M in 2024, growing towards an annual budget of at least €10M in 2025. Based on the assumption that the gradual growth in private and international funding will continue in the coming years all focus countries will offer a diversified project portfolio.

Edukans is a financially healthy organisation and expects to work with a (nearly) balanced budget in the coming years. Some negative results in 2022 were anticipated for and can be justified. Other exceptional costs are necessary to enable Edukans to transform into an organisation with a diversified donor portfolio, long term partnerships and decentralised management and governance structure. These can be financed from existing reserves and funds.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2022, EDUKANS FOUNDATION 

General explanatory notes and accounting principles

General

Activities
The Edukans Foundation, which was founded in 2002, has its registered office in Amersfoort and is registered at the Chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands (no. 32092131).
The foundation has two objectives:
a.      Access to education and the quality of education in developing countries
b.      Involving the Dutch public and in particular the educational sector in the Netherlands with this mission
and beyond this, everything that directly or indirectly relates to this or can be conducive to this, in the broadest sense of the word.

Consolidation
For 2022 the Edukans Foundation Ethiopia financial statements are included in the consolidated financial statements. The activities of the offices in Malawi, Kenya and Uganda were still limited in 2022, meaning that limited expenses were incurred. For this reason, these international foundations are not consolidated in 2022. The expenses incurred have been included under the ‘Capacity-building’ objective.

Related parties
In 2021 the group structure changed as a result of a decision to create an independent Edukans organisation.
From October 6, 2021, Edukans is no longer responsible for the current and contingent liabilities of the Stichting Kwintessens Educatief (UnieNzv) and Kwintessens B.V.

Continuity
The annual accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

Accounting principles for valuation of assets and liabilities and revenue recognition

The financial statements have been drawn up in conformity with the guidelines for financial reporting by fundraising organisations (RJ 650) provided by the Dutch Council for Accounting Standards (Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving). In general, assets and liabilities have been valued at acquisition price. If no specific accounting principle is mentioned, valuation has been made at acquisition price. The actual rate differences on stocks (bonds and shares) and foreign currencies have been processed directly in the statement of income and expenditure. Income and expenditures are allocated to the year to which they relate and/or have been granted to third parties.

Estimates
In order to be able to apply the principles and rules for preparing the annual accounts, it is necessary for the management of Edukans to evaluate various matters and make estimates that can affect the amounts recorded in the financial statements. If it proves necessary, to provide the insight described in Art. 2:362 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Civil Code, the nature of these opinions and estimates, including the underlying assumptions, is described in the related notes to the financial statements.

Functional and presentation currency
The entries in the financial statements have been valued in accordance with the currency of the economic environment in which Edukans mainly operates (functional currency). The annual accounts have been prepared in euros; the euro is both the functional and the presentation currency of Edukans. Amounts in foreign currencies are converted into euros at the rates of exchange applicable at the balance sheet date. Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are converted at the rates of exchange applicable at the time of the transaction. The average rate for the current financial year is applied.
Any resulting exchange differences are taken into account in the statement of income and expenditure.

Financial instruments
‘Financial instruments’ is understood to mean both primary financial instruments such as receivables and debts, and financial derivatives. For the principles underlying the primary financial instruments, reference is made to the treatment of each balance sheet item.

VALUATION PRINCIPLES FOR THE BALANCE SHEET

Intangible and tangible fixed assets
Software and other inventory and operating assets are valued at historical cost or manufacturing price including directly attributable expenditure, less straight-line depreciation over their estimated useful lives and impairment losses.

Financial fixed assets
A historical cost-based accounting system has been used. In general, assets and liabilities have been valued at acquisition price.
Participations (associates), over which significant influence can be exercised, are valued according to the net asset value method. The net asset value is calculated in accordance with the accounting principles that apply for these financial statements; regarding participations in which insufficient data is available for adopting these principles, the valuation principles of the respective participation are applied. If the valuation of an associate based on the net asset value is negative, it will be stated at nil. If and insofar as the Edukans Foundation can be held fully or partially liable for the debts of the associate or has the firm intention of enabling the participation to settle its debts, a provision is recognised for this.

Receivables
Receivables have been recorded at fair value and thereafter at amortised cost, after deduction of the necessary provisions for the risk of non-payment.

Investments
Investments (bond and share funds) are measured at fair value. Changes in value and transaction costs are recognised through income and expenditure.

Provisions
Provisions are made for legally enforceable or actual liabilities existing on the accounting date, which are likely to entail an outflow of resources, the size of which can be estimated in a reliable manner.

Debts
In the initial accounting, debts have been valued at fair value. Transaction costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition of debts have been included in the valuation in the initial accounting. After the initial accounting, debts have been valued at the amortised cost, being the amount received taking into account the premium or discount and after deduction of the transaction costs.

ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES FOR REVENUE RECOGNITION

General
The balance (result) is defined as the difference between total income and total expenditure. The revenues are accounted for in the year in which they are realised; expenses are accounted for as soon as they are foreseeable. Income that is received in the form of goods or services is valued at fair value, to the extent that this can be determined. In such cases, this income is included in the statement of income and expenditure.
Revenues that are designated for a particular purpose have been incorporated into the statement of income and expenditure; if these revenues are not spent in full in the year under review, the unspent funds are included in the relevant earmarked reserve or earmarked fund, respectively. A withdrawal from an earmarked reserve or restricted fund, respectively, is recorded as an expense in the statement of income and expenditure.
Expenses are determined on a historical basis and assigned to the year under review to which they relate.

Gifts
Gifts are accounted for in the year in which a specific campaign was held, or – if no specific campaign took place – in the year in which the gift was received.

Legacies
Revenues from legacies are accounted for in the financial year if a deed of partition is available per balance date. Payments in the form of advances are accounted for in the financial year of receipt.

Government subsidies and other grants
Subsidies from governments, municipalities, etc., that are received to carry out projects or programmes, whereby the subsidy-provider acts as a financer or co-financer, have been accounted for separately in the income statement. Operating grants are accounted for as income in the statement of income and expenditure in the year in which the subsidised costs are incurred or revenues foregone, or when a subsidised operating deficit occurs. The income is accounted for if it is likely to be received and if the foundation can demonstrate the conditions for receipt.

Fundraising expenses
The costs of Edukans’ own fundraising are allocated per cost item and personnel costs on the basis of the estimated number of hours spent. Other expenses – including housing costs – are likewise attributed to the objectives based on the actual time spent by staff.

Implementation costs of own organisation
The implementation costs of the organisation are allocated per cost item and personnel costs based on estimated hours spent. The implementation costs of the organisation are divided on the basis of the amount of time spent by staff members.

Management and administration expenses
According to Guideline 650 of the Dutch Council for Accounting Standards, the statement of income and expenditure should include a separate line about management and administration costs. The management chose the model attribution method provided by Goede Doelen Nederland. The management and administration expenses are expressed as a percentage of total expenditure. The management set a target of 5% as the maximum norm for management and administration expenses.

Pensions
The Edukans Foundation has placed all employee pension schemes with the PFZW pension fund, based on the standard PFZW pension scheme (average pay scheme). Guideline 271 offers the possibility of treating this scheme as a defined contribution scheme, because:
a) the foundation is affiliated with a sectoral pension fund (PFZW) and uses the same pension scheme as other legal entities.
b) the foundation is under no obligation to make supplementary contributions, there being no rise in future premiums in the event of a deficit at PFZW.
The PFZW (pre-) pension scheme satisfies both conditions. The scheme may therefore be treated as a defined contribution scheme under RJ 271. This means that the premium invoices from PFZW have been accounted for under pension expenses and the outstanding part of the premiums under short-term liabilities.

Staff remuneration
Periodic payable remuneration, such as salaries and social security expenses, has been included in the statement of income and expenditure on the basis of the terms of employment, to the extent that this is owed to employees. Edukans foundation adheres to the collective labour terms and conditions of PKN.

ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES FOR THE CASHFLOW STATEMENT

The funds in the cashflow statement consist of cash and floating stocks. The stocks can be seen as highly liquid assets. Cashflow in foreign currency has been valued at the transaction rate.

NOTES ON THE CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AT DECEMBER 31, 2022 

Continuity reserves

As a precautionary measure, the Edukans Foundation maintains a continuity reserve to cover setbacks in revenues and costs for a calculable period (short-term risks). Such setbacks can result from harm to the organisation’s image, for example, the short-term effects of financial crises, the loss of major donor partners, operational risk management measures or seasonal factors. Goede Doelen Nederland has set a norm for the continuity reserve of a maximum of 1.5 times the annual expenses of the work organisation. Based on the costs in 2022, the maximum continuity reserve is €4,362,000. The size of Edukans’ continuity reserve is 95% of the annual organisational costs (base year 2022). The CEO considers this sufficient for the short term, in view of expected developments in relation to both revenues and expenditure.

Edukans decided to create an earmarked reserve for 4 years to meet the challenge of developing into an impactful and financially sustainable borderless organisation. This requires further professionalisation and boosting capacity at regional and national level in our countries of operation.

Gifts received for a specific purpose were accounted for through a restricted fund. Major funds are addressed below.

Emergency aid
In 2022, a campaign was held for emergency aid in Ethiopia due to the drought. These donations were added to the fund and spent on this objective. Part was spent in 2022 and the remaining amount will be spent in 2023.

DARE2GO educational exchanges
In 2016, Edukans decided to take over the exchange programme previously provided by Youth and Mission under the brand name DARE2GO. Edukans recovered €400,000 in 2016. As of 1 January 2023, an amount of €292,143 remained. The fund will be invested in the development of new exchange programmes. A new staff member joined in 2022 to develop this further.

For Every Child a Future
In 2021, the For Every Child a Future project was launched and further implemented in 2022. In 2020, 2021 and 2022 funds were raised for this project.
The objective of the project is to ensure that displaced children and young people in the regions of Afar and Oromia have full access to quality education. Target groups are Eritrean refugees, Ethiopian host communities and internally displaced persons. The remaining amount was fully spent in 2022.

Star School Ethiopia
The Star School Ethiopia project is a multi-year project improving the quality of primary education in 250 schools in the regions of Amhara, Oromia, Afar and the city of Addis Ababa through the implementation of Edukans Star school model. The remaining amount was fully spent in 2022.

Teaching with Impact
The EDU Active Learning Project uses a learning resource (Correctbook) that helps learners to practice basic skills (e.g., in writing, maths, art) and carry out application and problem-solving tasks individually and together. It provides new opportunities to train teachers and reach learners at STAR schools, reach new schools, offer third parties a partnership possibility and practice training on digital platforms. Several projects have been completed and new projects related to the EDU Active Learning Project will be rolled out in 2023.

UNICEF Ethiopia
Edukans started raising funds in order to be able to improve access to safe and protective education for displaced boys and girls in Afar. UNICEF is an important cooperation partner in Ethiopia. For UNICEF projects, own contributions are raised from donors in the Netherlands. As soon as the projects are implemented, the raised contribution is transferred to the projects in Ethiopia.

Basic Education Kenya
Edukans received a legacy in December 2021, to be spend on basic education in Kenya. Another amount was received from this same legacy in 2022. An implementing programme started in 2022 and this will continue in 2023.

Skills and Employment AFAS
AFAS Foundation supports the Skills and Employment project which involves strengthening and increasing the capacity of TVETs in providing value-based, quality, market-oriented, relevant skills training to young people. The long-term impact of this project is to improve the productivity and employability of graduates of TVETs in the Kenyan labour market. This project started in 2022 and will continue to be implemented in the coming years.

This provision is intended to cover expenses arising from obligations in collective labour agreements (CAOs) for staff anniversaries. The provision for anniversaries is recorded as the cash value of the expected payments during the period of employment. No interest is added to the provision.

Grants represents received grants for defined projects with a start date after December 31, 2022 continuing in 2023. The grants are mainly received from NUFFIC (€38,311), Enabel (€20,537) and UNICEF Ethiopia (€324,699).

The changes in liabilities for education projects and development cooperation can be summarised as follows:

The commitments during the year are the contractual commitments entered into during the year. The payments are the payments made relating to commitments.

The amount ‘projects development cooperation’ of €1,964,700 represents conditionally committed funds by international partners for the coming years.

Edukans has a total car lease obligation of €14,179.

In 2022 an amount of €126,574 from UNICEF Malawi and an amount of €61,697 from Enabel Uganda have been received as advance payments allocated to project implementation in 2023. These amounts are cash balances in the respective countries.

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

Incoming revenues

The revenues from individual giving and profit organisations were slightly below those anticipated in the budget. In comparison with 2022, the revenues were stable.

Revenues from individual giving consist of €2,553,684 of donations and gifts and €290,633 of legacies.

Lottery organisations

The income from Lottery organisations concerns the donation from the National Postcode Lottery of the Netherlands. €500,000 of this amount is an annual payment, €64,943 was an additional payment for the project ‘sustainable and innovative education with Correctbooks’.

The revenues from institutional grants were in line with the budget. UNICEF funded several projects for developing Education in Ethiopia.

Related non-profit organisations

Due to it becoming independent, in 2021 Edukans received a one-off gift from UnieNzv of €2,200,000. The gift is apportioned to the general continuity reserve for €1,100,000 and to an earmarked reserve for €1,100,000. The purpose of this reserve is to invest in an impactful and financially sustainable international organisation. This requires further professionalisation and boosting capacity at regional and national level in our countries of operation.

The salaries, social security expenses, pension expenses and other staff costs have been allocated in accordance with the estimated hours spent. The direct project expenses consist of expenses that are directly attributable to the objectives (including materials and travel costs). The other costs are likewise attributed to the objectives in accordance with the estimated time spent by the staff.

The communication expenses cover items such as leaflets, posters and other printed matter, but also include public campaigns, the website and Edukans’ Wijs! magazine. This allows us to inform our supporters and report our results.

In order to allocate the management and administration expenses, the CEO of Edukans selected the model provided by Goede Doelen Nederland. This model states that expenses that are not directly attributable to the objectives fall under ‘management and administration’. The costs of the director of Edukans, ICT and human resource management have been attributed proportionally to the objectives and to ‘management and administration’. The following overview shows in percentages the extent to which the cost types have been attributed to ‘management and administration’:

The salary of the director of Edukans is in conformity with the Dutch Civil Servants’ Pay Decree (BBRA). The managing director of Edukans has a maximum salary set at scale 16. This remuneration falls within the norms of the GDN (Goede Doelen Nederland) annual income, which for Edukans is set at 470 BSD points. According to the GDN norm, the managing director’s salary may not exceed €148,215 (full-time). The directors are not awarded any loans, advances or guarantees.

Most of the taxable remunerations and the fiscal additions represent an anniversary payment.

The pension cost concerns the employer’s share of the premium owed to the sectoral pension fund. The GDN norm for these total amounts is €216,000 (full-time).

Renumeration of the supervisory board

For their supervisory board role for Edukans’ Supervisory Board, Mrs M.C. Verstraeten, Mr. D.M.J. Haaksma and Mr. F.J.J.A. Kat each received €1,800. Mr. R.W. van Tol (January 1 until June 30) received €850.

This represented in 2021 our share in the result of B.V. Kwintessens NZV Uitgevers.

Edukans selected Insinger Gillisen as their asset manager. The asset manager is instructed to invest following a defensive green sustainable profile.

The investment mix in fixed income (bonds) and shares is 70% fixed income and 30% shares, with a bandwidth of 10%.

The unrealised and realised result is calculated by respectively deducting the market value and the sales value in the financial year less the valuation at the beginning of the financial year.

EDUKANS FOUNDATION NETHERLANDS

NOTES ON THE BALANCE SHEET AT DECEMBER 31, 2022

For 2022, the differences between the consolidated financial statements and the foundation only financial statements are limited. Major projects are funded by Edukans Foundation Netherlands which is the main reason for the limited differences. For the notes on the foundation only financial statements we refer to the consolidated notes on the financial statements.

The difference between the consolidated reserves and funds and the Edukans Foundation reserves and funds can be explained as follows:

OTHER INFORMATION

Adoption and approval of accounts
The 2022 annual accounts were adopted by the management and approved by the Supervisory Board at the meeting of May 24, 2023.

Result allocation
The management determined the result allocation in accordance with the result appropriation set out in the statement of income and expenditure.
No events have yet occurred in 2023 that have an influence on the net assets at the end of 2022 and the results for 2022.

Auditor’s report
The auditor’s report by an independent audit firm has been included hereafter.