Recognized for Youth-led Open Education in Crisis Zones
From the nominator:
Beyond Classroom Walls is a pioneering youth-led open education initiative on its way to becoming the first national organization in Yemen led by youth and focused on digital learning in crisis zones. Designed and driven by young changemakers, it empowers underserved students with access to open educational resources (OER), digital literacy skills, and self-guided learning tools. The initiative was born in direct response to the educational challenges caused by Yemen’s ongoing conflict, displacement, and economic instability.
The project began in 2024 as a zero-cost social action initiative under the Awareness 360 global fellowship. In Phase 1, the team launched peer-led awareness campaigns in Aden, introducing students and families to free online platforms like Coursera, Khan Academy, EdX, and Google Classroom. Despite limited internet and infrastructure, they reached over 15,000 people through community events, printed guides, and student-led sessions. This early success led to global recognition, winning the SDGs Champion Award 2024 out of 465 projects across 72 countries.
Beyond Classroom Walls is exemplary in forefronting the goals of Open Education. Through its unique youth-led approach in Yemen, Beyond Classroom Walls advances inclusion and access to digital learning and education in communities affected by conflict and displacement, and harnesses OERs and Open Education practices to directly address challenges to learning in crisis zones. What stands out is its youth-led approach, enabling young changemakers to in turn empower classmates through facilitating self-directed learning. Beyond Classroom Walls is outstanding not just as a one-time initiative, but a scalable, ongoing, and continuously growing initiative that offers continued support through train-the-trainer approaches, enabling youth to continue passing it on to more schools and the broader community. Beyond Classroom Walls should be given recognition for its impact on accessible education in Yemen.
Award Reviewer
This initiative sounds spectacular and seems to represent everything that open education is about. I could barely digest all of the wonderful progress and impact they have made. It’s a great example of how very modest beginnings with a whole lot of passion behind it can really turn into something that changes lives. Kudos to everyone involved!
Award Reviewer
Learn More
- Follow on Instagram
- SDG Champion Award 2024 (Awareness 360 Global Impact Celebration)
- International Youth Day 2024 at Amideast Yemen (Facebook post)
