Pioneers Post trainees publish stories of resilience and change in The Education Issue

Ten young education campaigners brought stories of resilience from underserved communities in Nigeria, Nepal, Argentina and more to New York last week.

The Education Issue, an annual print and online newspaper, was launched alongside the United Nations General Assembly meetings at a special exhibition, as the culmination of a six-month training programme in journalistic storytelling provided by Pioneers Post.  

The programme’s participants, aged 19 to 28, were selected from among 2,000 Global Youth Ambassadors – young people supported by the charity Theirworld to develop their skills as advocates for education. Each of them produced a written article or video story about education in their own community or region, guided by Pioneers Post mentors and editors.

Children need the world to stop and listen. This is my way of saying: Hello, World. This is Sudan

This year the theme of the newspaper was ‘a safe place to learn’. For contributor Baraa Maalik, a dentist, public health researcher and youth advocate from Sudan, now living in Egypt, this was a rare opportunity to shine a light on the “catastrophic, yet largely invisible” crisis in Sudan, where millions of children have been displaced. 

“[Children] need the world to stop and listen. This is my way of saying: “Hello, World. This is Sudan” – told through the eyes of a beautiful six-year-old girl, my sister,” Maalik writes. Her story, ‘The art of healing’, explores how children cope with trauma, and how drawing eventually helped her young sister to smile again, and to return to the classroom.

Above: Baraa Malik's article on the trauma facing children from Sudan is featured in this year's Education Issue

Other contributors uncovered stories about a school in Nepal for children living with HIV; the long road to learning for deaf children in rural Nigeria; the stigma and financial pressures facing young mothers in Kenya and Uganda; and the campaigners calling for an overhaul of the high-pressure examination system in the UK. 

Two of the Global Youth Ambassadors whose work is featured – Carolina Riera from Argentina (pictured top centre) and Wajiha Mekki from the USA – were in New York to speak about their stories.

Also present was Sarah Brown, Theirworld chair and executive chair at the Global Business Coalition for Education, who said Theirworld had for almost 25 years “believed young people should be part of the conversations about their futures”, and highlighted the inspiring “presence and power of young changemakers in the room”. 

Dawn Humphreys, group director of programmes at Theirworld, said this year’s stories “show us the solutions that are being led in communities around the world, as well as what can happen when young people are given the tools and platform to amplify these stories and inspire global change”.

These stories show us the solutions that are being led in communities around the world

Anna Patton (pictured), associate editor and training lead at Pioneers Post, said: “It’s one thing to be aware that things like discrimination, conflict and migration make it harder for young people to learn. But the reality only really hits home when these issues are brought to life through vivid, on-the-ground storytelling. We’re so pleased to have worked with this talented bunch of young people to get these stories out in the world – we hope they inspire people in power to take action.”

The reality only really hits home when these issues are brought to life through vivid, on-the-ground storytelling

This is the second edition of The Education Issue. Training was once again led by Pioneers Post team members Anna Patton, Julie Pybus and David Lyons, with online workshops covering skills such as photojournalism, solutions journalism, fact-checking and interviewing, and guest speakers joining from BBC World Service, Full Fact and more. The final newspaper was produced in association with The Observer Studio, the content studio of The Observer newspaper.

Applications are expected to open later this year for the 2027 edition of the programme. 

Above: a school in Kenya, photographed by Alfred Rugongo. His story explored how schools teach children with autism and other needs

The ten participants in 2026 were:

• Alfred Rugongo, Kenya 
• Braa Malik Basheir, Egypt 
• Carolina Riera, Argentina 
• Christine Murage, Kenya 
• Ibrahim Tukur, Nigeria 
• Lara Sayees, UK
• Nischal Raj Gautam, Nepal
• Precious Phyllis Apolot, Uganda
• Sharanpreet Padda, UK 
• Wajiha Mekki, United States 

Read more about Pioneers Post’s training, or contact anna@pioneerspost.com to find out more.

Top photo: Carolina Riera from Argentina (centre) at the Education Issue exhibition in New York, September 2026 (photo: Carolina Riera)