28th July 2015.

The time has come for the new school year to start in Bali. For the youngest children, it is the beginning of a brand new adventure as 4-6 year olds enroll into preschool.

We had an fantastic day as we welcomed our new class of 2015/16, as well as their parents to tour the school.

Pre school and kindergarten is not common in Bali, and it is often a luxury only for families privileged to have the funds to pay. We aim to make pre schools and kindergartens accessible to as many children as possible.

It was a fantastic day full of joy, new experiences, a few nerves and proud parents who are seeing their children enter the world of education.

It was extra special for young Kadek, sponsored by local restaraunt Banana Leaf, who arrived with his mother Made. Kadek’s father has been paralysed by an accident and loss of earnings would normally mean the family would not be able to afford school.

Children and parents will be continuing to visit over the next week to enroll.

Bali Children’s Project run our own preschool in Penestanan, Ubud which gives children from the local area the ability to access preschool at minimal cost. It is a great start to educational life, as early stage learning is one of the key stages of child development.

We support a further 13 pre-schools around Bali, all of which enjoy their openings this week too. The schools have been supported through teacher training, materials donation and sometimes even major renovations thanks to our support. It means the community schools can function and provide early stage education to children that would otherwise go without.

Elsewhere around Bali, many children have jumped up a grade. The new school year is an extra special time for Bali Children’s Project, as it reminds us of the children from disadvantaged backgrounds that we have helped to keep in school. Over 300 children have been sponsored by our programs, all of whom would have been forced to drop out.

It’s life changing for the children and their families.

We’ll be keeping tabs on all of our sponsored children and publishing many progress reports over the coming year.

You can support our preschool program by visiting here, or find out more about individual sponsorship here.