The great thing about volunteering abroad in education is that the options are endless, so volunteers can often get creative and make their placement as unique as they want it to be. There is always something that can be done to improve access to education in almost any country and most education volunteer programs require only basic qualifications to participate, which means literally anyone can become an education volunteer abroad.

The first step to improving access to education abroad is providing the actual environment needed for learning to occur and then supplying the resources needed to educate. Children cannot attend school if there is no building and they cannot learn to write if they have nothing to write on. If you are interested in improving the educational infrastructure of a developing nation, there are tons of volunteer programs that allow volunteers to help build schools in underprivileged communities.

After an actual school is available to attend, students need to be able to physically get to school, which brings about two additional areas of concern: transportation and health. There are many areas around the world that have the schools and resources needed, but only to limited portions of the population due to the geographical layout of towns and cities or the unequal distribution of schools throughout the country. Additionally, in some cases students are capable of getting to school, but face health issues that prevent them from attending; these health concerns can range from access to feminine hygiene products to malnutrition. Assisting with the development of community health education programs or promoting the development of new modes of transportation are just two ways to volunteer abroad in education that can make a difference in the lives of children facing transportation or health issues that impede them from attending school.

Once students are healthy enough to go to school and have the infrastructure and resources in place needed to learn, there are still many facets of education that prove to be challenging in some communities and schools. Most individuals interested in education volunteering abroad jump head first into opportunities to teach English abroad, but there are also many opportunities (and a need for volunteers) to teach other subjects, including those outside the normal subjects taught in schools. For example, there are plenty of education volunteer programs focused on increasing knowledge related to health, nutrition, and technology. Sometimes taking your education volunteering beyond the classroom and into the community can be even more impactful than becoming a stereotypical ESL teacher abroad.