What is Amala?

 Our mission is to use the power of education to transform the lives of refugees, their communities and the world.

Amala (formerly known as Sky School) was conceived in 2017, in response to the gap in quality education provision for displaced youth. Our name is inspired by the Arabic word for hope, which our education embodies. 

We believe that young refugees - as all people - have a right to quality education. Yet, only 41% of refugees are enrolled in secondary education and only 7% are able to access higher education. 

In 2016, Amala co-founders Mia and Polly were working on a prestigious scholarship; the programme admitted refugees to schools around the world to complete their upper secondary education. They found that for every scholarship place available, hundreds of promising applicants were turned away. Their subsequent research showed that there were few educational opportunities available for refugee youth aged 16-25, many of whom are forced to drop out of educational systems due to the barriers they face. 

The idea for Amala was born: to provide transformational learning programmes for displaced youth and their host communities to improve their lives today and open up opportunities for the future. Amala has two key programmes: The Amala Global Secondary Diploma, the first high school diploma designed for and with refugee youth, and Changemaker Courses in areas such as Peace-building, Ethical Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship. Amala supports students to access further opportunities for education, training and work beyond their studies. Read more about our programmes here.

Amala’s curriculum has been developed with the support of our educational partner UWC South East Asia, one of the largest international schools in the world with an expertise in values-based curriculum development, and led by UWCSEA’s former Director of Teaching and Learning Stuart MacAlpine, in collaboration with refugee youth and 150 educators. Amala learning focuses on the development of learner agency as well as competencies that enable learners to make change in their lives and communities. Amala learning is delivered through a blended learning model.

Amala programmes are delivered both directly by Amala and in collaboration with partners whose missions are aligned to our own. Through collaborating with partners we have been able to bring transformational education to refugees in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Read more about where we work here and how to become a partner here.

Amala is established as a non-profit organisation in the United Kingdom, and our remote team spans the whole of the UK, Singapore, Greece, Jordan and Kenya.