Before VSO's project, fewer than one in three graduates were in work within two years of leaving vocational training. Now more than half are employed within six months. 

 Mariam Hamis, 18, is the first female student in six years to study carpentry and joinery at the VETA centre in Lindi

Payment system reform by VSO volunteers means teachers can reliably access their hard-earned wages.

Volunteer Jo Doyne is based in western Rwanda, supporting teachers to provide appropriate teaching to children with special needs. She talks to us about her work with Ngwino Nawe, a special needs school.

In Lindi, Tanzania, exam results are among the lowest in the country and many students drop out of school early. English teacher, Rebecca Ngovano, has been working alongside VSO volunteer Paul Jennings to try and change this.

"In these days of questioning the effectiveness of volunteering and international development, it is encouraging to learn that an individual can make a difference."

When Andrew Ashe volunteered as a teacher in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s, he can hardly have imagined that more than 30 years later, he’d be helping launch an innovative education project with VSO.

Education volunteer Ann reflects on her time working in Nepal on a project to promote girls' education.

Purna Shrestha looks at how text messaging has been used in India to boost reading skills in primary schools at a low cost.