Where we come from
A long history of impact-orientated, holistic education for children from underserved communities.
Our story
1947–1963: A response to the Second World War. Pestalozzi was founded by a German-Jewish refugee and a British sociologist to give a home and an education to European children orphaned or displaced by the war. The 170-acre Sedlescombe Village opened in 1959.
1963–2019: Selecting from the developing world to the UK. When 22 Tibetan children arrived in 1963, the mission shifted to bringing bright young people from countries affected by conflict and poverty - Thailand, Nigeria, Vietnam, Tibet, Palestine, India, Nepal - to be educated in Sussex. From 1997, scholarships funded IB Diplomas and later A-levels for 16-19 year-olds.
1995–today: Educating in countries of origin. Pestalozzi adopted a different premise: it is more cost-effective, and far more impactful, to educate children in or near their home communities. The campuses in Zambia, India and Nepal - plus partnerships in Thailand, Malawi and Zimbabwe - have supported thousands more children. Most of the projects were founded by UK Village alumni. The UK Village closed in 2019.
A legacy of excellence
Pestalozzi International is the result of a 2024 merger between two organisations with a shared vision - Pestalozzi World Children's Trust (PW) who ran overseas programmes and the Pestalozzi International Foundation (PIF) which previously ran the UK Village. The merger amplifies our mission to ensure more children have access to the life-changing education they deserve.
Today our Future Leaders costs around $3,300 per child per year, and 96% of our alumni live in their country of origin - proof that our programmes do not contribute to the "brain drain". Use the filters below to explore every chapter of the story by country or organisation.
Our history
Every programme, campus and partnership across our 65+ year story. Combine the filters to focus on a single country or follow one organisation through its evolution.
Showing 26 of 26 entries
Dr Henry Alexander, a German-Jewish refugee who moved to the UK before World War II, and Mrs Mary Buchanan, a British sociologist, founded the Association to bring Pestalozzi's holistic approach to children orphaned and displaced by war.
The Association purchased the 170-acre Oaklands Estate in Sedlescombe, East Sussex - the home of the Pestalozzi Children's Village for the next six decades.
The first arrivals were European children who had ended up in Displaced Persons' camps in Germany at the end of World War II, joined by several British children from deprived backgrounds. From 1959 to 1963 the Village focused on educating European children at local schools.
Early Pestalozzi Children Project22 Tibetan children from Northern India arrived at the Village with their house parents, marking a deliberate shift from post-war European relief towards life-changing education for children from developing countries and areas affected by conflict.
The last European students completed their studies, and the Village began welcoming children from Thailand, Nigeria, Vietnam, Tibet, Palestine, India and Nepal.
The Thai Pestalozzi Foundation was registered to support students through local secondary schools as day students and continue support to the end of a Bachelor's degree. Initial funding came entirely from Pestalozzi World.
Pestalozzi World was founded with a vision to educate children in or near their countries of origin, rather than transporting them to the UK - more cost-effective, and with greater impact on the communities they would go on to lead.
Between 1995 and 1999, Pestalozzi World supported 50 Zimbabwean girls through the Cambridge Female Education Trust (CamFed).
Pestalozzi World supported 109 students at the Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala, North India. In 1998 PW funded a house accommodating 25 students.
Pestalozzi World supported 79 students at Budhanilkantha School, Kathmandu - one of Nepal's leading English-medium schools. In 1996 PW organised the Pestalozzi Vocational Skills Training Centre, adding a workshop in 1999 and part-funding a 124-girl hostel in the same year.
Pestalozzi began offering scholarships to academically bright 16-19 year olds from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who had already completed basic secondary education. For almost 20 years they studied the International Baccalaureate Diploma at a local college.
Pestalozzi World began supporting children at Shri Sita Ram Higher Secondary School in Uchchakot, Doti, Far West Nepal. A 40-girl hostel was part-funded in 2004, enabling girls and Dalit caste students to live in hostel accommodation for the first time. The programme will end in 2025, having supported 44 current students and 132 alumni.
The Kasisi Centre in Lusaka accommodated over 200 girls who attended local government schools through Class 9, then completed Class 12 in their home villages. 52 particularly bright girls were selected to join the Kasisi Girls Secondary School.
Originally named PAHAD (Pestalozzi Association Helping Advance Development - meaning 'hill' in Nepali), the Foundation was registered to bring educational help to marginalised rural communities. Following the Thai model, it supported 56 day students in local schools, part-funded by Pestalozzi World and part self-funded.
The Pestalozzi Zambia Children's Trust was founded to take responsibility for the campus-based work that would follow in Zambia.
The Pestalozzi Children's Village Society, Asia was founded to lead the India programme. Its first intake of children arrived in 2004.
Pestalozzi World sponsored 50 Malawian students at Kavuzi Community Day Secondary School and Viphya Secondary School in Mzuzu, and funded a substantial student-cultivated vegetable garden at Kavuzi. Subsequently, Malawians were selected to join the Zambian Village.
Children joined a temporary village at Leopards Hill ahead of the permanent campus opening at Ibex Hill.
The Pestalozzi Children's Trust, Malawi was founded to support the programme in Malawi and the Malawians selected to join the Zambian campus.
Children moved into the permanent Pestalozzi Village at Ibex Hill, Lusaka. Since then Kasisi has provided the first two years (Grades 5-6) of accommodation and in-house schooling for newly selected children - now both boys and girls - who then move on to Ibex Hill for Grades 7-12.
Pestalozzi students transitioned from the International Baccalaureate Diploma to studying A-levels at Claremont Senior School.
After 60 years in Sedlescombe, the UK Village closed. From 2019, selected students were placed at UWC Colleges until the 2024 merger with Pestalozzi World.
The Thai Pestalozzi Foundation became entirely self-sufficient. It aims to support 100 students at any one time and now has 280 graduates - 115 originally funded by Pestalozzi World and 167 by the Foundation. Apart from the Chair, the Board is entirely composed of alumni.
Pestalozzi World Children's Trust and the Pestalozzi International Foundation merged to form Pestalozzi International - amplifying the shared mission and ensuring more children can access life-changing, country-of-origin education.
SkillsHub opened in Lusaka as our vocational training centre for young people out of school, work or training - combining a mindset camp, life skills and catch-up learning with hands-on training in digital, hospitality, farming, food production and beauty.
Pestalozzi International extended the Future Leaders programme to Madagascar, bringing country-of-origin secondary education and leadership development to a new generation of young Malagasy scholars.
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