I wish there was a way Cancel Title is required

Although I understand this would effect  only a small number of sponsors I wish there was a way that sponsors could continue to support their childs' continued education through CI after they turned nineteen.  I realize this would  not be possible  with every child, but for those who continued to live in the sponsorship area and are willing to follow guidelines, it might be the only way for them to complete their education. Maybe a program for two years after turning nineteen that would not include any other CI benefits, but would allow CI to distribute the money only for their continued education only for a year at a time. Of course this would have to be at the request of the sponsor and the money would have to be paid up front and in a timely manner.  CI could certainly expect to have any additional cost to them to be covered by the sponsor and impose any common sense rules, requirements, and criteria  to participate. Something like they do now through a siblings account.. Or maybe just  by allowing a sponsor to continue the sponsorship for a longer time under some circumstances.

I agree. Having a "continued educational sponsorship" would not have to change hardly anything and I think a good requirement could be time at the center tutering, reading to kids and such as they may have time to help.

I quite agree.  One of my sponsored kids doesn't have any younger siblings who I could sponsor in order to continue providing financial support for her.   I'd love it if CI could help with this issue.

Fabulous idea!

I absolutely love this idea as well!! My husband and I have one child in particular we would really love to be able to continue to help out with educational costs post-graduation from the CI progrm.

Kind of an intriguing idea.

I agree.  I would welcome the opportunity to support a CI graduate afterwards.  One of my sponsored young people is an eighteen year-old in Zambia, not an easy place to succeed. The struggle will not end when he has completed CI's program.  Yes, he must become independent, but I am quite willing to provide some financial support as he crosses the bridge from teenager in school to adult in the workforce.

I really like GrampaNicky's suggestion, that the participation requirement for youth who are supported beyond 19 is to give back by volunteering at the centers! I would love to be able to continue supporting my girls until they finish college (which, with the new education system in the Philippines, isn't a possibility with the current sponsorship program, since now kids complete high school when they're eighteen instead of sixteen). I was lucky that Joyce has a younger sister I can sponsor, and Anna Marie had a younger sister already enrolled in the CI program (with a different sponsor). It won't always be the case, though.

I also wonder,  if a youth that has turned nineteen can have their  educational funds administered by CI through a cousin or another relatives account when they live in the same service area, why couldn't money be administered through the account of another child that lived in the same service area and has the same sponsor?  That way a sponsor would have the option of choosing a new child from the same service area if they wanted to, or even of selecting  the children they sponsor based on their SOA when there is no younger sibling or relative for them to sponsor. This could also be used for the youth to get their high school diploma. Many of our youth get off to a late start in school due to financial reasons or because their school is filled up.

I just chose another child to sponsor and he is 17 but turning 18 this month.  Does that mean he will only be on this program for one year?  And then what happens?  I didn't realize we couldn't continue to sponsor young adults.  What happens?

When a sponsored child turns nineteen (or shortly thereafter) they graduate from the CI program, their account is closed and there is no way to continue their sponsorship. This post is only about sponsors who want to  fund the education of a youth who has graduated from the program through CI.  This can be done when their sponsor is also sponsoring a younger sibling. The money is administered through the siblings open account. That is really the only safe way to guarantee how the money is spent. But the graduate is no longer sponsored.

I know this will sound harsh, but I feel that not allowing sponsors to continue funding a child's college education (if they wish) is like reeling a fish to the bank and then cutting the line. That's letting the child and the sponsor down. The child could be responsible for all the foot work and paper work back and forth to the college. CI should have very little verifications to do. Even all other benefits may not exists, but the fact the sponsor could get his child college educated would be worth it to both child and sponsor. Does this sound reasonable?

Hey guys! As you already know education is one of our pillars - might even be the most important - and some may not finish their schooling by the time they graduate from sponsorship, so we recognize the need to continue supporting these youth. We, of course, want to give our youth the opportunity to complete their education, which (drum roll, please!) is why we are currently examining how best to manage a process where a youth has graduated from sponsorship but is still in school and their sponsor would like to continue supporting their education. **HOWEVER,this is a complex issue with many different factors. We are taking a systematic,careful approach to determine the next steps in this process – considering the best interests of the youth, our goal that they are free from poverty, the desires of the sponsors and the need for adequate staff and resources to manage this continued support. SO please be patient with us but this is pretty exciting news, right?!

Very exciting news!!!!!

That's an understatement!  This is awesome.  :)

O.K. GUYS, STAY WHINNY ON THIS. We don't want the process to slow down.

Yay!!!

This is wonderful news!  I hope a potential option for Continuing  Educational Support  beyond the age of nineteen could include (if possible) high school students too.  Many sponsored youths are only a year or two away from getting their high school diploma when they turn nineteen, often due to things like getting a late start, financial reasons, the school being at capacity, ect.  It's wonderful that with CI, sponsors are actually important, that their input and sponsorships  are valued and not just their money. So Thank You CIKC ! I hope you will keep sponsors up-to-date regarding this.

Totally Awesome!   And very needed.  Thanks for working on this, CI.

I get more excited every time I think about this! CI - do you have any provisional time frame of when you think something could be set in place, or a goal date of when you're hoping to have most of the details sorted out?

I'm patient. My oldest is 14, so you have 5 years. But yes, it's very much needed to have a mechanism. I'm sure many of us dread the idea of losing contact at a critical time.

Yes, I repeat, I too would be on board for some sort of continuing supportive education plan for those over nineteen.  Upcoming for me is Patrick Bwayla in Zambia who is now 18 who wrote in reply (to my letter which focused on the benefits of education) " ...I love the encourage on school.  I also promise that I will work hard towards my education so that I can change my life and that of my family... " 

CI seems to be running a few trial ideas that aren't mainstream yet because the Philippines center in Manila told me that kids who are in higher education when the graduate the program are now eligible to come back for career placement help (Into Employment) when they graduate school, even if they are over 19.  I thought this was a great idea (because getting the actual job is really the final piece of the puzzle to changing their future).  I took a "wait and see" approach to the new CEO, but I like what I'm seeing so far in regards to going from "we hope they succeed with what we give them" to "what do we need to give them so they succeed?"  I think CI was doing good work before and this makes the program even better!

Brooke_OR you're correct. Due to the fact that in some countries the legal working age is 18, we welcome graduated youth to participate in Into Employment, as well as other  Career Readiness programs.  Also, please know we recognize the importance this effort plays in helping our youth break free from poverty and are working to develop this process as quickly as resources allow. We so appreciate your desire to help your youth!!

Ideas like these are the reason CI is the best organization for sponsorship out there! Kudos CI!

I noticed  that in the miscellaneous  FAQ section the required schooling in the Philippines is  still listed as ten years. I thought that had changed to twelve years starting in the 2016-2017 school year. This would mean that the children graduating from high school will now be around eighteen instead of sixteen. Or am I mistaken?

That is correct. The change-over to the new system was implemented incrementally. There's a really lengthy Wikipedia article about it ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Philippines ), and under the section "K-12" there is a chart that shows in which years the new grades were implemented.

Thanks for the information. It sure is a really lengthy article. Clearly CI will need to make some changes to accommodate the new K thru 12 school year in the Philippines.