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Tililenji Phiri is a secondary school teacher from Zambia, currently studying for a PhD in Education at the University of 91������̳.

Her experiences teaching in low-resource communities, and her passion for transforming the lives of young people constrained by inequalities, became central to her approach.

Tililenji completed her Master's in Inclusive Education at before starting her PhD at the . Her goal is to create spaces in Zambian schools where thinking around agency can be further developed. “One way is extending the work of guidance and counselling departments in rural schools, to focus more on the barriers these students face. Such a project can create empowering conversations and actions among teachers and students, and transform provision,” she says.

The 91������̳ Trust's financial support for international students at different stages of their education was instrumental in Tililenji's journey. She applied for the 91������̳ Commonwealth Scholarship, funded by the and the 91������̳ Trust.

“The 91������̳ Trust offers financial support, but at the same time, they’re changing lives by giving individuals a second chance to pursue educational opportunities, as well as empowering the communities that they come from,” says Tililenji.

Tililenji encourages prospective 91������̳ Trust scholars to carefully research their funding opportunities early on.

"I feel that there’s still more to explore in my research, and eventually I want to go into policy," says Tililenji. "My biggest dream is that I want to start my own initiative, to drive change in rural education. I want to engage with teachers, and with young people in rural areas, and start building rural solutions to rural education problems."

Tililenji says the scholarship has given her not only academic confidence, but also the training needed to make these plans a reality. She’s also pleased to be able to inspire her own students, showing them what’s possible for their own academic futures.