Basic and Girls' Education

Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) Post Project Evaluation Summaries

The Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) project is an ambitious six-year initiative (2018-2024) funded by FCDO and USAID, which sought to enable 83,925 ultra-marginalized girls and female youth living in conflict-affected areas of Somalia to access quality education responsive to their needs. AGES combines the provision of three education modalities with financial literacy, youth savings groups, life skills, mentorship, and girl-led civic action. AGES enrolled a total of 90,698 girls in education, including 21,945 in primary education; 1244 in formal special needs schools; 13,276 in accelerated basic education (ABE); and 54,233 in non-formal education classes (NFE). This series of briefs highlights results on different components of results from the post-project evaluation.
Additionally, The Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) project worked to improve learning outcomes and positive transitions for 90,698 extremely vulnerable girls and female youth in South Somalia. AGES research showed that vulnerable girls’ limited self-confidence and voice hinders participation in class, with a negative impact on learning, particularly among girls with disabilities and displaced youth. To address this barrier, AGES
formed school-based clubs known as Girls’ Empowerment Forum (GEF). Through the GEF, vulnerable students participate in activities to develop leadership skills with support from mentors and are linked to resource
persons within the community. They are trained to act as peer mentors within their schools and community, reaching out to other girls to provide support, and engaging in joint advocacy and action. GEF participants
work together to develop plans to address issues of their choice through girl-led action. GEF mentors and peer mentors are also trained on psychosocial first aid, providing support to those affected by shocks. In 2020-2024, AGES established 911 Girls’ Empowerment Forums with a total of 9,110 members. The GEFs were connected through 18 district-level networks. Read More...

Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) Endline evaluation

This evaluation of CARE International’s Adolescent Girls Education in Somalia (AGES) programme concludes a four-and-a-half-year effort to track the programme’s impact on various cohorts of girl learners. The evaluation is preceded by three previous evaluations: a baseline (BL) round in late 2019, a Midline 1 (ML1) round in early 2022, and a Midline 2 (ML2) round in early 2023. Three key outcomes for girls are measured through this study: 1) learning outcomes, as measured by numeracy and literacy skills; 2) transitions outcomes, measured by girls’ trajectories since first surveyed, such as whether a girl has progressed in grade levels, or secured gainful employment after their participation in the AGES programme; and 3) sustainable change emerging from shifts in social norms at the community and individual level, as well as strengthened institutional capacities to support inclusive education.
In addition, the programme’s theory of change (ToC) posits that several intermediate outcomes mediate the effect of programme interventions on the primary outcomes. As such, this study also examines progress on several intermediate outcomes: 1) attendance rates, 2) quality of teaching practices, 3) girls’ leadership and life skills, 4) school management and governance, 5) community support for girls’ education, 6) girl’s self-efficacy, 7) strengthened economic circumstances for female youth, and finally, 8) access to social support services.
Importantly, this study comprises evaluations for three separate groups of girls, all recruited into the study at various points in time. The study began with an original baseline cohort of girls participating in the formal education (FE), Alternative Basic Education (ABE), and Non-Formal Education (NFE) programmes. These girls were recruited from schools in the following states, or geographic zone: Banadir, South West State, and Jubaland. The ABE programme focused on accelerated education of basic skills to enable girls to transition into the formal education system, while the NFE programme aimed to equip girls with the skills – both hard and soft – needed to pursue livelihoods, though some NFE girls also transition to the formal education system. These initial groups – whom we collectively refer to as Cohort 1 (C1) or the baseline cohort – were first recruited at BL in 2019, and were funded by the UK’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) fund.
Two further cohorts, funded by USAID, were later introduced. Cohort 4, or C4, NFE girls were introduced into the study at ML1, while Cohort 5, or C5, NFE girls were introduced to the study at ML2. As such, unlike the C1 girls, we take the ML1 and ML2 evaluation rounds as the cohort-specific baselines for C4 and C5 NFE girls, respectively, and compare changes in main and intermediate outcomes from those rounds to EL. The USAID expansion of the NFE programming also meant the C4 and C5 Read More...

EDUCATION SECTOR PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION GRANT (ESPIG) Endline Report

Global evidence has shown that the type and quality of education can either fuel marginalization, alienation, poverty and vulnerability of children and young people or strengthen societal resilience. After the fall of the state in 1991 and the outbreak of conflict, the education system in Somalia remains fragmented and underfunded – with only 0.25 percent of Somalia’s GDP invested in the education system. Significant barriers to accessing quality education in Somalia include minimal capacity to provide in-teacher training; insufficient salaries for educators; high student to teacher ratio; low ratio of textbooks to students; inadequate school infrastructure (e.g., gender appropriate WASH facilities or access to electricity); marginalization of pastoralist communities and minority clans; and an inability to appropriately accommodate students with disabilities.
In response the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MOECHE) of the Government of Somalia and CARE have implemented the Education Sector Program Implementation Grant (ESPIG) funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Aligned with the Federal Government of Somalia’s Education Sector Plan 2018-2020 (ESSP), the overall objective of ESPIG is to increase access to quality education for out of school children; enhance the quality of primary education; and improve the capacity of the Ministries of Education (MOEs) at the Federal Member State (FMS) and district level to regulate and better manage the education sector.
This endline evaluation aimed to assess the extent to which the stated objectives and ESPIG components were achieved (or not) during the course of the project. This study also aimed to identify and explore the factors affecting the achievement of the ESPIG outcomes. For instance, it sought to identify factors affecting access to primary education, as well as the quality of teaching. The findings and recommendations aim to inform adaptations to future GPE investments in system strengthening in Somalia as well as the proposed methodology for their implementation. Read More...

ELLA ALIMENTA AL MUNDO – PERÚ-Informe Final de Evaluación

CARE PERÚ, desde abril 2019 a diciembre 2022 implementa el proyecto “Ella Alimenta al Mundo”- EAM (SFtW - She Feeds the World - por sus siglas en inglés), programa lanzado en varios países por la Fundación PepsiCo a través de CARE USA. El propósito del proyecto ha sido reducir la desnutrición crónica y la anemia en niñas y niños menores de 5 años e incrementar los ingresos de 4,000 familias pobres que residen en 4 distritos priorizados, correspondiente a las provincias de Lima, Ica y Sullana con enfoque de género. El grupo objetivo son niñas y niños menores de 5 años y mujeres gestantes. Read More...

Adolescent Girls’ Education in Somalia (AGES) Midline evaluation

Original Baseline Cohorts
Learning outcomes among the original baseline cohorts are mixed. The FE and ABE cohorts showed substantial learning gains at ML1 and continue to perform above their baseline levels, but have experienced significant backsliding in both literacy and numeracy since ML1. This learning loss is concerning, and is coupled with a failure, even at ML1, to meet the learning benchmarks established at baseline.1 C1 NFE girls, on the other hand, have shown no learning improvements since baseline on either literacy or numeracy, in either the ML1 or ML2 rounds.
Learning gains among FE girls include an increase in literacy of 20.5 points since baseline, compared to an expected (benchmarked) achievement of 29.7 points. This cohort came closer to meeting the numeracy targets, gaining 15.3 points since baseline, compared to an expected improvement of 18.5 points. ABE girls have also failed to meet their benchmarks, but by larger margins, falling short of the literacy and numeracy benchmarks by 15.4 points and 11.5 points, respectively.
An important caveat when assessing learning outcomes concerns differential exposure to schooling among the cohorts. Girls who remained enrolled in FE consistently improved considerably, but the cohort’s overall scores are reduced by the number of girls who dropped out over time; the same is true of ABE and NFE girls.2 While even consistent attenders generally failed to meet improvement benchmarks, these differential gains underscore the importance of continuous enrolment to achieving the programme’s learning goals.
C4 NFE Cohort
Improving learning outcomes—numeracy and Somali literacy—are at the centre of the AGES programme’s goals. C4 NFE girls were enrolled before ML1 and completed the 10-month NFE programme. At the ML2 evaluation point, in the aggregate, we find that both numeracy and literacy scores improved significantly from a low base set of scores at ML1. The C4 NFE girls improved their average numeracy scores from 21.1 points to 49.6 points, and average literacy scores increased by 18.3 points to 34.9 points.
Examining changes in learning outcomes by region, C4 NFE girls in Banadir, Lower Shabelle, and Middle Shabelle improved their numeracy scores from 24.6 to 28.2 points on average while in Bay C4 NFE girls only improved by 2.3 points on average. With regard to literacy scores, C4 NFE girls in Banadir and Lower Shabelle improved their literacy scores 23.2 and 24.9 points, respectively, while scores in Bay stagnated with only a 1.8 point increase. Girls from Bay scored significantly higher than girls from all other regions at ML1, but by ML2 the numeracy and literacy gains were minimal and not statistically significant. Read More...

Análisis Rápido de Género – ARG / Honduras, 2021. Desafíos para las mujeres y niñas ante una sostenida crisis sanitaria y ambiental.

El 2020, como resultado de los efectos de las crisis sanitaria y ambiental, se caracterizó por evidenciar y profundizar las deficiencias y limitaciones que
enfrenta Honduras en lo relacionado con: las brechas estructurales preexistentes y sus consecuencias en términos de seguridad y desigualdad, especialmente la profundización en la desigualdad de género; las carencias y debilidades de los sistemas de servicios esenciales a nivel sanitario y de protección social; las debilidades del sistema productivo - empresarial y la fragilidad de los procesos económicos del país; y las debilidades existentes en aspectos relacionadas con la infraestructura, las estrategias para la gestión de riesgos y la capacidad de respuesta ante fenómenos naturales.

Esto ha provocado un estancamiento o retroceso en aspectos relacionados con el acceso a medios de vida, a derechos económicos y sociales, y a derechos humanos fundamentales. Sin embargo, se debe subrayar que aunque ambas crisis afectaron directa o indirectamente a toda la población hondureña, su impacto es evidentemente desigual ya que resultó mayormente adverso para los grupos y la población más vulnerable, especialmente las mujeres y niñas. En consecuencia, han empeorado las condiciones y calidad de vida de la población subsistiendo en situación de pobreza o expuesta a alguna condición de riesgo ya sea física, psicológica, social, ambiental, económica o estructural. Esto preocupa en particular si adicionalmente se considera que Honduras está catalogado como uno de los países con mayor desigualdad en el área latinoamericana. El ARG buscó proporcionar recomendaciones prácticas para diseñar estrategias que permitan brindar una respuesta diferenciada a las principales necesidades y brechas humanitarias identificadas, y permitió identificar aquellos factores afectados por ambas crisis y que inciden negativamente en la protección a los derechos humanos fundamentales y en la calidad de vida de los grupos más vulnerables del país. Read More...

Every Voice Counts Programme

In 2020 after COVID 19 restrictions were relaxed, a CSC Meeting in October 2020 was organized at District Mirpurkhas and Umerkot with community and government departments to discuss gender related issues and to review and develop action plans regarding the inclusiveness of communities in government level decision making. It also worked on getting the District Gender Forums activated in Districts Mirpurkhas and Umerkot for effective district public authorities and community representatives, participation included local government, district administration, police, health and education department endorsed that they will continue this forum with the support of Social Welfare Department and other civil society organizations. The civil society organization showed their interest to continue Gender Forum activities in Mirpurkhas and Umerkot against Child Marriages and Domestic Violence.

Two trainings of Union Council Secretaries of both Districts have been conducted during this reporting month, on the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013, the mandate of the local government department and the role of the union council secretaries to register marriages, births, nikkahs and nikkah registrar and pundits as per the laws. More than 90 union council secretaries of both district actively participated in the trainings. Regional Director and Additional Directors of Umerkot and Mirpurkhas concluded the training and distributed the certificates among the participants in a closing ceremony. [13 pages] Read More...

Regional project FAIR III “ For Active Inclusion & Rights of Roma Women in the Western Balkans III”

This intervention builds on extensive CARE’s expertise and experience in facilitating process related to women’s empowerment and gender equality across the globe and in the Balkan region. It also intends to scale up approaches and models that have proven successful over the last six years of the FAIR projects’ implementation (FAIR and FAIR II). The project seeks to empower Roma women and girls to be free and able to exercise their rights to live a healthy, dignified life free from violence, inequality and discrimination with support from their partners, families and communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. This will be accomplished through four output level results that need to be met for the longer-term changes to happen, they are inter-connected and mutually reinforcing since only in that way the outcome can be accomplished.

The first one (Output 1) refers to the enhanced capacities of Roma CSOs, youth and key community actors to practice and promote gender equitable, healthy and non-violent lifestyle with help of tested models and approaches. Under the second expected result (Output 2) Improved access to and provision of services for Roma, Egyptian (RE) women and girls (in particular on SRMH, GBV and Education) will be ensured through strengthening of the Roma CSOs and the existing participatory accountability community mechanisms. Output 3will enable three national-level Roma women networks to be active and contribute to the effective functioning of the regional Roma Women Balkans Network and its enhanced efforts towards Post 2020 EU Roma Integration Agenda. In the last expected result (Output 4), Roma women and girls, CSOs and Networks are part of the regional and global social movement initiatives promoting and advocating for gender equality and (minority) women’s rights. The project will directly target 26,150 people in total –aiming at 85% Roma and over 60% women and girls. Data collection under this project will be disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity, whenever possible. Over20,000 people are expected to be reached in the three target countries through a series of promotional activities. Final Beneficiaries will include about 78,000 people in the 3 target countries based on the assumption that each target group person will reach out to at least 3 persons in his/her direct environment. [13 pages] Read More...

Endline Evaluation of Udaan II: Catching the Missed Opportunity

Udaan II “Catching the Missed Opportunity” Project, funded by OPEC, is one of the most important initiatives for girls’ education and economic prosperity. As an instrument to women and girls’ empowerment through transforming harmful social norms, building life skills and advocating related policy reforms; the Project was operated for 3 years (November 2017 to October 2020). The project was focused on out of school girls (10 to 14 year old) from marginalized and socially excluded communities and have never been to school or dropped out in their primary education for delivering an accelerated learning approach. This project was implemented by Care Nepal in Krishannagar Rural Municipality, Kapilvastu Municipality and Maharajgunj Rural Municipality of Kapilbastu district in cooperation with its local partner Siddhartha Social Development Centre (SSDC).

The objective of the evaluation study was to measure both, the intended and unintended outcomes and impact of the project against the targeted results.

The evaluation study followed both the qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection. The focus group discussion, in-depth interview, and key informant interviews were the methods for field data collection. The data collected were analyzed and presented in tables, figures, and themes. [58 pages] Read More...

Endline Evaluation of Haushala Initiative of LEAD Program

Care Nepal has been implementing Haushala project which was designed to strengthen girls’ agency along with education outcomes, economic empowerment and adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) practices, hence helping to build sustainable change, including through creating a safer and more secure learning environment, facilitating social networks and gradually transforming traditional social norms with a negative impact on girls. The project also aimed to improve accountability and gender responsiveness of service providers for improved learning for girls.

During the evaluation both qualitative and quantitative data were collected using questionnaires, FGD and KII checklist for girls, parents, head teachers, cooperatives and school management committee. The data collection faced few limitations arising from COVID-19 which limited the logistical flexibility of the project along with created greater ethical consideration regarding health of the enumerators.

Girls reported that they perceived high parental support in their studies but this perception decreased with age. Parents and Girls both credit UALC and its program for aiding them and their children to attend formal schools. Parents were highly motivated by UALC and its stakeholders to help their daughter(s) to join formal education. However, it was also observed that the effort put by stakeholders such as schools and social mobilisers on influencing the parents who did not enroll their daughter(s) in formal school after UALC was not enough. But, as the transition was already very high and parents who did not send their daughter(s) for the first time were not that willing to re-enroll. Hence, the project can be deemed a success to certain point. [151 pages] Read More...

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