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Numeracy outcomes, financial literacy and entrepreneurship: A multi-country analysis

Wed, March 28, 5:00 to 6:30pm, Museo de Arte Popular, Floor: 1st Floor, Manitas 1

Proposal

The development of reading skills was widely embraced by donors such as USAID (USAID, 2011-2015 Education Strategy) and emerged as a key component of large scale education interventions implemented during the last decade. In contrast, numeracy had far less visibility within development programming, as well as on national strategic education plans and policy development. The recent results of a global initiative aiming at improving literacy and numeracy skills among marginalized girls indicated that gains on numeracy were far more limited than on literacy, while also pointing out that the lack of teaching focus on numeracy and the limited confidence to teach content are potential causes behind such results (Coffey, Midline Evaluation Report, Step Change Window, March 2017).

This paper will discuss recent findings from projects implemented in rural and remote areas of Somalia and Nepal, which indicate that extremely marginalized students are severely lagging behind in numeracy skills development. The paper will also explore the process of developing local solutions to change approaches to numeracy teaching, and the connections between numeracy, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Results from a longitudinal study in Somalia tracking grade performance indicated statistically significant improvements in the acquisition of addition (17 percentage points increase in the average grade score) and subtraction (12 percentage points increase) among Grade 1-5 students. On the other hand, no progress was observed on the acquisition of multiplication and division. The average score for single-digit multiplication for students in Grades 4-5 was only 55 percent, while the average score for single-digit division was 42 percent. Considering that at least 33% of the girls and 20% of the boys are likely to drop out after Grade 5, these results mean that a large number of adolescents will remain partially innumerate. In a context where traditional pastoral livelihoods are heavily affected by climate change and conflicts for water and land, small businesses are increasingly the only option for older adolescents and youth; the lack of basic numeracy skills is expected to severely affect their capacity for self-employment. On the other hand, adequate numeracy skills could represent a breakthrough for older adolescents, enabling them to contribute to family businesses and to diversify livelihoods. This is particularly true in the case of adolescent girls; women are increasingly leading small businesses in Somalia (60% of the owners of small businesses are women - UNDP, The Role of Somali Women in the Private Sector, 2014), but their limited skills – on literacy, numeracy and management - remain a major barrier for expansion and empowerment.

In Nepal, a study conducted with out of school girls in extremely marginalized rural areas indicated that while 49 percent of them had completed Grade 5 or above, only 2.4 percent could perform basic subtraction, and none could perform single-digit division. In contrast, 31 percent could read. Again, the findings highlight the fact that a large cohort of students are not acquiring basic numeracy skills at primary level. The lack of basic numeracy skills represents a major barrier for the development of alternative livelihoods; this is a particularly important factor in the case of older adolescent girls, for whom the capacity to engage successfully in self-employment is a key factor in delaying marriage (CARE, Tipping Point Study Summary, 2015).

In Somalia, a locally developed approach – a “Numeracy Boost” - is being used with teachers and education officials to modify traditional ways of teaching numeracy, developing students’ logical thinking and avoiding rote learning. The “Numeracy Boost” uses an iterative approach to change teaching practices, using a sequence of coaching visits, building local supervisory capacity at the district education offices and supporting teachers to identify sub-groups of struggling students, as well as the specific topics they are struggling with. The “Numeracy Boost” is synchronized with activities focused on financial literacy and adolescent savings, therefore bridging academic knowledge and practical application of skills for self-employment. In a similar manner, a local solution is being implemented in Nepal, using a structured process to identify teachers’ skill gaps in numeracy; engaging teachers in self-reflective practice to identify struggling students and challenging topics; and working with partner communities to link economic empowerment activities with adults and adolescents to the development of numeracy skills. The results emerging from these approaches can inform the broader dialogue on numeracy development, providing examples of effective, adaptive and sustainable approaches that (a) are informed directly by experience on the ground, and (b) are directly connecting educational and economic development programming.

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