Girls Education Challenge Fund (GEC) for improving outcomes for marginalized girls

• In Event: Addressing marginalization in Ethiopian education: relationship between language transition, social, economical, physical and personal barriers with student performance and policy

Proposal

The Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) was launched by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) in 2012 to improve the learning outcomes of millions of marginalised girls across the world who have been denied a quality education. To date 37 organisations, including LINK in Ethiopia, have received funding to implement a diverse range of projects all aimed at boosting literacy and numeracy, improving attendance and retention, and influencing the educational environment so that many other children benefit in the future. Lead organisations have ranged from community based networks to international NGOs to multinational companies.
The evaluation of the first phase of the GEC (2012-2017) championed a robust and through quasi-experimental approach to understanding the literacy and numeracy outcomes for cohorts of girls that were supported by each project. Appropriate Comparison groups were identified to enable the evaluation understand the 'additional' impact of GEC-funded interventions over-and-above what would have otherwise occurred.
The new phase of the GEC comprises two new windows: GEC Transition and Leave No Girl Behind. The Transition window supports DFID’s commitment to ensuring 12 years of quality education for all children by continuing to work with the 1 million girls supported since 2012 as they transition to the next stage of their education. There is a similarly robust approach to evaluation. Projects work in both formal and non-formal sectors implementing a broad range of interventions including teacher development and school improvement; educational technology and distance learning; community engagement; and financial support to girls, their families and their schools. The Leave No Girl Behind programme reaches beyond the scope of conventional education strategies to engage out-of-school adolescent girls with new learning opportunities. A set of bespoke, innovative initiatives will support girls onto vocational and educational pathways, and enable them to gain sustainable skills including literacy and numeracy. Three projects in Ethiopia are being supported by the GEC Phase II.
We will reflect on how DFID, LINK and other GEC partners have used evidence from Ethiopia to engage in policy dialogues at the regional and national level to inform educational policy, curriculum development and inclusion of marginalized girls. We will then turn to DFID and LINK’s expectations of the new phase of the GEC and how we intend to use evidence gathered to further inform policy.
We will explore and refer to evidence from the GEC Phase II in Ethiopia and more widely to discuss the meaning of marginalisation, the effects and impact of different interventions in specific contexts, including for girls with disabilities and those affected by conflict, crisis and uncertainty.

Author

• Amy Parker, Relief International