Girls Empowerment through Improving Education: A Study on Effectiveness of EGE Model

• In Event: Power and culture: studying the frontiers of educational change and cultural reproduction

Proposal

Girls Empowerment through Improving Education: A Study on Effectiveness of EGE Model
Shahin Islam and Md. Shahinujjaman
shahin.islam@savethechildren.org1 and md.shahinujjaman@savethechildren.org2
Abstract:
Nowadays quality basic education with relevant competencies and 21st-century skills are the two significant concerns around the globe, and Bangladesh is still far behind in this regard. The National Student Assessment (NSAs) demonstrated that primary school students are at very poor levels considering their literacy and numeracy skills. On the other hand, the Sustainable Development Goals-4 (SDG4) emphasizes the need to focus on education quality to ensure relevant, equitable, and effective learning outcomes at all levels and in all settings. SDG4 also focuses on the quality education necessitates at a minimum and the development of foundational literacy and numeracy skills as building blocks for further learning, as well as higher-order skills.
Empowering Girls through Education (EGE) project, designed by Save the Children and funded by Hempel Foundation is being implemented to address the challenges of the transition of girl students from primary school to secondary school. The project aims to support 10,251 girl students of grade IV and V in 120 government primary schools from Rajarhat (under Kurigram district) and Madarganj (under Jamalpur district) sub-districts in Bangladesh. The project introduces interactive, and child-friendly e-contents developed by Save the Children and BRAC in consultation with the government’s relevant department accessible via tablets and connect rural students with urban students through Skype so that they can share ideas, enhance competencies in Bangla, English, and Mathematics, and improve their 21st-century skills. In addition, parents, communities, and local governments are sensitized to the advantages of girls’ education and the disadvantages of early marriage.

In December 2021 a study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the EGE model to improve learning competencies in Bangla, English, and Mathematics for grade IV and V girls which is supporting a successful transition from primary to secondary level. The convergent parallel mixed-methods design comprising both qualitative and quantitative approaches has been employed to conduct this effectiveness study. As demanded by the research questions, numerous techniques are required for collecting data and evidence from heterogeneous stakeholders, girl students of grades IV and V, parents/caregivers, teachers of government primary schools, and education officials of Upazila education office and a2i, and so on, to fully understand the effectiveness of the EGE model. The total sample size was 450, considering alpha=0.05 (two-sided) and power=0.80. Initially, a total of 40 intervention schools from the intervention areas have been chosen randomly (20 from Madarganj and 20 from Rajarhat) and then about 5 to 6 girl students have also been selected randomly from each of Grade IV and Grade V using the sampling frame. In order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the project, heterogeneous stakeholders have also been considered for collecting qualitative information.

Study findings stated Grade IV and V girls performed significantly higher during the effectiveness study in compared to their performance during baseline in all the three major subjects at a 95% confidence level (p<0.05). Grade IV girls performed significantly better during the effectiveness study in comparison to their performance during baseline in Bangla, English, and Mathematics at a 95% confidence level. Specifically, girls’ score has increased (out of 100) to 42.2 in Bangla, 67.4 in Mathematics, and 48.7 in English. Similarly, grade V girls performed significantly better during the effectiveness study compared to their performance during baseline in 2019 in all the three subjects mentioned above at a 95% confidence level. In tests with a maximum possible score of 100, girls’ average score has increased to 24.8 in Bangla, 62.7 in Mathematics, and 36.6 in English.


Another change that prevailed from the study is that for both grade IV and V girls, the difference in their competency level between the sub-districts (Madarganj and Rajarhat) has reduced considering all three subjects. This difference was much higher during the baseline conducted in 2019. This indicates discrimination among girls’ achieved competencies has decreased and their performance has uniformly improved as an impact of the interventions of the project.

As effectiveness of the EGE model Learning Management System (LMS) system is a customized platform for its learners and users. It contains the e-contents based on NCTB books, supporting learning videos, 21st-century skills videos, quizzes, and assessment options for both facilitators and learners. EGE LMS system is now well accepted by children, Education Facilitators (EF), and other stakeholders. The videos are more attractive to the children so the LMS has become a highly acceptable and enjoyable platform for children to learn. The EGE EF has also accepted the teaching process by using ICT.

Most of the girls from rural areas could not receive alternate learning supports provided by the government through Sanshad TV during the prolonged school closure for COVID-19. Hence, EGE Home-Based Education Session (HES) was the only face-to-face support they received to continue their education. It also reduced the digital divide of learning between urban and rural children. HES helped girls for their learning continuation, and eventually, minimized learning gaps for them. Small groups helped girls to use tablets individually with more contact time. Girls from both rural and urban schools are very satisfied with the skype calls. Their eagerness to participate in the sessions reflects their acceptance of the activity. Their parents and teachers also appreciated it as this creates an opportunity for their children to learn new information and skills.

Lessons learned to reflect ICT-based education support through LMS, tablets, and e-contents can actually work for the enhancement of the learning competency of children even from rural areas. In case of any pandemic situation like COVID-19, if health and hygiene protocols are maintained then learning sessions with small groups of children are possible at children’s houses/courtyards to continuing education support. As EGE LMS and e-MIS systems are innovative ways of teaching-learning as well as data management of project activities, this needed degradation, and modification several times based on the project requirement and users’ feedback.
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Key Words: Competencies, LMS, Effectiveness

Author

• Shahin Islam, Save the Children