Untapping the potential of marginalised rural parents as ECD activists

• In Event: Roundtable Group 9
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Parent-teacher engagment in rural contexts

Proposal

The Lively Minds' innovative community-run ECD programme is being delivered at scale in over 3000 communities across Ghana and Uganda, through local government. The programme involves training and empowering 3-40 marginalised rural parents per community (93% of whom are illiterate and did not complete primary) to run free complementary educational Play Schemes for their communities' pre-schoolers to support them to learn and develop through play. The programme is delivered through government using a train the trainer approach. It has not only been proven through rigorous RCT to enhance the school-readiness of children, but it also has multiple positive outcomes for the parents. It empowers them to become change-makers and activists in their communities and to hold government to account for providing greater ECD services. It also strengthens community-school and community-local government relations, to enhance collaboration in solving challenges.

Author

• Sheena Lahren, Lively Minds