Addressing school failure through data systems, policy analysis, and early prevention tools. An encouraging pathway for girls’ education in sub-Saharan Africa

• In Event: Empowering change through sound evidence: insights from collaborative, gender-centred applied education research in sub-Saharan Africa

Proposal

With the highest out-of-school population and widespread learning poverty, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the region bearing the greatest burden of school failure in the world. Recognizing that school failure is a gradual process, early detection and preventive action become crucial in tackling the issue.

Crises such as Ebola and more recently COVID-19, which impact students’ school engagement and learning trajectories, bring a new impetus to the need for innovative data systems, policies, and monitoring tools to minimise school dropout.

Building upon groundwork in Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone, extrapolated to LMICs in the region and beyond, this project aims to generate and mobilize evidence to scale the impact of a proven-effective and innovative approach, Early Warning Systems (EWS), to ensure the inclusion of vulnerable populations, particularly girls, in education.

Generating and mobilizing this research aims to support Ministries of Education and other national stakeholders in laying the groundwork for adapting Early Warning Systems (data and policy tools) adapted to their context and developing targeted strategies to help at-risk students engage effectively in learning activities and prevent them from dropping out.

The research covers three top questions: how is school failure characterized, what are the most relevant factors associated, and what are the profiles of the at-risk priority learners, particularly girls? To what extent are education systems prepared for the implementation of EWS and what interventions have the highest potential? What is needed to strengthen education systems, policy tools, and response mechanisms for early identification and prevention in SSA?

Key outcomes encompass: improved knowledge and enriched data-driven understanding of the process and factors behind school failure in SSA; strengthened data systems and policy tools to enable the identification and prevention of school failure; evidence-based interventions intentionally designed to reduce school failure and improve education among at-risk learners; and expanded school failure related toolkits for conceptualization, measurement, and modelling purposes.

The project follows a co-production design with local and national stakeholders and uses mixed methods analytical tools and fieldwork will be the basis of the strategy.

The activities described above will lead to the formulation of a series of actionable policy recommendations, prototypes, mechanisms, and tools (roadmaps, budgeted action plans, etc.) for the successful implementation of EWS in Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique and Sierra Leone, targeted and evidence-based strategies for the effective prevention of school failure in these countries, thereby supporting at-risk populations, particularly girls, to thrive on education and learning.

The presentation will focus on the preliminary results of the research activities in the three target countries with emphasis on the characterization of school failure, particularly of girls in each context, and the evaluation of the policy framework around the issue. Results extrapolated to other LMICs in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond will also be presented.

Authors

• Tuamanaia Foimapafisi, PDK UNESCO IIEP

• Carolina Alban, UNESCO IIEP