15 Bai Burreh Road, Kissy Freetown

TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE EVERYWHERE (TYPE)

15 Bai Burreh Road, Kissy Freetown

Sierra Leone, West Africa

Email:

Web Site:

Mobile phone: +232.25.333553/ +232.78.248008

Section One: Project Title:The Girls’ Education Challenge Proposal

Organisation details:

Lead organisation
Organisations name / Talented Young People Everywhere (TYPE)
Organisations Type / Local Non-Governmental Organisation
Organisations Address / 15 Bai Burreh Road, Kissy Freetown
Name of the contact person / Ibrahim H. K. Shaid
Job title of the contact person / Executive Director
Mobile phone number / +232.78.248008/+232.77.434983
Email address /
Registration numbers / Yo-000059(National Youth Commission )
Vo-/323 (MSWGCE- Social Welfare
SL-006 (CSCF)
450-MAF/08 (PLDC)
Key personnel identification
Key partner organisation / Primary and Junior Secondary Schools
Section 2: Project summary details
Project Title: / Supporting Marginalised Girls in Sierra Leone to complete Basic Education with improved learning outcomes
GEC funding requested ($) / 100,000See attached Budget.
Organisation/consortium contribution ($ and in kind) (if any / 25000 AlsoSee attached Budget.
Project start-date / September 2014
Project end-date / December2017
Project country / Sierra Leone
Project will be focus on: / 10 primary education
5 Lower secondary education

Section Two: Project summary details

Project title / Supporting Marginalised Girls in Sierra Leone to Complete Basic Education with Improved Learning Outcomes
GEC funding requested ($) / 100,000
Project start-date / September 2014
Project end-date / December 2018
Project country focus / Sierra Leone
Project will be focused on: / 10 Primary education
5 Lower Secondary education

1. This proposal is design to emphasize support for girls at JSS and primary schools, the project will support more bursaries at JSS to better target the most marginalized girls. Bursaries will support either JSS tuition or 1years of education through the transition from Primary to JSS. The composition of expected beneficiaries will focus on more out-of-school girls as they are anticipated to enroll in school but fewer Children with Disabilities are forecast to enter school. Finally, Parents Advocacy Clubs, the Child-Friendly Scorecard approach and code of conduct training will be targeted more especially at JSS given the widening gender disparities at this stage of schooling.

1. : Project summary: In collaboration with the ministry of education, science and technology (MEST) the targeted communities, this project will support 1,000 marginalised girls at risk of dropping out of Basic Education in three rural districts of Sierra Leone to access education and stay in school with improved learning outcomes. It will also seek to improved learning, retention and attendance for 1,000 girls and 2,000 boys currently enrolled at targeted schools.

The project seeks to improve life changes for marginalised girls through:

1. Increasing Access and Retention in grades 5 and 6 of Primary School and grades 7, 8 and 9 of Junior Secondary School, and of children with disabilities in Primary Schools.
2. Strengthening girls learning in grades 5 and 6 of Primary School and JSS.
3. Ensuring that girls are learning in an inclusive environment and protected from harm
4. Ensuring girls’ voices and needs are listened to and responded to and that girls participate in decision-making concerning their education

The project target 1,000 of the most marginalised girlsIn 5 Junior Secondary School (JSS) and 10 PrimarySchools. The project will reach 0.1% of all JSS in SierraLeone and covers 38.5% of Freetownand Bo district focusing on rural areas. TheseRural districts have extremely poor Gender Parity inEnrolment at JSS level, with girl to boy enrolment ratios Ranging from 0.57 to 0.75 below the national average of0.85 (2010/11 school census). Recognising that girls (andBoys)with disabilitiesin rural face even greater Disadvantages. Disability will be mainstreamed and theProject will specifically target children with disabilities,for whom enrolment in Primary is likely to be mostappropriate.

The project will specifically target

• 400 girls in grades 5 and 6 of Primary and at risk of dropping out to complete primary and transition to JSS.
• 300 girls in JSS at risk of dropping out to complete JSS.
• 150 out of school girls who dropped out in grades 5 and 8 of Primary or are of JSS age to re-enrol in primary or JSS and stay in school.
• 50 Girls with Disabilities to enrol and stay in school
• Improved learning, retention and attention for the 1,000 girls and 2,000 boys speculated to be currently enrolled at targeted schools.

The project willadopt an integrated, holistic approach in addressing the multiple, interrelated barriers marginalised girls facein completing quality basic education. It will raisedemand for girls’ educationthrough targeted financial incentives to the poorest girls and child-ledcommunity awareness,strengthens learningin andafter school through in-service teacher training, mentoring and girls’ study groups, provides female role models in schools and peer support mechanisms for girls,strengthens mechanisms to protect girls from Gender-Based Violence and works with children’s’and parents’ clubs to identify and advocate for girls’ access to school and needs in school. Thepackage of interventions involves tested methodologies of whichschools,through the Ministry of Education Science and Technology and from other past projectsubstantial delivery experience. Theinterventions selected are endorsed by the Ministry of Education, scalable and represent good value for money.

In partnership with MEST, the project will be implemented in line with MEST and other similar project in Sierra Leone model for supporting women to enter teaching in the upper grades of primary whilst assigning them as classroom Learning Assistants to support girls in grades 5 and 6. In partnership with a qualified consultant, the project scales up the Community Based Rehabilitation approach to identify and support Children with Disabilities (CWD) to access school. The project scales up the Girl and Boy Friendly School Scorecard approach to monitor school performance and accountability at JSS level.

Section Three: Overall approach/Theory of Change

Despite substantial political, socialand economic development since the end of the civil war, humandevelopment indicators rank Sierra Leone 180 out of 187 countries (UNDP 2011). Womenexperience greater poverty than men: 74% live on less than 50 pence a day, relativeto 54% ofmen.Women’s lowsocio-economic status in a highly patriarchal society andtheir unequal access to services, such as education, means they can’t lift themselves out of the vicious cycleof poverty, theirlackof education is both a cause and a consequenceof povertyGirls aremarginalised from and ineducation in Sierra Leone due to multitude and interrelated supply anddemand-side factors withbarriers to access and retention acting at the school, community and systemic levels.

Barriers at school level:At present,50% of primary and 10% ofsecondary teachers in schools areunqualified and there are few female teachers (16%at primary,8% atsecondary in five targetdistricts relative to 25% &14% nationally, ESR, 2011).The lackof femaleteachershas a negativeimpact on girls’ attendance and learning in school and reinforces low aspirationsand confidence(Postles forthcoming, Camfed 2011). Many teachers feel they have limitedcapacityto identify andrespond to specific learning needs of the most marginalisedgirls andCWD (HI Scoping Visit2010).Teachers often give more attention toboys within the classroom, asking them more questions.Andgirls’ learning is further hampered by teachers’ lowexpectations of their intellectual skills(PPAbaseline). Girls’(and boys) learningis also hindered bya lack ofteachingand learning resourcesandreduced learning time in school: manyschools run a double-shift system and rates of teacherabsenteeismare reported as a problem by 5.1% of households(TI 2010). School-based gender-based violence (GBV) including corporal punishment sex for grades, and sexual harassment andabuseis widespread in schools and is one of the main factor keeping girls out of school (PPAbaseline) Teachers are the main perpetrators of sexual abuse against girlsin schools and there arelow levels of abuse reporting (National Study2010).

Barriers at community level: Many of thebarriers atschool persist, inpart, dueto community attitudes and behaviourthat promote unequal gender relations (WB SierraLeone Strategic CountryGender Assessment) such as high levels ofcommunity acceptance of GBV and transactional sex(PPA baseline). This is interrelated with issues of earlypregnancy (32.2%of 15-19 year old femaleshavebegun child-bearing) and early marriage (23% of 15-19 year olds are currently married, 8%before they were 15, MICS4). Girls lack knowledge on their SRHR and how to negotiate sexualrelationships and havelimited access toSRHR services (PPA baseline). At adolescence, thepressures of poverty, discrimination and prevailing gender norms see girls retreat to the domesticsphere; girls attending school spend more time than boys on domestic chores, leaving less time for study in the evenings. Furthermore, more value is placed on boys’ education and many parentsfeel it is more important for a boy to finish JSS than for a girl (PPA baseline). For girls with disabilities,discrimination,stigmatization, low expectations and low value attached to their education, addotherlayers of disadvantagesfor this group. Poverty is a primary barrier to girls’ access and retention.Only14% of girls from the poorest quintile attend JSS relative to 55% from the richest (MICS4).There are hidden and opportunity costs of education. The partial fee waiverreimbursement at JSSlevelhinders enrolment because parents, who place lower priority on theirgirls’ education, must payfeesupfront.

Barriers at systemic level: Women and girls are marginalisedfrom decision-making inSierraLeone (WB SCGA) and this is alsotrue withinthe education system; there are few spaces for girls toraiseissues of concern. In addition thereare weakreportingand disciplinary systems inplaceandgirls lack the skills, confidence andmechanisms to hold school and district authorities toaccount for their rights to education, protection, participation andRHR (PPA baseline, 2011).

The action/project will targets those girls who are least likely to complete basic education, focusing on upper Primary and JSS where large number of girls drop out of school. It will lay emphasis on adolescence as the transitional stage when prevailing gender roles becomes entrenched, this is the stage when girls are most vulnerable to early pregnancy and early marriage and become confined to a life in the domestic sphere with restricted life chances. While the majority of the children now start the primary school, significant challenges remain for girls’ enrolment and retention in higher Primary. The high drop-out rates in grades 4-6 have been identify in this stage proven by research. For those girls that complete grade 6, their NPSE pass rate is slightly lower than boys at 73% (ESR 2010/2011). Gender disparity rises substantially at the point of transition to JSS and through JSS. Only 27% of girls of JSS age are in secondary school, with 41% still in primary and 31% out-of-school (MISC4).

Barriers to girls’ education rise at JSS, the cost of education, opportunity cost and distance to schools all affect girls more than boys. BECE (year 9 of completion exams) pass rates are much lower for girls at 39% relative to 47% (ESR). As this is a gateway exam, it is a major barrier for girls’ transition to Senior Secondary School (SSS). The project action will therefore target girls of JSS age in upper primary school, who have recently drop-out-of-school, and aim to secure a transition to, and retention in JSS.

While this project identify gender as a key driver of disadvantage in Sierra Leone, there are also other factors that influence marginalisation in education this include poverty, living in rural areas and being disabled, and those who face the biggest challenge are often deprived in more than one way. While the core intervention of this project will focus on poor rural girls, within this group, girls with disabilities are more marginalised with 76% estimated to be out of school (ACPF 2011) due to discrimination, stigma and a lack of inclusive education opportunities, adequately trained teachers or accessible facilities. Because disability is a strong factor for disadvantage in education in improvised rural areas and because the C approach would also identify disabled boys, the project proposed that disabled boys are also targeted for direct support in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability (2006). The CBR approach will involve the whole community to foster educational inclusion. Disability will be mainstreamed through all project interventions and accessibility needs in terms of materials, communication and venue selection would be relevant. It is also assumed that children with disability (CWD) are even likely to reach the end of Primary School and make the transition to JSS, and therefore most of the direct support for disables children with focus on their enrolling/re-enrolling in Primary.

The project will target the rural part of Freetown and Bo with the Lowest Gender Parity in enrolment at JSS level and will reach 77% of JSS in these districts. The majority of Primary and JSS in the three districts will be government owned or assisted schools and only 3% are private (relative to 39% nationally) (ESR 2010/2011). There are some non-formal education opportunities such as literacy and life skills programmes, but these are disparate and under-resourced. Special schools exist at primary level, mainly in the capital of Freetown, but cannot meet the demand. There are very few qualified teachers available to work with CWD and no teacher training courses specialising in special needs education 2010/2011).

Section Four:INTERVENTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN PLANNED TO OVERCOME THESE BARRIERS AND SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

The project recognise that a holistic and multi-level approach at all level is required to affect transformative and sustainable changes for girls, will act to reduce barriers at all levels:

Community Level:Attitudes to the value of girls’ education, violence, and gender equality will be challenged through schools and community child led advocacy clubs and parents’ advocacy clubs. The CBR approach is a recognise effective way/tools of getting out-of-school CWD into school (WHO 2011). Their enrolment facilities and their wider social inclusion and adjustment , facilities acceptance by peers and staff and encourages the schools to take responsibility for inclusion of all children with admittance becoming the norm rather than the exception (Dijkers et al 2000). To support changing attitudes, men and boys will be included at every level of the project, they will be directly engaged through children’s and parent’s clubs and the majority of teachers receiving GRP training will be men. It will be vital that men and boys are involved in discussion on gender norms if negative behaviours are to be challenge and meaningful change effected. Finally, targeted materials and financial support will reduce financial barriers for the most marginalised and raise effective demand for girls’ education, drawing on substantial evidence that well-targeted subsidies can raise girls’ enrolment and retention (Lloyd 2009, Mac Foundation 2011).

School Level: The project intends to support interventions to support girl’s learning and provide safe learning environment with teachers equipped to respond to the needs of all and improve learning outcome. While learning is an extremely important outcome of schooling, activities of this project will recognise that the values that schools pass on to students is also vital, work on transmitting positive values at the school level is also important to challenging negative attitude and behaviour. This project will support girls’ mentoring in upper primary and JSS, supported by strong evidence that mentoring programmes and positive role models are effective in keeping girls in basic education (Lioyd 2009, camfed 2011). A unit on SRHR will be influenced into the mentoring programme. 15 teachers and head-teachers will be trained on gender-responsive pedagogy, focusing in responding equally to the needs of all in the classroom and promoting positive perception on girls learning ability which will crave a positive impact on the retention, participation, girls’ participation in class (FAWE 2009) and girls learning outcome (Lloyd et al, 2000). Teacher Training in Inclusive Educationwill build the capacity of teachers adapt classroom methodologies to include all learners, and specifically those with disabilities. School related GBV and teacher absenteeism will be address through Code of Conduct training of school staff and 15 school Board of Governor members focusing on establishing system of enforcement. Studies have shown that involvement of school board and parents in school matters will improve teachers’ attendance (German Embassy 2011). Improve teachers’ attendance alongside girls’study group will increase learning time in and out of school, and provide a safe space for girls. Finally, project activities will support 2 girls to enter teacher training college after taking remedial classes and working as classroom Learning Assistance (LAs) in this project. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that girls respond better to-and are best motivated by-female teachers, particularly from a similar social background to themselves (Lloyd 2009) and that female teachers can improve security and perceptions of gender equity (Rawal et al 2007).

System Level: Children’s club will use the Scorecard Approach to monitor school performance, the CoC and gender responsiveness and to identify areas for school improvement. In pilots, scorecards have prove effective at raising issues of governance, violence against girls and teachers and will provide rich evidence of the issues facing both boys and girls (and differences between sexes) at school level. This approach is supported by a growing body of evidence that suggests scorecards can improve attendance and learning outcome (German Embassy 2011), collective problem solving (DFID/Plan Malawi, ODI 2011) and that countries with stronger local accountability mechanism have better learning outcome (Fuchs 2007). JSS clubs will be represented at SMC meetings and interface meetings facilitated at the chiefdom and district level. Actions of the project will support children with tools and forums to give them confidence and safe advocacy opportunities. Project intervention will help to hold duty bearers at school, chiefdom, district and national level accountable to improve on education service delivery and better meet the needs of marginalised girls, including those with disability.