Impacts on girls’ learning

The experience with Ebola meant that governments in this region were quick to respond. However, COVID-19 still resulted in school closures in all three West African GEC countries: Sierra Leone experienced 14 weeks, Nigeria 24 weeks and Ghana 53 weeks (as of July 2021).11 During school closures, opportunities for learning were significantly limited, with many children unable to access remote learning or receive learning support. In Nigeria, 45% of children did not receive any learning activities during the lockdown period.12 Just 10% of girls and 24% of boys were accessing distance learning via television, and only 18% of children via radio and 2% of children via mobile.13 Only nine out of over 1,300 households reported having received education-related materials directly from schools or education departments.14 Within the household, girls have less support with learning than boys and one-quarter of girls. Twice the number of girls than boys reported receiving no help from any source.15 Projects also reported unequal access to distance learning, with many girls unable to access it. For example, in Sierra Leone, GATE-GEC found that girls without radios or those in remote communities without radio coverage missed out on Ministry Of Basic And Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) lessons.

GEC projects reported that girls had to take on additional responsibilities during school closures, which prevented them from learning. In Ghana, 68% of girls supported by the MGCubed project reported that domestic work was one of the main ways they spent their time, compared to 43% of boys. In Sierra Leone, Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient reported that a high chore burden was a significant barrier to attendance at educational programmes by 32.9% of girls and 28.2% of caregivers. Girls supported by the EAGER project reported that they were able to use the skills they had learned in sessions before the pandemic and reported putting those to use during the pandemic, with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and other health-related themes, negotiations and decision-making skills, assertive communication as most helpful from the pre-COVID-19 curriculum.

While the full extent of the impact on learning outcomes is unknown, there is some emerging evidence. In Ghana, the estimated learning loss suffered over three months ranged from just over half to more than 100% of the gains attained during the prior year.16 In addition, GATE-GEC noted the adverse impact on the learning and progression of girls and student teachers, with girls reporting that they had forgotten lessons that they had learned previously.

Project also supported MoE distance learning initiatives. In Nigeria, Discovery Project 2 supported television and radio distance learning by training teacher presenters, supported content development and used their educational video library. MGCubed worked with the Ghanaian Education Services to produce Ghana Learning TV and produced over 420 national TV lessons, which were broadcast across Ghana, in addition to supporting the production of literacy programmes for Ghana Learning Radio.

Another common intervention was the use of small community-based learning groups. In Ghana, the Strategic Approaches for Girls’ Education (STAGE) project supports out-of-school girls, teenage mothers and other highly marginalised girls. As part of their pre-COVID-19 project design, they had established designated learning centres to deliver literacy, numeracy and life skills training. During school closures, girls were able to continue their learning at these centres. Those who plan to reintegrate into formal schools continued to learn the accelerated curriculum. Non-formal track girls continued to learn functional literacy, numeracy and skills training.

Ghana

Literature review findings:

The estimates of learning loss experienced over three months ranged from just over half to more than 100% of the gains attained during the prior year (Sabates et al. 2020).

Project findings:

MGCubed reported that 68% of girls spent a lot of time on domestic work, compared to 43% of boys. During school closures (data collected May to August 2020), 48% of children (46% girls and 51% boys) felt they were progressing with their learning, while 41% (both girls and boys) did not. 92% of children reported spending some time studying at home (91% girls, 94% boys), the majority studying for two or three days per week. 61% said that someone else helped them with their learning. Girls were considerably more confident about literacy (64% thought they were getting better compared with 49% of boys) and significantly less confident about numeracy (37% thought they forgot things compared to 27% boys).

Core interventions:

MGCubed worked with the Ghanaian Education Services to produce Ghana Learning TV (GLTV) on a newly created national TV channel at the request of the MoE, producing over 420 national TV lessons broadcast across Ghana. The project also supported the production of literacy programmes for Ghana Learning Radio. In addition, they made direct phone contact with the most marginalised and provided remote, phone-based learning support via teachers and facilitators. The project also distributed TVs and decoders (needed to access the specific channel for GLTV) and stationery kits. In addition, caregivers received guidance on how to support their child’s learning at home. All lessons included sign language interpretation and covered grades from kindergarten to senior high school. Subjects covered include English, maths, science and social studies.

STAGE used small, community-based learning groups to provide accelerated learning programmes. The content covered functional literacy and numeracy, skills training for non-formal track girls and accelerated curriculum for girls integrating into formal schools.

Nigeria

Literature review findings:

Since March 2020, 45% of children have not received any learning activities (Osae-Brown 2021). Just 10% of girls and 24% of boys access distance learning via television and only 18% of children via radio and 2% via mobile phone. Just nine out of over 1,300 households reported receiving education-related materials directly from schools and education departments. Within the household, girls have had less support with learning than boys. Twice the number of girls than boys reported receiving no help from any source (Malala Fund 2020c). As a result, many children were left behind as they were not equipped to adapt or transition to new methods of learning. For example, the MoE introduced a home-teaching method through radio and television, but access was limited as there was limited electricity supply in much of the country. This was compounded by high poverty levels, with many families unable to afford televisions or radios (Okwuosa & Modibbo 2021).

Core interventions:

Impact(Ed) provided a school-readiness package. This was designed to help all 609 Fitila schools develop schoolcommunity action plans to address the wide range of new or exacerbated barriers to education stemming from COVID-19 and school closures. The action plans sought to ensure the most vulnerable and struggling learners were re-enrolled and received extra support upon re-entry. In addition, the project supported Kano State’s MoE distance learning initiatives over television and radio by providing Impact(Ed) ‘s educational video library, training of teacher presenters, content development and technical support during production. Broadcasts were estimated to reach approximately 800,000 primary and junior secondary school children. They also provided mobile phonebased support to over 4,000 teachers which included refresher training and check-ins on teachers’ wellbeing. This acknowledged the stresses and challenges they were facing and allowed them to share solutions on how best to support girls and boys during closures.

This GEC project completed its activities in December 2020

Sierra Leone

Literature review findings:

The government had experience with Ebola, which supported the COVID-19 Response Task Force’s quick formation and response (Solís Arce 2020)

Project findings:

EAGER reported that a high chore burden was identified as a significant barrier to attending educational programmes by 32.9% of girls and 28.2% of caregivers. 22.8% of project girls reported increased time spent on income generation during COVID-19, with increased household chores reported by 41% and increased childcare demands reported by 23.1%. Girls reported that they were able to use the skills they had learned in sessions before the pandemic and reported putting those to use during the pandemic, with SRH and other health-related themes, negotiations and decision-making skills, assertive communication as most helpful from the pre-COVID-19 curriculum, and numeracy as it helped with incomegenerating activities.

GATE-GEC girls noted they had forgotten school lessons learned previously. Adverse impacts on the learning and progression of girls and student teachers were noted. For example, some students were prevented from attending classes by male partners and girls without radios or those in remote communities without radio coverage missed out on MBSSE lessons.

Core interventions:

EAGER used small, safe space-based community learning groups (six or seven girls) facilitated by two community mentors or volunteers and one literacy and numeracy facilitator (teacher or young graduate). The groups covered functional literacy and numeracy and life skills, including psychosocial support (PSS). The project’s overall response fed into national plans, objectives and priorities, which aligned with the COVID-19 Emergency Education Response Plan.

GATE-GEC distributed radios so girls could access MBSSE lessons. They extended study groups, provided learning materials for use at home or in study groups and offered phone-based learning support for students who had not returned to school. This was facilitated by programme volunteers (teachers) and newly qualified female teachers (previously student teachers supported by the programme). The content covered literacy, numeracy and life skills.