What helps girls to learn?

Her hand shot up first in response to every question we asked. A petite girl, with bright, intelligent eyes, she exuded an understated confidence. We held on to her every word, despite not understanding the language. In a dark classroom, on a dry mud floor, Ilm [1] explained what education will do for her. “With education, I can help my family...my community...my region...and my country.”

As I listened to her, I wondered if she knew the numerous labels we assign to her: poor, remote, rural, at risk of dropping out, at risk of early marriage, ‘most marginalised’, ‘living in challenging context’…? Or was she like any teenager, full of hopes, dreams and aspirations? Do we let these labels limit our expectations of her or do they fuel our energies, our action and marshal our resources to provide her with the knowledge, skills and understanding she deserves to transform her life?

As a girl Ilm will face more barriers than boys, and this will likely continue throughout her life but action early can reduce the inequalities she may face in later life. This is the purpose of the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC), the UK government’s flagship education programme. It places on us a responsibility to tackle the inequality that some of the most marginalised girls face so they are better prepared for the next phase of their lives. Over 27 projects are currently working to support the education of nearly 1.5 million girls in 15 countries.

Much has been achieved since the start of the GEC in 2012. We have a greater understanding of the factors that marginalise girls in their homes, in and on the way to school, and in the system. We know how important it is to use this information to design programmes and to continuously adapt so that we address the precise barriers girls face at the different stages of her life. We know poverty is a substantial barrier to girls’ participation in education and interventions to address the direct and indirect cost of schooling help: GEC projects have distributed over £24 million in bursaries and stipends and over 12 million textbooks and student kits.

If girls are not safe they cannot learn - this is a basic GEC tenet. Our focus on safeguarding has influenced the organisations we fund and those beyond, and we have learnt what helps to keep girls safe. GEC projects have also worked with parents, communities, and local and national governments to create an environment that values and promotes girls’ education. Examples include parents (hundreds of them) developing and monitoring school improvement plans; brothers’ clubs working with boys to support their sisters’ education; and religious leaders advocating for girls’ education.

We have an unapologetic stance on the importance of literacy and numeracy outcomes in the GEC. Why? Because a child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live past the age of five, 50% more likely to be immunised, and twice as likely to attend school. To help a girl learn we have to work at many different levels to overcome the barriers she faces in accessing education, whether it be domestic responsibilities, community attitudes, risk of violence and harassment, or systemic issues that remove or reduce her opportunities. But we also have to focus on the quality of teaching she experiences.

I believe that the core principles of good teaching are universal (and that essentially children are the same across the world) and this belief, if anything, has been strengthened through working in international development. In the faces of girls in countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya… I see the same personalities I taught in England, the same hopes, dreams and expectations. They have a right to high quality teaching which, by definition, is inclusive and pays attention to aspects such as gender, disability and socio-economic circumstances. We are learning that coaching works to improve teaching and learning as do academically focused clubs. Nevertheless, if we want girls, and boys, to learn we have to pay greater attention to the science, and the art, of teaching and make it more consistent experience for our students. [2]

‘So what?’ Independent evaluation has shown that over 820,000 girls achieved more in the GEC than their peers outside it. But we need to do more. The GEC places a responsibility on us all to challenge assumptions, to raise the bar, to have higher expectations, and to seek a more rapid pace of change. We cannot allow labels to lower our ambition nor let ‘context’ be an excuse; indeed ‘context’ should be the fuel that drives the fight against the inequality girls’ face.

It has been an honour to lead the GEC: the programme is at the forefront of knowledge about what works to educate girls. It needs to continue to push boundaries about what is possible for ‘marginalised’ girls and it needs to deliver real tangible outcomes for them. The UK’s global leadership in this area makes me incredibly proud and we need to keep showing what is possible.

On a recent school visit in north Ethiopia, a GEC girl asked ‘Why do you do this work?’ Such a good question and so many answers but I am going to go with Ilm: the power of education to provide opportunities and, hence transformation, for girls and boys, their families and their countries is hugely motivating. As is the joy of seeing students learn and grow – those of us who have been teachers will attest to this.

What a privilege, and what a responsibility, it is to work in education.

Asyia Kazmi until recently led the Girls’ Education Challenge. In December 2018, she joined the Gates Foundation as the Global Education Policy Lead. Asyia’s 25 year career in education began as a mathematics teacher in the UK. She has previously worked in Ofsted as a Senior Her Majesty’s Inspector, in the Department for International Development as a Senior Education Adviser and in the Department for Education as a Project Director.

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• [1] Named change to protect child's identity
• [2] Hanushek, E. A. & Woessmann, L., 2007. The role of school improvement in economic development, s.l.: University of Munich and CESifo.
• Stoll, L. & Fink, D., 1996. Changing our schools. Suffolk: Open University Press.
• Aslam, M. & Kingdon, G., 2011. What can teachers do to raise pupil achievement?. Economics of Education Review, June, 30(3).
• Singh, R. & Sarkar, S., 2012. Teaching quality counts: How student outcomes relate to quality of teaching in private and public schools in India, London: Young lives.
• Westbrook, J. et al., 2013. Pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries: Education rigorous literature review, London: Department for International Development UKaid.