Making Ghanaian Girls Great!

The Making Ghanaian Girls Great project supported 14,132 girls and was implemented by Plan International UK Ghana. It was initially designed and delivered by the Varkey Foundation from its inception until October 2019.

Barriers to education for girls included a lack of parental support, early marriage, early pregnancy, and poverty. Girls from the poorest households were vulnerable to early marriage and to having high chore burdens which prevented them from learning. Girls who had a disability, or who did not speak the language of instruction were also found to be disadvantaged. There was a lack of quality teaching and inclusive learning environments for girls, a lack of teaching and learning materials, and infrastructure-related problems such as a lack of latrines, safe classrooms, water and electricity.

The project aimed to improve learning outcomes for marginalised learners, support their successful transition through school, and contribute to sustained improvements in the Ghanaian education system. It did this through the provision of quality educational content using solar-powered and satellite-enabled distance learning infrastructure, and working alongside teachers and school leaders to improve teaching quality. The project also worked with government partners to bring about sustainable change at the school level

Main activities

• Providing learners with access to educational literacy and numeracy content through high-quality remote instruction by master trainers, as well as online remedial lessons and after-school clubs delivered by the master trainers and facilitated by teachers.
• Providing Teacher professional development and coaching to teachers through studio-based training on subject knowledge, subject pedagogy and home learning
• Establishing girls', boys' and mixed after school clubs, focusing on life skills
• Providing financial support through cash transfers to help girls transition from primary to secondary education
• Providing leadership training to headteachers, PTA members and School Management Committee members on strategies to support girls’ education
• Working the with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) to broadcast primary and secondary school lessons nationwide though GLTV and keep students learning during school closures and afterwards.
• Distributing TV sets, satellite-decoders, and home learning packs to households.

The project in numbers

Lessons learned

Life skills and academic skills are mutually reinforcing. Building resilience and academic self-efficacy were found to be mutually reinforcing, and leadership skills were found to support literacy outcomes. It was also found that after-school clubs were effective at supporting girls to improve their ability to self-advocate, and challenge gender stereotypes.

Delivering teaching and learning through remote broadcasting does not always engage all learners. While broadcast lessons were effective at exposing children to different teaching strategies and keeping children motivated through a participatory approach, this did not work for all children, particularly those who were struggling the most with learning. Hybrid models should be considered which allow for pacing and differentiation according to student ability.

The combination of Boys’ Clubs and mixed clubs helped address negative gender norms. While mixed clubs provided settings for girls and boys to engage in healthy and safe peer relationships where they can speak about differences or norm changes, Boy’s Clubs worked to challenge negative conceptualisations of masculinity, interrogate conceptions of male and female gender norms, and discuss how to build healthy relationships between boys and girls.

There is a link between a conducive home environment for learning and improved learning outcomes. This was particularly evident during COVID-19 school closures. This highlights the importance of working with parents and caregivers to ensure girls’ learning is supported at home, and they have the relevant learning materials and environment.

Plan International UK: https://plan-uk.org/

This project was designed and delivered by the Varkey Foundation from its inception until 20 October 2019