The Virtuous Cycle of Girls’ Education

The Virtuous Cycle of Girls’ Education project supported 270,845 girls, and was implemented by Camfed International in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe (40 rural districts across 13 provinces).

In the project communities, poverty intersects with discriminatory gendered social norms, location, and a range of other contextual factors to result in barriers to girls’ access to, and achievement in education. Girls are particularly vulnerable during transitions from one stage of education to the next and from school into adulthood. These complex barriers increase as girls reach adolescence and are compounded by cultural traditions and expectations of early marriage, sexual and physical exploitation, violence and additional financial burdens in secondary school. Key enduring barriers to girls’ learning include the language of instruction (literacy), poverty, under resourced schools and a lack of quality teaching.

The project enabled marginalised girls to transition to, progress through and succeed at secondary school. It then helped them to transition from school to a secure and fulfilling livelihood. This was done by leveraging the ‘Multiplier Effect’ – whereby women who have been supported by Camfed through and beyond school, provide social and economic support to the next generation of girls. These graduates join forces with district and national authorities to drive change at a wider scale, ultimately re-setting the context for future generations of girls. Integral to the approach is the Learner Guide Program which focuses on life skills and mentoring, and enterprise development which expands women’s livelihood opportunities.

Main activities

• Building the capacity of the CAMFED Association (CAMA) - a network of young women who provide social and economic support to the next generation of girls
• Implementing the Learner Guide Programme where Learner Guides provide support to improve the educational achievements of marginalised girls, expanding their life choices and enabling them to become 'edu-preneurs'.
• Implementing a Life Skills curriculum (My Better World) delivered by Transition Guides to improve confidence and rights awareness.
• Implementing a programme of transition and learning support for post-school girls through Learner Guides which incorporated financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health education, and entrepreneurship.
• Facilitating access to Kiva loans to enable business start-ups.
  

The project in numbers

Lessons learned

The CAMFED Association (CAMA) has demonstrated the power of young women’s activism and active support for girls’ education and empowerment. CAMA is a powerful peer support and leadership network for young women activists with members bringing their lived experience and expertise to their work in supporting girls’ education and empowerment. Post school, young women who graduated in to CAMA clearly felt connected and supported, with some pointing to examples of how members came together to help pay off the loans of their CAMA sisters or give loans to start businesses.

The Learner Guides are the lynchpin of the project approach and integral to girls’ success. The integration and embeddedness of the Learner Guides within the school and community enabled each Guide to leverage external resources and multiply her impact. The Learner Guides’ collaborated with teachers, helped in establishing trust and respect with parents and ensured the access of learners to life skill sessions. The Learner Guides were part of a student-centred ‘learning team’ that strengthened connections between homes and schools and targeted the needs of the most vulnerable girls.

My Better World has had a positive impact on key life skills and gender equality The project endline evaluation has shown the My Better World programme has clearly had a very positive impact in all three countries on gender equality, appropriate sexual behaviour, girls’ safety and girls’ self-confidence and independence. Boys have benefited from this intervention as well as girls, which has been fundamental in supporting discussion and challenge of harmful gender norms and stereotypical behaviour.

Camfed International: https://camfed.org/