154 - The power of children and youth participation in Programme Design and Evaluation to Improve learning Outcomes- Ghana Case Study

Abstract Information: Today’s world is complex, defined by unprecedented crises, opportunities, and change. Children must develop a wide range of knowledge, skills, and values if they are to grow within this world. This requires schools, and the communities within which they operate, to become places which equip children with 21st Century Skills, social and emotional learning, and character development in addition to literacy and numeracy. The Communities of Excellence Programme (CEP) is a Government of Ghana initiative implemented by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) and facilitated by Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning (T-TEL) in partnership with the Jacobs Foundation. The Programme uses the Managing for Learning (MfL) approach to create communities and schools which are working together to raise children with a wide range of knowledge, skills, competencies, and values at the subnational level. The implementation of the Programme started in March 2022 in three districts – a) Lambussie, b) Bosome Freho and c) Akuapem South. A total of 88 learners from grades 4 to 9 were engaged from 12 sampled schools. 627 stakeholders were also engaged across the three districts, during the programme design phase to co-create their own interventions. The intention is to use the MfL approach to empower districts, Schools, Communities specially children and youth to co-create their own vision, reach a consensus as to where they are now and the issues holding them back, analyse the root causes of issues and constraints using participatory tools and define their own ‘stories of change’ which will form the basis of a Learning Transformation Agenda (LTA) for each district. This LTA sets out the objectives, activities and Change Programmes which will be undertaken to improve learning outcomes in each district. Findings from the stakeholders’ engagement saw 4 key priority areas identified by learners. These included reducing indiscipline among learners and teacher indiscipline through intensive monitoring and supervision, Provision of teaching and learning materials, Parents and community sensitization and improvement in classroom lesson delivery. An annual evaluation conducted after 18 months of implementation on 3,996 basic school learners from grades 2, 4 and 6 who were assessed in English, Mathematics, Core Competencies and Ghanaian Language from 55 schools sampled, revealed significant improvement in learner English proficiency in Basics 2, 4 and 6 across the three districts. Mathematics, Core Competency skills and Ghanaian language proficiency also saw a significant improvement in Basic 2 and 6 attributed to 100% collaboration between schools and their community. The qualitative findings highlight various factors accounting for the progressive shift in learners’ performance including collaboration of teachers through the introduction of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and increased parental support. Teacher use of GESI during lesson delivery also recorded a significant improvement from 22.1 percent in 2022 to 39.6 percent in 2023. In conclusion, involving children and youth in evaluation through the managing for learning approach has proven to be a useful tool in creating an adaptive ecosystem to improve learning outcomes at the subnational level in Ghana.