Girls Enrolling, Persisting, and Reading - Impact Findings from VAS-Y Fille!, the Girls' Education Challenge Project in the DR Congo

Extreme poverty, cycles of conflict, sexual violence, and lack of socio-economic opportunities have characterized life in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), disproportionately girls. To respond to the economic, social and... [ view full abstract ]

Extreme poverty, cycles of conflict, sexual violence, and lack of socio-economic opportunities have characterized life in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), disproportionately girls. To respond to the economic, social and educational barriers that keep Congolese girls from succeeding in and completing school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) implements a four year DfID-funded Girls Education Challenge project, Valorisation de la Scolarisation de la Fille (VAS-Y Fille!) in the five provinces where girls’ education outcomes are the lowest. VAS-Y Fille! believes that its holistic program of economic support, quality teaching and learning activities, community involvement and alternative learning programs will have the combined effect of girls enrolling and attending learning opportunities more regularly and improving their reading and maths skills, which are predictive of future academic success.

This paper will be based on a study in which we used a cluster-randomized controlled trial design to evaluate project impact. Data were collected through several instruments: (1) School Survey, (2) Household Survey, (3) Girls’ Survey, and (4) Early Grades Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grades Math Assessment (EGMA). In total 3,434 in-school 3rd-5th grade girls were interviewed and/or administered the EGMA/EGRA assessment during data collection. We will present findings from three waves of data collection: pre-intervention (October 2013) and midline 1 (May 2014), and midline (2015) using a multi-level model with time (level 1) nested in students (level 2) nested in schools (level 3). Specifically, we determine which Vas-Y-Fille! components result in improved student outcomes and perceptions of school quality and girl friendliness.