Original Baseline Cohorts
Learning outcomes among the original baseline cohorts are mixed. The FE and ABE cohorts showed substantial learning gains at ML1 and continue to perform above their baseline levels, but have experienced significant backsliding in both literacy and numeracy since ML1. This learning loss is concerning, and is coupled with a failure, even at ML1, to meet the learning benchmarks established at baseline.1 C1 NFE girls, on the other hand, have shown no learning improvements since baseline on either literacy or numeracy, in either the ML1 or ML2 rounds.
Learning gains among FE girls include an increase in literacy of 20.5 points since baseline, compared to an expected (benchmarked) achievement of 29.7 points. This cohort came closer to meeting the numeracy targets, gaining 15.3 points since baseline, compared to an expected improvement of 18.5 points. ABE girls have also failed to meet their benchmarks, but by larger margins, falling short of the literacy and numeracy benchmarks by 15.4 points and 11.5 points, respectively.
An important caveat when assessing learning outcomes concerns differential exposure to schooling among the cohorts. Girls who remained enrolled in FE consistently improved considerably, but the cohort’s overall scores are reduced by the number of girls who dropped out over time; the same is true of ABE and NFE girls.2 While even consistent attenders generally failed to meet improvement benchmarks, these differential gains underscore the importance of continuous enrolment to achieving the programme’s learning goals.
C4 NFE Cohort
Improving learning outcomes—numeracy and Somali literacy—are at the centre of the AGES programme’s goals. C4 NFE girls were enrolled before ML1 and completed the 10-month NFE programme. At the ML2 evaluation point, in the aggregate, we find that both numeracy and literacy scores improved significantly from a low base set of scores at ML1. The C4 NFE girls improved their average numeracy scores from 21.1 points to 49.6 points, and average literacy scores increased by 18.3 points to 34.9 points.
Examining changes in learning outcomes by region, C4 NFE girls in Banadir, Lower Shabelle, and Middle Shabelle improved their numeracy scores from 24.6 to 28.2 points on average while in Bay C4 NFE girls only improved by 2.3 points on average. With regard to literacy scores, C4 NFE girls in Banadir and Lower Shabelle improved their literacy scores 23.2 and 24.9 points, respectively, while scores in Bay stagnated with only a 1.8 point increase. Girls from Bay scored significantly higher than girls from all other regions at ML1, but by ML2 the numeracy and literacy gains were minimal and not statistically significant.