War Child and partners expand research activities to boost education quality and access

War Child Holland is a recipient of a Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) global grant that is a joint initiative from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aiming to connect expertise, innovation and knowledge to support low- and middle-income countries to build stronger education systems and accelerate progress toward SDG 4. The research is currently being carried out in Uganda, Sudan and Chad in partnership with national research institutes, programme experts and national Ministries of Education.

Here is a short overview of the research studies in each country:

Uganda

In Uganda, the formative research aims to improve the efficiency of the Can’t Wait to Learn programme by increasing equitable access, attendance and retention through strengthening caregiver engagement in children’s education. The appropriateness, acceptability and feasibility of this approach will be evaluated in a feasibility study.

Sudan

In Sudan, the research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Can’t Wait to Learn compared to state-provided education for out-of-school children, using a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) design. To safeguard the quality of this evaluation, a validation study of the academic and psychosocial wellbeing assessments is being carried out, and a feasibility study to test and fine tune both programme and research processes and tools.

Chad

In Chad, a thorough process evaluation is planned. An inclusive and efficient process for contextualising the programme’s standard operating procedures will be developed, to facilitate the adaptation, rapid adoption and delivery of Can’t Wait to Learn in new contexts and through new partners.

Cross-country

Additionally, value for money analyses will be carried out in each country, to allow comparison between different implementation models and levels of scale.

Finally, a policy network analysis will be conducted within each country, aiming to identify the factors and individuals that facilitate and impede the implementation of education policy, from policy development to state-level implementation.

For more information on Can’t Wait to Learn research programme, please find the cross-country overview here.