Donate








Jielimishe Girl Education Challenge (GEC) Project

Jielimishe GEC project is one of the existing education projects in the country whose major focus is to improve enrolment, attendance, retention and learning through its targeted integrated intervention. The project is funded by the UK government (UKAID) through Department for International Development (DfID) and is being implemented by I Choose Life Africa and her partners; Kenya Red Cross Society and SoS Children’s Villages Kenya. The project seeks to improve life chances of marginalized girls in Kenya through education, through an integrated intervention and multi-level approach.

The project seeks to address 5 key challenges affecting marginalized girls’ attendance to school and learning. These challenges are: Cultural barriers, quality of teaching, leadership and management of schools, inadequate infrastructure, and inconsistent implementation of MoEST pro girl education policy and lack of adequate motivation for girls to attend, stay in school and learn. The consortium envisions that, with the girl child at the core, as a result of addressing the school environment (the quality of teaching, infrastructure and teacher attitudes); the girls’ community (parents/primary care givers, community gate keepers/resource persons) as well as government policies and their implementation the marginalized girls shall enroll, attend, stay in school and learn ultimately resulting increasing their life chances.

I Choose life-Africa and her strategic partners seek to achieve the following objectives:

  1. To strengthen target communities to develop mechanisms that encourage girls to attend and stay in school
  2. To strengthen schools (teaching, management and policies) to ensure girls stay in school and learn.
  3. To improve school infrastructure through increased resource mobilization
  4. To advocate for full implementation of Ministry of Education pro-girl policy
  5. To motivate and inspire girls to stay in school through mentorship.

Prior to implementation of the project, a baseline study was conducted to help find out the prevailing county specific issues affecting access, attendance, progression and quality of learning. The findings therefore helped design a project engrained on relevance to address the real issues. Project implementation commenced in March 2014 with continued technical and monitoring support from PWC and FHI. Ongoing involvement of Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST) both at the national and the county level has been the projects strength and the guidance given from these relevant offices has gone a long way in implementation of effective and efficient interventions that are now affecting enrolment, attendance, transition and learning.

Project Goal
To Improve Life Chances of Marginalized girls

Project Outcomes

  1. More girls are enrolled in school (Improved enrolment)
  2. Girls regularly attend school (Improved Attendance)
  3. More girls learn and complete cycle of education (Improved Learning)

Project Outputs

  1. 60 Communities strengthened to encourage girls to stay in school
  2. 60 Schools strengthened (teaching, management and policies) to ensure girls stay in school and learn
  3. School infrastructure improved through increased resource
  4. Strengthened implementation of ministry of Education pro-girl policy
  5. Girls motivated and inspired to stay in school through mentorship.

Project Implementation Areas

  1. Laikipia – Nomadic semi-arid
  2. Meru – Rural Poor
  3. Mombasa – Urban Poor

Interventions at the community
The major activities under this component include:

  1. Community sensitization through community owned resource persons (gatekeepers) towards responsive and supportive communities
  2. Community advocacy through Media to sensitize communities that lowly value girls education
  3. Community sensitization through parents teachers association to foster supportive communities towards school development
  4. Provision of material and technical support to safe houses to enable them support rescued girls continue with their education
  5. Economic empowerment for poor parents to enable them support education for their children
  6. Supporting families to develop and implement family development plans
  7. Establishment of a watchdog mechanism at the community in Ward Education Management Committees to ensure all children enroll and attend school

Interventions at the school
The major activities under this component include:

  1. In service Training of teachers for improved delivery
  2. Capacity building of school management in data for decision making and resource mobilization towards better governance
  3. Provision of teaching and learning materials
  4. Roll out of Biometric School Information management System (BioSIM) to enhance attendance monitoring
  5. Roll out of ICT for Learning to enhance teaching and learning
  6. Strengthening of Life Skills Education Implementation
  7. Teacher monitoring and coaching

Interventions targeting the girl
The major activities under this component include:

  1. Academic and career Mentorship for learners to improve their intrinsic motivation and inspiration to attend stay in school and learn
  2. Provision of sanitary towels
  3. Partial scholarship/sponsorship for out of school needy girls
  4. Life skills education
  5. Aflatoun clubs formation to enhance learners social and entrepreneurial skills

Beneficiaries
The Primary beneficiaries of this project are 10,170 girls (both in school and out of school) from the 3 counties. The secondary beneficiaries are teachers, parents, boys in schools and Ministry of Education Science and Technology.

THE COMMUNITY

  1. 1,120 parents trained on economic empowerment
  2. 13,248 community members sensitized on girls education
  3. 3 Ward Education Management Committee established
  4. 2 Safe houses and 1 Drug Rehab center supported
  5. 300 families of out of school girls identified and supported develop family development plans
  6. 7,649 community members sensitized on re-entry policy

THE SCHOOL

  1. 302 teachers trained on Gender Responsiveness for better delivery
  2. 40 Primary School teachers trained on Life Skills and Aflatoun clubs
  3. 9 Primary Schools acceleration learning
  4. 307 BoMs and PTAs trained on Resource Mobilization
  5. 60 Schools with Biometric School Information management system
  6. 6 schools with ICT for learning
  7. 34 corporate partnerships developed with schools
  8. 7 schools upgraded infrastructure
  9. 5 Schools established new infrastructure

THE GIRL

  1. 12,436 Sanitary towels provided to needy girls
  2. 20 Aflatoun clubs established for girls social and entrepreneurship growth
  3. 121 out of school girls supported to enroll/re-enroll
  4. 74 young mothers supported to re-enter school
  5. 45 girls enrolled to acceleration learning classes

Partners in GEC
gecpartners