What a year we had in 2021! We were amazingly privileged to partner with 274 schools in marginalized communities around Kenya, to equip and support 859 School Leaders, so that 73,843 children could experience better quality teaching and learning!
In 2020, we stretched our team and resource to provide additional support to the children in our partner communities, offering food, health packs, and learning resources to 12,000 of the most vulnerable children. We also learned a lot about how to best empower and support teachers and school leaders remotely. All of this laid a strong foundation for 2021. We began the year by providing support to School Leaders for School Reopening and Recovery, delivering targeted training and coaching support to help them get children’s learning and well-being back on track. As a result:
77% of teachers and school leaders were able to recognise and re-engage learners at risk of school drop-out- 58% of teachers and school leaders implemented strategies for remedial learning
- 95% of teachers and school leaders provided psychosocial support for learner well-being
- 78% of teachers and school leaders report that training and coaching has helped them to feel adequately supported
From April 2021, our focus shifted to delivering school-based support to our 274 school partners. In many ways, we continued to operate in ‘crisis’ mode. Not that we were in a state of panic, but that we knew the only way to keep children safe and learning was to maintain our laser focus on what works, so that every child has the opportunity to thrive and succeed.
How did we ensure impact in the midst of crisis?
- We practiced (and gradually got better at) agility. Re-designing solutions with a deep, community-rooted understanding of the challenges we were working to solve and how Covid19 was creating new complexities we couldn’t ignore.
- We listened to our school partners, and listened WITH them to other stakeholders, including parents and children. We created space and time to listen, and then co-created a shared pathway to enable thriving, vibrant schools.
- We worked extremely hard to ensure all our decisions were driven by data. We built new systems of collecting, analysing and sharing data that enhanced team decision-making, and ensured all our work is evidence based.
- We embraced (and even pursued) technology but with a keen eye to leave no school behind. As we leveraged edtech we consistently considered our most marginalised schools and School Leaders to ensure inclusive solutions
- By leveraging past program evidence, current program data, and valuing the voice of our School Leaders, we focused on what works to drive impact. Our human and financial resource were invested where we knew we could drive impactful change,
We’re in awe of our school partners, who pushed through a multitude of covid-related complexities including public health regulations, further lockdowns, and huge system-pressure to improve their teaching and learning in 2021!