Kaizen provided quality, accessible, and reliable education resources for out-of-school girls, simultaneously deploying an innovative education model that combined proven education approaches in a new way.
Liberia has some of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world. This situation was even more acute in Bong County, where nearly half of all teenage girls had either given birth or were pregnant. These high teen pregnancy rates are detrimental to girls’ education: Pregnant girls usually drop out of school, fall behind academically, face challenges to reenrollment, and find themselves—and their children—further trapped in the cycle of poverty.
Highlights
- Improved literacy and numeracy skills for 2,500 girls and supported 389 learners in return to school
- Expanded access to education among underserved community in Bong County
- Facilitated social-emotional learning activities for 866 participants
- Increased self-esteem and self-confidence, built social awareness, and boosted leadership skills
In line with USAID’s global education strategy, the project improved child and youth literacy and numeracy, expanded access to education in regions witnessing crisis and conflict, and fostered innovation in education. Kaizen responded to a USAID Broad Agency Announcement that sought interventions to increase Liberian adolescent (ages 10–19) girls’ access to education and promote basic literacy skills. Kaizen presented the initial program design and iterated on the solution through a co-creation workshop with USAID, Girls for Change (GFC), the Institute for International Education (IIE), and other partners. GFC brought local context and understanding of the challenges faced by pregnant girls in Liberia, while IIE delivered education curricula expertise. The team selected Bong County for implementation due to its location in underserved rural Liberia, high teenage pregnancy rates, and accessibility to Monrovia.
Kaizen developed the Learning Links model to improve education outcomes by connecting out-of-school girls to literate and numerate women and leveraging technology for evaluations. Through trained tutor-mentors, the Liberian Alternative Basic Education curriculum, short message service-based evaluations, and performance-based micro-incentives, the activity provided girls access to quality literacy and numeracy learning resources to enable them to continue learning while they are out of school. In addition, Learning Links offered social support through access to counselors and caseworkers, who assessed individuals’ psychosocial needs and connected them to resources. The activity also fostered positive gender norms—bringing attention to girls and female teachers to promote girls’ education.
At a glance
Client
Status
Past
Location
Liberia
Services
Innovation and entrepreneurship, education
