Steps Towards Afghan Girls' Education Success (STAGES)

  • P Project/Program

I Inactive

Key Information

STAGES II is a UK funded Girl’s Education Challenge project with a contribution from USAID for a total of GBP 46m over four years (April 2017 – March 2021). Problem: Girls face specific cultural and socio-economic barriers preventing them from accessing education in Afghanistan, particularly in remote rural and insecure areas and especially during adolescence. Solution: A multi-faced approach focusing on girls’ learning outcomes, their interpersonal relationships, the social, physical, and economic environments surrounding them and the wider political and economic climate. Theory of change: If marginalized girls are provided with access to education close to their homes, in a context which recognizes community values and concerns, they are more likely to go to school, stay in school and learn. Reach: Since 2017, STAGES has supported 88,395 parents and community members as well as 7,605 teachers to help improve education for 324,958 children/adolescents, 33,695 (69% female) of them enrolled in project community-based classes in 16 provinces of Afghanistan.

Lead Implementing Organization(s)
Location(s)

South Asia

Afghanistan

Activity URL

Not applicable or unknown

Government Affiliation
Non-governmental program
Years

2017 - 2023

Partner(s)

Afghan Education Production Organization

Ministry Affiliation
Unknown
Funder(s)

COVID-19 Response
Unknown
Geographic Scope
National
Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  
Unknown
Areas of Work Back to Top
Education areas
Attainment
  • Primary to secondary transition
Other
  • Transition from school to work
Other skills
  • Life skills/sexuality education
  • Rights/empowerment education
  • Social and emotional learning
  • Vocational training
Quality
  • Curricula/lesson plans
  • School facilities
  • School quality
  • School-related gender-based violence
  • Teacher training
Skills
  • Civics education
  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • STEM
Cross-cutting areas
  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Community sensitization
  • Early/child marriage
  • Empowerment
  • Gender equality
  • Masculinities/boys
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • Mentorship
  • Nutrition
  • Other cultural practices
  • Sexual harassment & coercion
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs
  • Sports
  • Violence (at home, in relationships)
  • WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)
Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Community leaders, Girls out of school, Youth

Age

6 - 17

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Lower primary
  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Vocational
  • Tertiary
Other populations reached
  • Boys (both in school and out of school)
  • Fathers
  • Girls (both in school and out of school)
  • Mothers
  • Other caregivers
  • Other community members - female
  • Other community members - male
  • Other family members
  • Parent-teacher associations/school management committees
  • Religious leaders
  • Spouses/partners
  • Teachers - female
  • Teachers - male
Participants include
  • Displaced/refugee - Internal (from other areas of the same country)
  • Indigenous
  • Internal migrants (from other areas of the same country)
  • People with disabilities
Program Approaches Back to Top
Access to school
  • Alternative learning centers/mobile schools/home schools
  • Improving transportation
Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization
  • Community-based monitoring (e.g. school report cards)
  • Community mobilization
  • General awareness-raising/community engagement
Curriculum/learning
  • Competency-level grouping
  • Gender-sensitive curricula
  • Increased availability of learning materials
  • Remedial education/skills
Educational Technology
  • Digital devices for the purposes of studying, learning
Facilities construction/improvement
  • Construction/improvement of classrooms
  • Construction/improvement of libraries
Learning while working
  • Vocational training
Life skills education
  • Gender, rights and power
  • Social and emotional learning (SEL) skills building
Menstrual hygiene management
  • Educating girls about menstruation
  • Raising awareness about menstruation (beyond just girls)
  • Sanitary product distribution
Mentoring/psychosocial support
  • Adult (non-teacher) mentors
  • Teachers as mentors
Reducing economic barriers
  • Addressing cost of school supplies
  • Conditional cash transfers (including non-cash goods) to individuals/households
  • Scholarships/stipends for school fees
  • Vouchers/grants
School-related gender-based violence
  • Anti-violence policies and codes of conduct
  • Safe and welcoming schools
  • Safe channels/mechanisms for reporting violence
  • Safe transportation
  • Support in and around schools (e.g. peer counseling, adult-to-student counseling)
  • Training of school personnel (including teachers)
  • Violence prevention curriculum/activities for students
Social/gender norms change
  • Engaging parents/caregivers of students or school-age children/adolescents
  • Group activities with students or school-age children/adolescents
  • Media campaigns
  • Work with community leaders
Teaching
  • Diagnostic feedback
  • Hiring more female teachers
  • In-service teacher training – gender-responsive pedagogy
  • In-service teacher training – pedagogy general
  • Pre-service teacher training – gender-responsive pedagogy
  • Pre-service teacher training – pedagogy general
  • Teaching materials (e.g. lesson plans, curricula)
Tutoring/strengthening academic skills
  • Literacy - in the classroom
  • Literacy - outside the classroom
  • Numeracy - in the classroom
  • STEM - in the classroom
  • Tutoring - general

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Program Goals Back to Top
Education goals
  • Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
  • Improved social and emotional learning/skills and mindsets
  • Increased enrolment in primary school
  • Increased grade attainment
  • Increased primary school completion
  • Increased progression to secondary school
  • Increased re-enrolment in school among out-of-school children
  • Increased secondary school completion
  • Increased years of schooling
  • Reduced absenteeism
  • Reduced grade repetition
Cross-cutting goals
  • Changed social norms
  • Improved mental health
  • Improved understanding of sexual harassment, coercion, and consent
  • Increased advocacy/civic engagement
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • Increased employment/job-related skills
  • Increased knowledge of rights
  • More equal power in relationships
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms
  • Reduced child marriage
  • Reduced intimate partner violence
  • Reduced poverty/increase household well-being
  • Reduced violence against children in the home
Additional Information Back to Top
Primary Contact
Lia Van Nieuwenhuijzen
Aga Khan Foundation
PMU manager
lia.vn@akdn.org