Research presented at the Sustainable Microfinance and Development Program - Plan webinar series on the effects of savings groups on education, with case studies from Ghana.
https://carsey.unh.edu/smdp/carsey-plan-webinar
Acting Early, Changing Lives: How prevention and early action saves money and...Benevolent Society
The Benevolent Society has released a report to mark its 200th Anniversary that sounds a serious warning about the wellbeing of Australia’s children, and unsustainable future costs to fix social problems which can be prevented by more investment in support for families during children’s early years. http://bit.ly/acting_early_report
“In dealing with increasing problems such as crime, obesity, anti-social behaviour, child abuse and mental illness, our governments are stuck in a cycle of reacting too late when it’s more costly and less effective,” said The Benevolent Society CEO Anne Hollonds.
The report, Acting Early, Changing Lives: How prevention and early action saves money and improves wellbeing was commissioned by The Benevolent Society, Australia’s first and longest running not-for-profit organisation, and prepared by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. http://bit.ly/acting_early_report
Between March 2004 and March 2011, the Family and Parenting Institute managed the Parenting Fund on behalf of successive UK governments. The parenting fund was the largest and most successful scheme ever to support UK parenting.
The Parenting Fund provided support to a web of grassroots organisations across the country which, in turn, supported the most vulnerable families in their communities. The families who were helped were experiencing problems including intergenerational unemployment, relationships marked by conflict, drink and drug abuse, and frequent contact with the police.
This report examines the success of the fund and the Family and Parenting Institute’s role in administering funding
Monitoring,Evaluation and learning initiative: Young children affected by HIV...Jared Ogeda
In this issue of the newsletter we feature a situational analysis
from PATH focusing on the integration of ECD services in Nyanza
Province, Kenya; we introduce more team members working on
Hilton Foundation-funded projects; we go up close with the Firelight Foundation and the work they are doing; we begin a series
on the ‘Nutrition and Nurturance of Young Children’ with a companion piece on breastfeeding; and we discuss what we can and
can’t learn from before and after measures in evaluations.
Acting Early, Changing Lives: How prevention and early action saves money and...Benevolent Society
The Benevolent Society has released a report to mark its 200th Anniversary that sounds a serious warning about the wellbeing of Australia’s children, and unsustainable future costs to fix social problems which can be prevented by more investment in support for families during children’s early years. http://bit.ly/acting_early_report
“In dealing with increasing problems such as crime, obesity, anti-social behaviour, child abuse and mental illness, our governments are stuck in a cycle of reacting too late when it’s more costly and less effective,” said The Benevolent Society CEO Anne Hollonds.
The report, Acting Early, Changing Lives: How prevention and early action saves money and improves wellbeing was commissioned by The Benevolent Society, Australia’s first and longest running not-for-profit organisation, and prepared by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. http://bit.ly/acting_early_report
Between March 2004 and March 2011, the Family and Parenting Institute managed the Parenting Fund on behalf of successive UK governments. The parenting fund was the largest and most successful scheme ever to support UK parenting.
The Parenting Fund provided support to a web of grassroots organisations across the country which, in turn, supported the most vulnerable families in their communities. The families who were helped were experiencing problems including intergenerational unemployment, relationships marked by conflict, drink and drug abuse, and frequent contact with the police.
This report examines the success of the fund and the Family and Parenting Institute’s role in administering funding
Monitoring,Evaluation and learning initiative: Young children affected by HIV...Jared Ogeda
In this issue of the newsletter we feature a situational analysis
from PATH focusing on the integration of ECD services in Nyanza
Province, Kenya; we introduce more team members working on
Hilton Foundation-funded projects; we go up close with the Firelight Foundation and the work they are doing; we begin a series
on the ‘Nutrition and Nurturance of Young Children’ with a companion piece on breastfeeding; and we discuss what we can and
can’t learn from before and after measures in evaluations.
Effectiveness of a group-based tutorial direct instruction program with a Canadian-Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal sample of children in care
Children in foster care are frequently behind in educational achievement (Flynn, Ghzal, Legault, Vandermeulen, & Petrick, 2004) and perform below grade level (Trout, Hagaman, Casey, Reid, & Epstein, 2008 for a review). Vacca (2008) found that children in foster care perform seven to eight percentile points lower in achievement test scores when compared to children in the general population. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a direct instruction literacy and math program ("Teach Your Children Well"; TYCW) in a small group format to educationally disadvantaged children in foster care. Across the two years of the study, 101 children in long-term foster care, 78.2% of which were Aboriginal Canadian, between grades 1 and 8 inclusive, participated in this randomized control trial intervention. Half were randomly assigned to the 30- week experimental TYCW condition, while the other half served as waitlist controls. Children were assessed at baseline and post-intervention on word reading, spelling, sentence comprehension, and mathematic skills using an academic measure of functioning, the Wide Range Achievement Test Forth Edition (WRAT4). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) demonstrated a statistically significant increase in standard scores on reading decoding, spelling and mathematic skills for those who received the tutoring. Meaningful effect sizes (small to moderate range) were also found in support of the tutoring intervention across these three domains. Furthermore, the results also indicated that condition predicted improvements in word reading for those with elevated levels of school instability, and a trend towards those with high inattention symptoms, as measured by the Conners' ADHD/DSM-IV Scales (CADS). The implications of these findings as they relate to improving educational achievement among foster children are discussed.
The information in these slides was shared by Kamna Seth and Gauri Shirali-Deo of The Source for Learning, Inc's Early Childhood team, during VAECE's 2017 Annual Conference in Hampton Roads, VA on April 1, 2017.
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
This session focused on the definition and scope of early intervention; reflected on the urgency and importance of early diagnoses of developmental delays; and provided techniques to meaningfully use information gathered through observational data and to connect child progress to educational decisions.
ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD AT THE SOURCE FOR LEARNING
SFL’s Early Childhood Education Division includes PreschoolFirst--a research-based, online child assessment system that has proven effective in early childhood classrooms -- as well as a wide range of professional development and management services for the early childhood community. The Division’s PD webinar series features cutting-edge and trending topics presented in a one-hour format by SFL’s early childhood education team, with guest appearances by ECE industry experts.
The Expansion of School-Community Partnershipsnoblex1
Across the country, states and communities are mobilizing to focus attention on young children and families, and many benefits could accrue from an integration of community–school efforts with early childhood initiatives. Ample evidence from research supports such integration.
Source: https://ebookscheaper.com/2021/02/10/the-expansion-of-school-community-partnerships/
Holiday Hunger Research & Evaluation FrameworkRobin Beveridge
Greta Defayter's presentation of research into evaluation methodologies for holiday hunger programmes in the UK, as delivered to Holiday Hunger North East group on 22 Oct 14.
Since 1996, Community Education Partners, Inc. (CEP), has been providing academic intervention to help struggling students achieve their scholastic, behavioral, and social goals. CEP operates disciplinary alternative education schools as a direct contractor with public school districts. An example of the benefit of Community Education Partners programs can be seen in an evaluation of the Beechnut Academy in Houston, Texas.
The information contained in these slides was shared during NAEYC's 2016 Institute for Professional Development conference held in Baltimore, Maryland June 5-8, 2016. These slides consolidate much of the early intervention information shared by SFL's Director of Early Childhood Education Initiatives, Kamna Seth, and Senior Manager, Gauri Shirali-Deo. The topic presented, Understanding Early Intervention: Reflecting on the Scope, Need for Early Diagnosis, and Implementation of Early Intervention, underscores the importance of identifying developmental delays and developing educational strategies to address the needs of diverse learners.
Dr. Pamela Mukaire of the Resources for Improving Birth Outcomes at Liberty University discusses a project in rural Uganda to use the FHI 360 Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition approach to improve the health of families.
Mary Daly, Professor, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford - Presentation of the preliminary findings “Family and Parenting Support: Analytical Framework and Key Orientations in Policy and Provision” at the Expert Consultation on Family and Parenting Support, UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti Florence 26-27 May 2014
Effectiveness of a group-based tutorial direct instruction program with a Canadian-Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal sample of children in care
Children in foster care are frequently behind in educational achievement (Flynn, Ghzal, Legault, Vandermeulen, & Petrick, 2004) and perform below grade level (Trout, Hagaman, Casey, Reid, & Epstein, 2008 for a review). Vacca (2008) found that children in foster care perform seven to eight percentile points lower in achievement test scores when compared to children in the general population. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a direct instruction literacy and math program ("Teach Your Children Well"; TYCW) in a small group format to educationally disadvantaged children in foster care. Across the two years of the study, 101 children in long-term foster care, 78.2% of which were Aboriginal Canadian, between grades 1 and 8 inclusive, participated in this randomized control trial intervention. Half were randomly assigned to the 30- week experimental TYCW condition, while the other half served as waitlist controls. Children were assessed at baseline and post-intervention on word reading, spelling, sentence comprehension, and mathematic skills using an academic measure of functioning, the Wide Range Achievement Test Forth Edition (WRAT4). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) demonstrated a statistically significant increase in standard scores on reading decoding, spelling and mathematic skills for those who received the tutoring. Meaningful effect sizes (small to moderate range) were also found in support of the tutoring intervention across these three domains. Furthermore, the results also indicated that condition predicted improvements in word reading for those with elevated levels of school instability, and a trend towards those with high inattention symptoms, as measured by the Conners' ADHD/DSM-IV Scales (CADS). The implications of these findings as they relate to improving educational achievement among foster children are discussed.
The information in these slides was shared by Kamna Seth and Gauri Shirali-Deo of The Source for Learning, Inc's Early Childhood team, during VAECE's 2017 Annual Conference in Hampton Roads, VA on April 1, 2017.
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
This session focused on the definition and scope of early intervention; reflected on the urgency and importance of early diagnoses of developmental delays; and provided techniques to meaningfully use information gathered through observational data and to connect child progress to educational decisions.
ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD AT THE SOURCE FOR LEARNING
SFL’s Early Childhood Education Division includes PreschoolFirst--a research-based, online child assessment system that has proven effective in early childhood classrooms -- as well as a wide range of professional development and management services for the early childhood community. The Division’s PD webinar series features cutting-edge and trending topics presented in a one-hour format by SFL’s early childhood education team, with guest appearances by ECE industry experts.
The Expansion of School-Community Partnershipsnoblex1
Across the country, states and communities are mobilizing to focus attention on young children and families, and many benefits could accrue from an integration of community–school efforts with early childhood initiatives. Ample evidence from research supports such integration.
Source: https://ebookscheaper.com/2021/02/10/the-expansion-of-school-community-partnerships/
Holiday Hunger Research & Evaluation FrameworkRobin Beveridge
Greta Defayter's presentation of research into evaluation methodologies for holiday hunger programmes in the UK, as delivered to Holiday Hunger North East group on 22 Oct 14.
Since 1996, Community Education Partners, Inc. (CEP), has been providing academic intervention to help struggling students achieve their scholastic, behavioral, and social goals. CEP operates disciplinary alternative education schools as a direct contractor with public school districts. An example of the benefit of Community Education Partners programs can be seen in an evaluation of the Beechnut Academy in Houston, Texas.
The information contained in these slides was shared during NAEYC's 2016 Institute for Professional Development conference held in Baltimore, Maryland June 5-8, 2016. These slides consolidate much of the early intervention information shared by SFL's Director of Early Childhood Education Initiatives, Kamna Seth, and Senior Manager, Gauri Shirali-Deo. The topic presented, Understanding Early Intervention: Reflecting on the Scope, Need for Early Diagnosis, and Implementation of Early Intervention, underscores the importance of identifying developmental delays and developing educational strategies to address the needs of diverse learners.
Dr. Pamela Mukaire of the Resources for Improving Birth Outcomes at Liberty University discusses a project in rural Uganda to use the FHI 360 Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition approach to improve the health of families.
Mary Daly, Professor, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford - Presentation of the preliminary findings “Family and Parenting Support: Analytical Framework and Key Orientations in Policy and Provision” at the Expert Consultation on Family and Parenting Support, UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti Florence 26-27 May 2014
Improve Outcomes for Children in Foster Care by Reforming Congregate Care Pay...Public Consulting Group
In child welfare, there is growing emphasis on keeping children at home, and when that isn’t possible, placing them with relatives or in other family-like settings. Secure attachments to consistent caregivers are critical for the healthy development of children and youth, especially for very young children.Congregate care placements are also significantly costlier than traditional foster care or kinship care placements.
Policy recommendations designed to transform federal funding to support best practices in child welfare were the focus of this presentation delivered by Tracey Feild and Patrick McCarthy at an October 23, 2013, briefing on Capitol Hill.
Presented by Sharon McDonald.
6.1: Supporting Families: Federal Funding Opportunities
This workshop explores new federal funding resources that can serve homeless and at-risk parents and children. Home Visiting and the Housing and Services Demonstration for Homeless Persons are among the programs covered.
Problem Framing: Early Childhood LearningKevin Morris
A team of MDes students from OCAD University in Toronto defines problem areas and opportunities for innovation in early childhood learning in urban slums.
This study is an evaluation of the impact of a food for education program implemented in primary schools (grades 1–6) in six Cambodian provinces between 1999 and 2003. We find that school enrolment increased to varying degrees in relation to different designs of the intervention. We also investigate the effect of the program in terms of completed education and probability of having ever been in school, following up the affected cohorts in a 2009 survey. With an estimated cost of US$85 per additional child in school per year, the program can be considered very cost-effective
within a comparable class of interventions.
Check the latest research publications and presentations on our website http://www.hhs.se/site
Digital Finance and Innovations in Education: Workshop ReportCGAP
CGAP’s Digital Finance Plus initiative convened a workshop in Nairobi on 7 April 2016 aimed at bringing together stakeholders interested in the opportunities for digital finance to improve the affordability of education for low-income households. This document captures themes from the workshop presentations and design thinking session.
Findings and insights from WFP staff inquiries into how WFP programmes can be more gender sensitive in the context of supporting Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The findings were shared in a regional knowledge sharing meeting with the other WFP countries working on the Syrian response.
A presentation from Gail Hayes of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The presentation outlines and advocates for comprehensive approaches to service provision by addressing the unique needs of parents and school-aged children.
Two major policy initiatives now include chronic absence as an accountability measure for schools in California, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). This session will feature Attendance Works,the nation’s leading expert on chronic absence, California education policy leaders, and school health experts who will provide an overview of the accountability measures, how they can be used to reinforce the importance of health for attendance, and how school-based health providers can support efforts to address chronic absence.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Adversarial Attention Modeling for Multi-dimensional Emotion Regression.pdf
Savings groups, livelihoods and education
1. Savings groups, livelihoods and
education
Stuart Cameron
Eric Ananga
funded by Plan UK
via its Partnership
Programme
Agreement with
DFID
2. Context
•Despite free primary education, households face formal and
informal education costs, especially at higher levels
•Plan and other NGOs facilitate savings groups – low-risk
microfinance that foster a savings habit, smooth income and
build financial assets
Research question
•Does access to better, village-level facilities for saving and
borrowing improve educational outcomes and expenditure?
Approach
•Review of research and evaluations of SGs, mostly from
Africa
•Qualitative research on 2 villages in Ghana where Banking on
Change projects operate
2
3. Possible mechanisms
Share-outs /
loans
Changes in
household decision-
making
Spending on
education
expenses
Increased
attendance /
enrolment
Learn
more
Enhanced
livelihoods
Income
Child
labour
Food and
health care
Nutrition
and health
Women invest more
in children’s
education and health
Changes in patterns
of spending or work
(smoothing)
3
4. Literature review
• RCTs for CARE programmes in Ghana, Malawi,
Uganda, and USAID-funded savings group in Burundi,
Saving for Change in Mali
• Large number of less rigorous evaluations – often no
control group / no baseline-endline comparison
• Most are predominantly quantitative but with focus
group discussions or in-depth interviews to
complement
4
5. Literature review: direct evidence
for impact
• Share outs and loans often used for education
(though not the main use)
• Savings groups ↑educational expenditure in
some contexts.
• Lack of strong evidence on education enrolment but
small-scale studies (Uganda, Ethiopia) suggest
positive impact
5
6. Literature review: indirect
channels
• ↑business activity
• Mixed evidence on assets and income
• Mixed results on child work: may ↑ or ↓
• Mali – improved food security
• For child health no evidence of improvement
from the strongest studies
• Expenditure decisions shift towards female
household members
• Groups act as sites of collective action,
sometimes favouring education
6
7. Little new research since 2013?
• Gash and Odell (2013) Synthesis of RCTs finds mixed
and limited evidence on health and education
spending. May be used to ease timely payments rather
than increasing total.
• Brannen & Sheehan-Connor (2016) Zanzibar: possible
(non-robust) effect on educational expenditure
• Brunie et al (2014) Mozambique - potential effect on
seasonal and transitory food security, but need
supporting interventions
• Lønborg & Rasmussen (2014) Malawi – regressive
targeting
7
8. Primary research in Ghana
Village 1 - Upper West region
-Low educational indicators
-More remote
-Subsistence agriculture
Village 2 - Central region
-Better educational indicators
-Connected to urban economy
-More diversified livelihoods
In-depth individual and group
interviews with
-52 adult savings group members
-27 adult non-members
-24 children, 8 teachers, 2 community
volunteers
8
9. Context: Livelihoods
- Declining ability to live off the land, some faced food or cash
shortages
- Some out-migration for wage labour and salaried jobs
- Children often work, whether in or out of school
Context: education
- Parents have high education aspirations for children, but also
immediate need for agricultural labour, and school costs:
- informal fees + uniforms + books = about USD 12-18 at primary, USD 30 at
lower secondary … much higher at senior secondary
- Erratic attendance due to combination of not being able to pay fees
and having to work, more common than dropping out altogether
- Many enrol overage and repeat
- Children held back until they could pass exam
- Often not completing junior secondary education by 18
- Eventually drop out to work or marry
When you don’t go to school they won’t even take you to be a cleaner.
(adult member, female, Upper West)
9
10. Savings groups
- Oldest in third annual cycle, self-sustaining, supported by community
volunteer
- Weekly savings per member: Central: USD 0.50-2.50; Upper West USD 1 –
5
- Loans up to three times savings, payable within three months
- some vulnerable (poorest, older people, circular migrants) not in savings
groups
Direct educational impacts
- School attendance improving and some attributed to savings groups
- Many took small loans to pay school fees or buy uniforms – this seen as
legitimate reason for taking loans, included in constitution of some groups
- Share-outs also used, but less frequently
- According to several accounts, more children were going to school, and
fewer were being sent home because of non-payment of fees or to work
on farms
- In Central, some movement from public to private schooling
Now any time I go for a loan, it’s for the payment of the child’s school fees.
Whenever I am spending money, I think of the savings group first which I
will have to meet before any other expenses. (adult member, Central) 10
11. Indirect effects of savings groups on education
- Several interviewees said their overall income had increased due to
investment of share-outs or loans in business, allowing higher
expenditure on education
- Some support for idea that savings groups lead to improved ability
to pay for health expenses and for food in lean times, and that
migration – which can disrupt children’s schooling – had decreased
- Unable to determine with confidence whether child work had
increased or decreased as a result of the savings groups – need for
occasional work had not disappeared
- Savings groups may have placed more income in women’s hands,
increasing their de facto decision making power, including over
educational expenses
- Savings groups may have helped increase careful money
management
I use it to hire labour on my farm which increases my productivity. I
now spend more on my farm. I can now also cater for my children’s
educational expenses. (adult member, Central) 11
12. Conclusions
• Many take loans and use share-outs for
education – educational outcomes harder to
pin down
• Evidence from some contexts of increased
education expenditure and enrolments
• Combination of gradual income improvement
with better ability to pay fees on time?
• Possible indirect, longer term effects via
health and nutrition
12
13. Suggestions for further research
• Child labour – risk it could increase due to savings
groups?
• Longer term rigorous research needed
• Need to use better education indicators including
overage enrolment
• More consideration of equity effects (e.g. savings
group participation, private education)
• RCTs well suited to this type of evaluation:
interventions are relatively uniform and well-defined
• But large variation across contexts => don’t generalise
• Smaller scale qualitative studies can illuminate
underlying processes
13
14. Thank you
Stuart Cameron, Oxford Policy Management (Stuart.Cameron@opml.co.uk)
Eric Ananga, University of Education, Winneba
See also:
•Cameron, S. and Ananga, E.D. (2015) Savings groups, livelihood and
education: two case studies in Ghana. Journal of International Development,
27, 7
•Plan research report http://www.plan-uk.org/resources/documents/saving-
groups-and-educational-investments.pdf
•Plan research briefing http://www.plan-
uk.org/resources/documents/savings-groups-and-educational-investments-
research-briefing.pdf
•Blog post: Savings groups can help reduce the financial barriers to
education
14