Research into Room to Read’s Girl’s Education Programme COVID Pivot Activities
Client: Room to Read
Duration: 2021 - 2023
Geography: Cambodia, India and Nepal
Partners: Fab Inc, M&C Saatchi World Services, Sigma Research and Consulting, Rooster Logic, Indochina Research
Solutions: Evaluation, Research
Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Programme (GEP) supports adolescent girls to complete secondary school and acquire the skills and agency needed to make informed choices about their lives. Led by women from local communities, the programme offers girls life skills training sessions and individual and group mentorship delivered in-person, as well as a social and material support in nine countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Vietnam.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country and global teams responsible for the GEP re-designed activities to continue delivering programmes despite the additional challenges faced by programme participants, their families and local communities. Each country took a different approach to the COVID pivot activities based on the restrictions in place and resources available.
Room to Read contracted Oxford MeasurEd to carry out research to understand how the Girls’ Education Programme pivoted in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and to assess the relevance, quality, effectiveness and cost implications of the pivot activities. This research was intended to inform Room to Read’s decisions about long-term planning, especially in the event of future crises, as well as contribute to the global evidence base for governments and global actors delivering programming to girls.
Key Activities:
Directing and managing the research study, including overseeing and collaborating with our consortium of partners
Co-designing the research study with the Room to Read team
Conducting quantitative and qualitative research with programme staff and with adolescent girls, their caregivers and head teachers to understand their experiences of the pandemic and the support provided by Room to Read
Reviewing the quality and gender transformative nature of mass media (radio and television) broadcast materials produced by Room to Read during the pandemic
