Community Engagement Strategy

The overall goal of the AQE Activity is for out-of-school and over-aged learners to access and complete quality lower basic education and transition to the formal education system if age appropriate, or to other alternative programs. Community understanding, engagement, and support are critical to achieving this goal, as Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and other community members influence and make decisions about accelerated learning program (ALP) enrollment, support completion, monitor quality, and address school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) and enable safe learning environments (SLE). Therefore, the AQE Activity developed a robust, multi-faceted Community Engagement Strategy (CES) to work with and through PTAs and other community members to mobilize communities, encourage learners to attend and complete ALP levels, monitor teacher and learner attendance and quality of instruction and learning, raise awareness and address SRGBV, and support SLE for learners. The CES is informed by relevant Ministry of Education (MOE) policy, including the National Parent Teacher Association, Community Engagement and Dropouts Prevention Policy. The CES supports this policy's objectives to improve educational access, equity, quality, and relevance through the establishment and strengthening of PTAs, ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization and management of school assets and resources, and enhance increased enrollment, retention, and completion of students, especially girls, by promoting community engagement and participation in educational matters. The CES also requires some flexibility as MOE publishes new policy and guidelines. For example, after the inception of the AQE Activity, MOE published the Learner Eligibility Assessment and Certification Policy (LEACP) guidelines that includes instruction for school-based registrars to enroll over-aged learners into ALPs. This resulted in more over-age learners who were already in school being directed to the ALP in AQE sites than originally anticipated. AQE data gathered through the School Quality Assessment (SQA) midline in 2020 supports this by showing that 24% of learners answer 'no' when asked if they had been to school before and 76% answered 'yes' to that same question. The CES describes the approaches, products, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools that contribute to the overall strategy and which are part of the transition work ongoing with the Liberian MOE. The final section includes a summary of AQE research that supports and demonstrates effectiveness of components of the CES. The research highlights the importance of community engagement and support in achieving the goals of the AQE Activity, and demonstrates the effectiveness of the CES in mobilizing communities, encouraging learners to attend and complete ALP levels, and addressing SRGBV and SLE.