In partnership with IREX/USAID Takamol and Ministry of Education, Arab Network for Civic Education-ANHRE launched the project “Gender-Responsive Community Initiatives to Support Secondary Schools with Low Learning Outcomes” that aims to understand local factors related to gender-related challenges facing low performing schools in communities in Jordan, identify localized opportunities for leveraging gender-sensitive community engagement to better support these schools, and implement activities to demonstrate successful strategies for parental and community engagement on gendered constraints to equitable educational outcomes.

 

Using a participatory community-led approach, ANHRE is developing a study of the underlying causes of schools with low learning outcomes and identify ways to increase school-community engagement to address these underlying causes. The project will focus on the experiences of the three grades before tawjihi. This project will target 8 communities in 4 governorates and work with 4 Community Partners including Tafila Women’s Charitable Society in Tafilah, Young Women`s Christian Association- YWCA in Madaba, Intermediaries of Change Center for Sustainable Development ‎(ICC) in Ajloun, and East Amman Association in East Amman.

 

The project is designed to achieve three levels of change to support sustainability including utilizing the study’s findings and recommendations within advocacy to the Ministry of Education and other advocacy opportunities, such as the upcoming Universal Periodical Review (UPR).  ANHRE’s ongoing advocacy for gender equality in education will be strengthened as a result of the project; the participating Community Partners will increase parent and community involvement within the target schools that continues after the project. As a result of this project, Community Partners will have stronger school-society communications and ongoing collaboration around mutually identified challenges. At the end of this project, we will encourage a set of strategic changes that put a base for future relationship, ANHRE’s findings will inform the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders working on education in Jordan about practical ways to increase parent and community engagement with schools. These stakeholders will apply the project’s learning within their work and apply the piloted community engagement strategies in other communities. 

 

During August and September 2020 ANHRE conducted a rapid desk review and worked with Takamol, MOE and the 4 community partners to incorporate feedback from different stakeholders on the gender hypotheses and finalize the research tools for the study. In cooperation with the 4 community partners, A Research was conducted and validated potential gender-responsive solutions to learning challenges.

 

ANHRE currently work with the 4 community partners to develop and implement four gender-sensitive community engagement interventions to address gendered constraints to learning outcomes in target schools, describing the activities that Community Partners will implement, and finally ANHRE will present the report findings to the Ministry of Education. If updates are needed to the report based on MOE input, ANHRE will update and finalize the report.

 

To watch the introductory video of the project, click here

 

To see photos of the local partner training workshop and complete the research tools, click here

 

To see photos of the 1st FDG in Ajloun Governorate, click here

 

For photos of the 1st FDG in Madaba Governorate, click here

 

For photos of school principals' meetings in East Amman, click here

 

For photos of the 1st FDG of the teachers, click here

 

For photos of the 1st day of the brainstorming session to develop initiatives, click here

 

For photos of the 2nd day of the brainstorming session to develop initiatives, click here