Learning through Education and Access to Employment Pathways (LEAP)

  • P Project/Program

A Active

Key Information

Learning through Education and Access to Employment Pathways (LEAP) will increase empowerment of girls and young women in Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps, and in nearby hosting communities in Turkana County. This will be achieved through targeted activities to improve learning outcomes, provide skills training, and promote lifelong learning and earning opportunities. The project will also prepare young women for the jobs of the future through bridging the digital divide, and supporting school environments that are accessible, safe, and free from gender-based violence (GBV). The LEAP Project will also equip adolescent girls and young women with transferable skills to allow them to sustain themselves and their families as adults, contributing to social development and sustainable economic growth. The project will work with a diverse group of non-profit, for-profit, and government actors and will provide interventions and opportunities at the individual, school, and community level. 

 

Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenya

Activity URL

https://wusc.ca/return-to-school/

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2019 - 2024

Partner(s)

Africa’s Voices Foundation, Beyond Borders, Danish Refugee Council, Solidarity Initiative for Refugees

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

Funder(s)

COVID-19 Response

Adapted

Geographic Scope

Sub-national

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Attainment

  • Primary completion
  • Primary enrollment
  • Primary to secondary transition
  • Secondary completion
  • Secondary Enrollment

Other

  • Transition from school to work

Other skills

  • Financial literacy
  • Life skills/sexuality education
  • Rights/empowerment education
  • Social and emotional learning
  • Vocational training

Quality

  • Curricula/lesson plans
  • School quality
  • School violence
  • Teacher training

Skills

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Other academic performance-related

Cross-cutting areas

  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Community sensitization
  • COVID-19 Response
  • Digital literacy
  • Early/child marriage
  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Empowerment
  • Gender equality
  • HIV and STIs
  • Masculinities/boys
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • Mentorship
  • Other aspects of sexual and reproductive health
  • Other cultural practices
  • Sexual harassment & coercion
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs
  • Violence (at home, in relationships)

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Girls (both in school and out of school), Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Lower primary
  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

  • Boys (both in school and out of school)
  • Brothers
  • Community leaders
  • Fathers
  • Mothers
  • Other caregivers
  • Other community members - female
  • Other community members - male
  • Other family members
  • Parent-teacher associations/school management committees
  • Religious leaders
  • School administrators
  • Teachers - female
  • Teachers - male

Participants include

  • Adolescent mothers (pregnant or parenting)
  • Displaced/refugee - External (from other countries)
  • Nomadic groups
  • Orphans and vulnerable children
  • People living with HIV/AIDS
  • People with disabilities

Program Approaches Back to Top

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Community mobilization
  • General awareness-raising/community engagement
  • Parent Teacher Associations (PTA)
  • School management committees

Curriculum/learning

  • Competency-level grouping
  • Gender-sensitive curricula
  • Remedial education/skills

Educational Technology

  • Digital devices for the purposes of studying, learning
  • Digital skills/literacy (including coding)
  • Online training

Health and childcare services

  • Referrals to health services

Learning while working

  • Vocational training

Life skills education

  • Gender, rights and power
  • Negotiation skills
  • Sexual and reproductive health (including puberty education)
  • Social and emotional learning (SEL) skills building

Menstrual hygiene management

  • Educating girls about menstruation

Mentoring/psychosocial support

  • School-based counselors
  • Teachers as mentors

Policy/legal environment

  • Public-private partnerships

Reducing economic barriers

  • Conditional cash transfers (including non-cash goods) to individuals/households
  • Financial literacy training
  • Income-generating activities
  • Scholarships/stipends for school fees

School-related gender-based violence

  • Anti-violence policies and codes of conduct
  • Safe and welcoming schools
  • Safe channels/mechanisms for reporting violence
  • 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
  • Work with religious leaders

Teaching

  • 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
  • Numeracy - outside the classroom
  • Tutoring - general

Women's empowerment programs

  • Empowerment training
  • Leadership training
  • Self-help groups (financial, including savings and credit groups)

Show More

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 literacy
  • Increased numeracy
  • Increased primary school completion
  • Increased progression to secondary school
  • Increased re-enrolment in school among out-of-school children
  • Increased school completion (general)
  • Increased school enrolment (general)
  • Increased secondary school enrolment
  • Reduced absenteeism

Cross-cutting goals

  • Changed social norms
  • Improved financial literacy and savings
  • Improved sexual and reproductive health
  • Improved understanding of sexual harassment, coercion, and consent
  • 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 adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Reduced intimate partner violence
  • Reduced school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)
  • Reduced violence against children in the home

Additional Information Back to Top

Primary Contact

Mary Kwena
World University Service of Canada (WUSC)
Project Manager
mkwena@wusc.ca