Baseline, Mid-Line and End-Line Surveys for the DfID-funded Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) Fund in Zimbabwe 

The Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) fund was part of a DfID GBP 350 million fund to expand education opportunities for one million girls worldwide and focussed specifically on projects able to demonstrate new and effective ways to expand education opportunities for girls. Opinion Research Business (ORB), reporting to Coffey International Development, was responsible for the evaluation of the Fund across all countries where the GEC was implemented. In Zimbabwe, ORB partnered with Q Partnership (QP) to conduct the baseline study, mid-term and end-line evaluations. QP’s role was to pilot and translate survey instruments and to conduct thousands of interviews, numeracy and literacy assessments and qualitative research across Zimbabwe, as part of this evaluation to measure changes to learning outcomes as a result of the GEC investment.

Q Partnership also partnered with INTRAC (UK) and Miske Witte & Associates (USA) for the baseline study and mid-line evaluation for World Vision’s GEC-funded ‘IGATE’ (Improving Girls’ Access to Education) project in Zimbabwe. The aims of the project included reducing barriers to girls’ education and improving girls’ access, permanence and success in school, with a key target group being disabled girls and girls who are vulnerable for other reasons. Each survey involved over 8,000 interviews with girls and their primary care givers, their teachers and school headmasters, and included literacy and numeracy assessments for girls. The qualitative component involved focus group discussions and in depth interviews with key informants in each of the ten districts of Zimbabwe where this study was carried out. QP was jointly responsible, with INTRAC, for the design of the methodology for the baseline survey, for data collection, analysis and reporting.