Peer-reviewed article

From the Minds of Adolescents: What Has Worked for Them in an Education Intervention in the Slums of Nairobi

Benta A. Abuya, Nelson Muhia · 28 Oct 2020

Abstract

This paper highlights findings from the, ‘Advancing learning outcomes for transformational change (A LOT-Change), whose goal was to increase efforts towards securing the future of children living in urban informal settlements. The intervention was implemented in Korogocho and Site 2 respectively. This paper looks at the narratives from girls, boys and their parents and seeks to answer the question, “From the minds of adolescents: What has worked for them in an education intervention in the slums of Nairobi. Qualitative data comes from the qualitative component of the endline evaluation study that was collected in July and August 2018, by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). Findings from this study done by APHRC show that: scores in numeracy skills and literacy skills improved, improved self-confidence, which enabled girls to model the way in their schools and communities. Aspirations for school and higher education improved as girls and boys wanted to go beyond primary school. Communication improved across the board girls and boys, together with their parents. Girls and boys gained the confidence to speak up due to the knowledge gained out of the motivational talks within the leadership component. Overall, this paper reinforces the importance of young people having a voice to speak up on programs that affect their lives.