This blog was written by Dr Benta Abuya, Research Scientist, and Davis Muli Musyoki, Communications Officer, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC).
Across sub-Saharan Africa, the global learning crisis continues to undermine the promise of universal education. Millions of children attend school but leave without mastering basic literacy and numeracy skills. This challenge is particularly acute in disadvantaged urban contexts, such as informal settlements, where poverty, overcrowding and limited resources undermine the quality of education. Although urban areas are often assumed to offer better schooling opportunities, this “urban advantage” does not always hold for children living in informal settlements.
In Kenya, adolescents growing up in informal settlements, such as Korogocho and Viwandani, face multiple barriers that affect their educational outcomes. These barriers include unstable household incomes, limited parental support for learning, and overcrowded schools. For girls, the challenges are often compounded by gender norms, safety concerns and expectations around domestic responsibilities. As a result, many girls struggle to maintain consistent academic performance during the transition from primary to secondary school.
To better understand how to address these challenges, researchers at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) implemented the Advancing Learning Outcomes and Transformational Change (ALOT-Change) programme. The initiative aimed to support adolescents living in Nairobi’s informal settlements through a community-based after-school intervention that strengthened both academic learning and life skills.
While the programme targeted both girls and boys in its later phases, its design and early implementation were strongly informed by concerns about girls’ education and empowerment. The intervention, therefore, provides valuable insights into how targeted learning support can improve outcomes for adolescent girls living in resource-constrained urban environments.
The gendered realities of learning in informal settlements
Education research increasingly recognises that access to schooling alone is not enough to ensure meaningful learning. In many low-income settings, students remain enrolled in school but fail to acquire foundational competencies. This problem is particularly severe among disadvantaged populations where school quality and home learning environments are limited.
For girls living in informal settlements, education is shaped by a complex mix of structural and social factors. Household poverty often forces families to prioritise immediate survival needs over educational investments. Girls may also face expectations to assist with domestic work or caregiving responsibilities, reducing the time available for studying. In some cases, early relationships, safety concerns or social pressures can disrupt schooling during adolescence.
At the same time, education offers one of the most important pathways for girls to break cycles of poverty and vulnerability. Evidence shows that when girls complete secondary education, they are more likely to delay marriage, participate in the labour force, and contribute to broader social development. Ensuring that girls not only attend school but also develop strong literacy and numeracy skills is therefore essential for achieving gender equality in education.
A community-supported intervention
The ALOT-Change programme was developed as an after-school support initiative designed to strengthen adolescents’ academic and socio-emotional development. The intervention combined several components intended to address both school-based and household-level barriers to learning.
Participants engaged in mentorship sessions focused on developing key life skills, including self-awareness, responsible decision-making and relationship-building. These sessions were particularly important for adolescent girls, navigating the social pressures associated with growing up in informal settlements.
The programme also organised career exposure visits and motivational talks, enabling students to interact with professionals and explore potential career pathways. For many girls and boys, these experiences helped expand their aspirations beyond the immediate constraints of their communities.
Another key component of the intervention was service-learning activities that encouraged adolescents to apply what they had learned through community engagement. These activities reinforced leadership skills and helped build participants’ confidence.
Recognising the critical role of families in supporting education, the programme also included parental guidance and counselling sessions. These sessions encouraged parents to become more actively involved in their children’s education and to support girls’ continued participation in school.
In addition, the programme provided holiday homework support through peer-to-peer learning groups and introduced digital literacy training through partnerships with local technology providers. These components ensured that adolescents had opportunities to strengthen both academic and technological skills outside the formal classroom environment.
Evaluating the impact
To assess the programme’s effectiveness, researchers conducted a quasi-experimental study involving two groups of students in Korogocho and Viwandani. The first group consisted of adolescents who had previously participated in earlier phases of the intervention and were followed as they transitioned into secondary school. The second group included students recruited at the start of secondary school who had not participated in earlier phases of the programme.
The analysis examined changes in literacy and numeracy outcomes across different levels of academic performance. This approach enabled the researchers to understand not only average effects but also how the intervention influenced learners at different points along the achievement distribution.
The results suggest that participation in the programme was associated with improved learning outcomes, particularly among students who had been exposed to the intervention over a longer period. Adolescents who participated in earlier phases of the programme generally performed better in literacy and numeracy assessments than those in the comparison group.
Importantly, the findings also revealed gender-specific patterns in learning outcomes. Girls tended to outperform boys in literacy across several performance levels. This aligns with global evidence showing that girls often develop stronger reading skills than boys during adolescence.
However, the analysis also revealed a persistent gender gap in numeracy. Girls generally scored lower than boys in mathematics-related assessments, particularly among higher-achieving students. This finding reflects broader trends in many education systems, where gender stereotypes and classroom dynamics influence girls’ confidence and participation in mathematics.
These patterns highlight the importance of designing interventions that explicitly address gender differences in learning outcomes. While programmes may strengthen overall academic performance, additional strategies may be needed to support girls’ engagement with numeracy-related subjects.
The importance of learning environments
The study also identified several factors that influence adolescents’ learning outcomes in informal settlements.
One important factor is reading habits. Students who reported reading regularly at home performed significantly better in both literacy and numeracy assessments. This finding suggests that strengthening reading culture within households and communities can have a powerful effect on learning outcomes.
School attendance also played a critical role. Students who missed school during the previous week generally performed worse than those who attended regularly. This underscores the importance of ensuring consistent school participation, particularly during the transition from primary to secondary education when many adolescents experience disruptions in their schooling.
Household characteristics also influenced learning outcomes. Adolescents living in households headed by a household head with at least basic education tended to perform better academically. This finding suggests that parental education can shape the home learning environment in ways that support students’ academic development.
Lessons for girls’ education
Several important lessons emerge from the experience of implementing the ALOT-Change intervention.
First, community-supported learning programmes can help address educational differences faced by girls and boys in informal settlements. By combining academic support with mentorship and life skills training, such programmes create environments where adolescent girls and boys can build confidence and strengthen their learning.
Second, gender-responsive programming is essential. While girls may perform well in literacy, targeted efforts are needed to strengthen their engagement with numeracy and STEM-related subjects. Mentorship programmes, role models and confidence-building activities can help address gender stereotypes that discourage girls from pursuing mathematics and science.
Third, engaging families is crucial for sustaining adolescent girls’ and boys’ education. When parents understand the value of education and actively support their daughters’ learning, girls are more likely to remain in school and succeed academically.
Finally, interventions must recognise that learning is shaped by a combination of school, home and community environments. Programmes that address only one of these dimensions are unlikely to produce lasting change.
Looking ahead
Improving learning outcomes in informal settlements requires more than expanding access to education. It requires targeted strategies that address structural inequalities affecting disadvantaged communities.
Community-based interventions such as ALOT-Change confirm that when programmes combine academic support, mentorship and parental engagement, they can make a meaningful difference in adolescents’ lives. For adolescent girls and boys living in informal settlements, these interventions provide not only improved learning opportunities but also the confidence and aspirations needed to pursue brighter futures.
As governments and development partners work toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education and Goal 5 on gender equality, investing in gender-responsive education interventions will be critical. Ensuring that girls and boys in informal settlements acquire strong literacy and numeracy skills is not only an education priority—it is a foundation for inclusive and equitable development.
