Technical Advice to DFIDs Girls Education Challenge

In 2017, NFER was asked to provide technical assistance on the Girls’ Education Challenge programme (GEC).

The GEC is the flagship programme of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), and aims to improve the learning opportunities and outcomes of over one million marginalised girls around the world.

Technical advice

NFER provided technical assistance that was tailor-made for the GEC’s needs. Our team provided an expert review of the assessments and mark schemes.

We also studied the measurement of cognitive and non-cognitive skills for students aged 10 to 19, and evaluated existing instruments for suitability. From our analysis, we made a series of recommendations on how to assess cognitive and non-cognitive skills for GEC’s target group.

This technical advice was delivered in 2017. It was used to improve the evaluation approaches of over 20 GEC grantees, including some of the largest NGOs in the world. Our recommendations also served to inform GEC’s wider approach to assessment of skills in the programme.