IMPACT • CHALLENGE • INTERVENTION • RESOURCES
Girls' Reading Camps Show Potential for Positive Impact on Learning in Kenya
A study conducted during Covid-19 closures — a partnership between EdTech Hub and Education Development Trust — highlights the benefits of girls’ reading camps in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. EdTech Hub showcases the positive effects of reading camps, radio lessons, and paper-based resources.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT TRUST
Highlights ➝
The challenge ➝
In response to Covid-19 school closures, a study was conducted to explore the learning experiences of girls in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) areas of Kenya. The study investigated the impact of different learning methods, either alone or in combination, including reading camps, radio lessons, and paper-based resources; these print-based resources could be workbooks, handouts and other tangible reading resources. Barriers to effective learning during this period, including a lack of literate adults at home, increased domestic chores, and a lack of control over who uses the radio in the household, further exacerbated the challenges.
The intervention ➝
The study involved 640 girls grouped into reading camps in Turkana, Kilifi, Tana River, and Samburu, and adopted a mixed-methods approach involving a survey, reading and mathematics assessments, interviews and focus groups with girls, caregivers, and community members.
Each camp typically consisted of five girls coming together four or five times a week to listen to radio lessons (lasting 40 minutes per radio lesson), use Wasichana Wetu Wafaulu (WWW) paper-based materials, and take part in group discussions all lasting about two hours. Girls could take on teacher roles and explain ideas to their peers. There were more opportunities to make connections, collaborate and bond, leading to deeper learning and more shared commitment. Solar-powered radios were given to all the households involved. Mentors and remedial teachers acted as facilitators for the clubs, which ran throughout the school closure period in Kenya from May to December 2020.
This study provides critical insights into learning continuity during a global crisis. At a time when school closures disrupted education worldwide, these reading camps offered a structured, community-driven solution. The combination of radio lessons, peer learning, and mentor support not only kept girls engaged but also fostered deeper collaboration and resilience. The data gathered is especially valuable in understanding how low-tech, adaptable approaches can sustain learning in the face of both familiar and unprecedented challenges.
The impact ➝
Results suggest that reading camps combined with paper-based learning had the greatest impact on learning. The median scores for girls who used both approaches were 8.3 percentage points higher for reading and 17.6 percentage points higher for mathematics compared to girls who accessed neither.
Reading camps were found to have mitigated against the constraints of some girls not living with literate household members. The peer-learning element of the reading camps was also a motivating factor that provided structure to girls’ days through prolonged school closures. Girls were supported and able to take on teacher roles and explain ideas to their peers. There were more opportunities to make connections, collaborate and bond, leading to deeper learning and more shared commitment.
Findings also show radio lessons were not associated with higher performance in reading and mathematics, except where girls listened to the radio in groups. The qualitative data suggested that traditional barriers — increased domestic chores, lack of control over who uses the radio in the household — to listening to radio lessons, even when girls had radios in their households, limited the impact of radio lessons.
The study provides evidence that a combination of reading camps and paper-based resources (printed workbooks, handouts and tangible reading resources) has the potential to make a significant impact on learning, particularly for girls living in ASAL areas of Kenya. These findings are especially significant because the intervention was tested at the height of an emergency.
Researchers who are looking for literature that would support work around interventions that would work for girls in ASAL regions would benefit from these insights. As such, this work has informed the publication of a collaborative piece on The Use of Technology to Promote Equity and Inclusion in Education in North and Northeast Kenya— this has been cited in two journal articles. It also provides evidence where we witness fewer than 30% of girls in ASALs sitting for secondary examinations. These statistics will help players in the education sector to make informed decisions that work for the context.
Curated resources ➝
- The Power of Girls’ Reading Camps: Exploring the impact of radio lessons, peer learning and targeted paper-based resources on girls’ remote learning in Kenya
- Using Technology to Improve Education for Marginalised Girls: Lessons in implementation from the Girls’ Education Challenge
- EdTech to Support Out-of-School Children and Adolescents
