Effects of the EU-SERD II Project on Students’ Literacy Levels: The case of Dadaab Refugee Camp

SERD II is envisioned to contribute to voluntary repatriation of refugees and provide access to quality education and training in the Daadab Camps. The project targets: children, ALP learners, youth, primary school teacher trainees, children with special needs, ECDE teachers and host/ refugee communities. The consortia is focused on achieving the project’s objectives which include; a) Increase access to and enhance the quality of education within the camps with a focus on preparing the refugees for repatriation back to Somalia; b) Improved access to education for children and youth in Dadaab refugee camps and those returning to Somalia and; c) Increased education opportunities and prospects for skills repatriation among children, youth, teachers and communities. 

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of EU- SERD II Project’s teachers’ capacity development on Grade three and four students’ literacy levels in Dadaab Refugee Camps. This is realized through a counterfactual analysis focusing on children receiving interventions and those that never received teaching from a program-supported teacher. The key research question to be explored in this report is: What is the effect of EU- SERD II Project’s teachers capacity development on grade three and four students’ literacy levels in Dadaab Refugee Camps? To answer this question, the assessment team surveyed a sample of grade three and four students in the Dadaab refugee camps—Ifo, Dagahaley, and Hagadera—from classrooms taught by teachers who had participated in the EU-SERD II training in 2016 and 2017. The pupils were given a background questionnaire and a short literacy assessment in English. This report describes their results compared to a sample of grade three and four students from a comparison group—classrooms taught by teachers who had applied for the EU-SERD II program but did not participate.