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Increasing girls’ education in low-‐income communities is proven to be one of the
most effective ways to alleviate global poverty, yet millions of girls around the
world still struggle to complete a basic primary school education. Through evaluation
of the Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER), an NGO that
works in the rural village of Muhuru Bay in southwestern Kenya, this study sheds light
on best strategies and methods to help girls complete primary school and continue
onto secondary school. Secondary school scholarships are shown to be especially useful
in decreasing the high costs associated with girls’ education, decreasing negative
cultural attitudes, and encouraging girls from poor households to pursue academic
studies. Yet, despite these gains, many girls still lack full parental support and
are often unable to pay primary school fees. Pay-‐for-‐performance teaching incentives
and free exam preparation lessons are also notable successes of the WISER program.
The main conclusion of the study, however, is that any girls’ education initiative
should be holistic in its approach and should take into account all the broader challenges
facing girls. These include issues such as menstruation, sexual violence, hunger,
and classroom discrimination. A number of recommendations are provided at the end
of the study for how the WISER program could expound upon its success, with the hope
that these insights will also be valuable to local leaders, development practitioners,
and policymakers interested in using education as a tool to uplift girls in communities
similar to Muhuru Bay.
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