ComSS Research Questions

A series of research questions have been developed by CREATE consortium partners for the ComSS. While these might change, at this stage these include:

• At community/school level what are current patterns of access and exclusion; who is currently excluded from basic education at different stages; and why are they excluded?

• How do family-community-school-local authority relationships interact to shape patterns of access? How have these been changing and why? What local level initiatives have been taken to improve sustained meaningful access? What higher level initiatives (local government, national policy etc.) have had an impact and why?

• How do community/school patterns of access and exclusion fit with patterns in surrounding areas at district and zonal level? How typical or exceptional are the communities/schools chosen for research? How do they interact with surrounding areas (especially important where there is migration/school transfer/school transition issues).

• Where some sub-populations experience no access to basic education (i.e. children are never enrolled – Zone 1), what options are available to extend meaningful access and what is the evidence that these options (including alternative modes of delivery) are effective and sustainable? To what extent is non-participation a supply or demand side problem? Do enrolment practices (proof of residence/nationality, birth certificates, cultural preferences etc) create barriers to enrolment? How significant are family decision making processes in determining exclusion?

• How widespread is over (and under) age enrolment and what are its causes and consequences for retention, progression and drop out? How does repetition interact with age grade progress? Is repetition a rational choice?

• To what extent is pre-school available and for whom? Does it have a subsequent independent impact on enrolment and completion? Where there are policies to extend access to pre-school age children how are these being implemented with what consequences?

• What processes result in crossing thresholds into exclusion for those who have entered some form of primary education (in the early years, in mid-primary grades, at the end of primary, in lower secondary) and what factors are determinants of exclusion (Zone 3)? What options are available to improve progression, completion, and transition rates and reduce repetition and overage completion? How can drop before primary completion be reduced?

• What are the circumstances of those in Zone 2 who have dropped out? What would motivate them to return to basic education and what are the barriers to their re-entry? Are alternative sources of basic education provision available to them? Are these effective? To what extent is their non-participation a supply or demand side problem at different grade levels? Is child labour significant?

• What patterns of attendance exist (pupils and teachers) over time? Is poor attendance a precursor to drop out? What reasons result in irregular and chronic non-attendance and what mechanisms are there which might reduce the problem? How significant are health and nutrition related factors directly and indirectly in influencing participation?

• How is transition from primary to secondary school managed (and transitions within the primary cycle) and what effects does the process have on meaningful access of different sub-populations through to the age of 15 years? What effects do primary/secondary transition rates have on primary completion? What options exist to improve transition rates into lower secondary grades in pro-poor ways?

• What are the health and nutrition related issues that shape participation and attendance? To what extent do schools act to identify and resolve health and nutrition related problems? What patterns of morbidity exist and what kinds of amelioration is available? Which school based health interventions show most promise? What are the pros and cons of school feeding programmes and their effects?

• How important are different kinds of disability in influencing access? How prevalent are different disabilities that result in exclusion? What strategies if any do schools have for supporting those with disabilities?

• To what extent are innovatory and alternative forms of service delivery being used with positive effects at different levels including alternative and parallel systems? What role(s) are alternate service providers playing with what effects and with what capacity to develop, displace or complement orthodox public school provision?

• What are the resource issues that are critical to improved access? Are direct and indirect costs of attendance a significant disincentive to the poorest? Where cash transfers exist what is their efficacy? What are the costs of interventions known to influence sustained enrolment e.g. school feeding?

• On current trends what levels of inclusion will be achieved by 2010 and 2015? Are these likely to result in near universal access and successful completion of primary schooling and participation through to the age of 15 years in lower secondary? If not what are the most promising strategies to achieve this result? What resources and other inputs would they require?