CREATE Research

CREATE is a five-year programme of research with distinct stages and activities.

Phase One:  The emphasis in phase one was on mapping access issues, identifying research gaps and developing research relations within the consortium and key audiences. Outputs included:

• Four Country Analytic Reviews (CARs) were completed.  
• A series of cross national and thematic reviews of access were developed in the Pathways to Access (PTA) series of research monograph.
• An extensive annotated bibliography was developed and made available on the CREATE website.
• Partners produced framework research plans for community and school based studies in several districts in each country and developed draft research instruments.  

Phase Two: The emphasis during stage two was on data collection, analysis and the production of outputs. The focus of this was Community and School Studies (ComSS) carried out in South Africa, India, Ghana and Bangladesh.  ComSS included:

• School and community level data collection with cohorts of children and their educational access being tracked between field visits.
• Household surveys linking to tracked children.
• Attainments tests of children in basic numeracy and literacy linked to tracked children.
• School based data collection and interviews with staff linked to tracked children.

These studies varied between countries, but each worked on a common set of research questions, similar research tools and focused on CREATE’s zones of exclusion. Household survey instruments and structured / semi-structured interview schedules (for teachers, head teachers and children in and out of school) were used mostly.  Patterns and processes of exclusion were analysed for those children enrolled and at risk of exclusion and those excluded. Access to exclusion was mapped and determinants of exclusion identified. The research teams further understand the dynamics of improving access to education.

In Ghana CREATE research has taken place in Savelugu-Nanton in the Northern Region of Ghana and the Mfantseman district in the Central Region. Data was collected from schools and households in six communities and eight basic schools from four circuits in Savelugu-Nanton and from six communities and eight basic schools in Mfantseman. The Northern Region is the 3rd poorest region and the Central Region the 4th poorest region in Ghana.

In India ComSS research has taken place in the Rajnandgaon district of Chattishgarh and the Rewa and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh. The research covers 90 schools and 6,431 households from 36 villages. The research sites were chosen because they were also used in another study on educational access in 1990 by the NUEPA Partner Institute Coordinator, R. Govinda, allowing for comparisons to be made.

In South Africa CREATE research was undertaken in two sites, Ekurhuleni District in Gauteng and Amathole district in the Eastern Cape. Eight research sites (schools) were selected in Gauteng and six in the Eastern Cape. Additional research in Eastern Cape was carried out on fee free schools. The focus of CREATE research in South Africa is on meaningful and equitable access.

In Bangladesh ComSS research has been carried out in six rural areas, one in each division of Bangladesh. Across these six areas, surveys were administered to 36 schools, and to 6,695 households containing 9,047 children aged 4-15. Further separate surveys were administered to drop out and never-enrolled children; a child tracking survey aimed to act as a bridge between the child data from the household survey and information about schools gathered in the school survey. Literacy tests were administered to parents of ongoing, never-enrolled and drop-out children and to drop-out children themselves. There has been two rounds of data collection.

In addition to ComSS studies other activities in Phase Two included: Secondary Analyses of data and thematic studies. Secondary analyses of data make use of existing national and international data sets. These include Household surveys and EMIS and Sector Review data that may exist. Thematic Studies add to the Pathways to Access series of research monographs. These are of special importance to access in different contexts. Some such studies include data from the ComSS.  

Outputs included:

• A series of fieldwork reports were developed by partner countries in Bangladesh, India, Ghana and South Africa.
• A series of cross national and national reviews of access were developed in the Pathways to Access (PTA) series of research monograph.
• Synthesis reports (and books in some cases) to be developed by partner countries.
• Journal articles.

Phase Three:
Phase Three focuses on getting CREATE’s research messages to its target audiences and occurs in the run up to the MDG and EFA reviews of 2010. Clear policy messages have been derived from research studies.  These are distilled into formats appropriate to target audiences and CREATE researchers will disseminate messages widely in local, national and international fora.