RISE UP
Unlocking the power of communities to help more children learn
More children are in school today than ever before. The challenge now is ensuring they learn.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, 9 in 10 children still cannot read a simple sentence by the age of 10, trapping them in cycles of vulnerability – from child labour to early marriage – and shutting them out of work and opportunity.
In Ghana, while children spend an average of 12 years in school- more than in many countries across the region- many still leave without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Those 12 years translate into just 6 years of meaningful education. As a result, learning outcomes lag behind even some of the world’s most challenging education contexts, including South Sudan and Afghanistan.
The challenge is not just getting children into school. It’s how much meaningful learning is happening while they are there.
Improving learning outcomes takes more than classrooms and textbooks. It takes entire communities coming together to support children’s learning. And with nearly 90% of a child’s time spent outside the classroom, families and communities play a critical role in shaping whether children reach their full potential.
Yet they are rarely equipped and seen as vital partners in children’s education.
“I see a strong appetite for communities to build their dignity and drive their own development. With the right knowledge, motivation and practical tools, they can ensure every child’s right to a quality education.”
– David Pwalua, AfriKids’ Country Director in Ghana
RISE UP CHANGES THAT
Rise Up moves beyond traditional education models by engaging entire communities, not just schools or families, in supporting young people’s learning – because real transformation happens when everyone plays a role.
Under Rise Up, we’re testing a low-cost, community-led approach that strengthens skills and collaboration between families, schools and local leaders to increase the time children spend learning, both in the classroom and at home, starting in northern Ghana.
Our goal is to generate evidence on what works, and scale a model that ensures every child, no matter where they live, has the chance to learn, thrive and shape their own future.
“We all share a vision of wanting to make change happen for every child. The key to change is stronger collaboration between caregivers, schools and local leaders, so communities can actively support every child to learn.”
– Linda Marfoh, AfriKids’ Director of Operations
Rise Up will tackle one of Africa’s biggest education challenges: not just getting children into school, but ensuring they learn.
By 2050, Africa will be home to one-third of the world’s children and a quarter of its workforce. With global education funding shrinking, the future of education will depend on communities leading the way.
HOW RISE UP WORKS: BUILDING COMMUNITIES WHO CHAMPION CHILDREN’S LEARNING
For more than 20 years, AfriKids has worked alongside communities in northern Ghana to tackle the barriers holding children back from learning. One lesson has been clear:
Lasting change happens when communities lead it themselves.
Rise Up strengthens the support systems around a child’s learning by equipping and bringing together families, local leaders, schools and communities.
EQUIPPING PARENTS TO SUPPORT THEIR CHILD’S LEARNING
Through Guardian Learning Circles, parents and caregivers come together in small community groups to support their children’s learning. A training programme and 1:1 mentoring equips guardians to support their children’s learning at home, prepare them to learn in school, and build financial capability to support education. Topics include: the value of education, bonding with your child, affordable learning techniques for daily life, climate education, financial literacy and saving, and child protection.
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP & SCHOOL COLLABORATION
Working with key influencers who determine whether children learn or not, including Chiefs, Queen Mothers, religious leaders, youth leaders and local government representatives. Through monthly workshops, leaders learn their role in education: encouraging caregivers to send children to school, working with schools to identify challenges and make improvement action plans, and utilising Community Education Trust Funds to invest in education systems.
INSPIRING A MOVEMENT FOR LEARNING
Community, radio and youth-led education awareness campaigns that reach entire communities encouraging every child to go to school and every community member to see their role in a child’s learning.
TOGETHER, THIS CREATES CHANGE
These approaches create a coordinated, community-led system that supports children’s learning consistently, at school, at home, and throughout daily life.
Rather than focusing only on getting children into school, Rise Up focuses on whether children are actually learning, tackling the root causes that prevent young people from gaining the literacy and numeracy skills they need to thrive.
A MODEL READY FOR SCALE
Rise Up is being piloted in northern Ghana, where children in rural communities face some of the greatest barriers to learning. But its ambition reaches far beyond one region. The pilot is designed to generate practical, evidence-driven solutions that can inform national education policy and contribute to global learning on what works best for children.
Guided by a leading Research Partner and supported by a National Steering Committee of education experts and government stakeholders, Rise Up combines community leadership with rigorous research and accountability.
Answering the question: What difference do supportive families and communities make to children learning?
THROUGH THE INITIATIVE, WE ARE EXPLORING:
- How community collaboration improves learning outcomes
- The role families and communities can play at scale
- Which approaches deliver the greatest impact for foundational learning, most cost-effectively.
By testing and refining the model, Rise Up aims to build scalable solutions that can shape future investment and strengthen education systems for the long term.
WHAT MAKES RISE UP DIFFERENT?
IT IS TRULY LOCALLY-LED
Rise Up will be led by a network of local community members trained by AfriKids who will sustain change beyond the project. They will activate the power of their whole community to get behind education, not just fragments of society like teachers, schools or parents in isolation.
IT’S A COST-EFFECTIVE, SCALABLE SOLUTION
Instead of asking how to build more classrooms, AfriKids’ Rise Up pilot is asking how to build communities that fill those classrooms and support every child to learn – at school and beyond. If we can unlock the power of every parent and every community to support children’s learning, the implications for global education are profound.
IT GENERATES VITAL MISSING EVIDENCE
Quantified evidence of the difference that community and parent-led learning interventions make to learning in low-income contexts is limited. This means changemakers are not investing at scale. Testing in diverse contexts, with control and treatment environments, we will build a robust, practical and scalable model.
Rise Up will generate robust evidence and a practical model that proves that when external funding falls short, even the most low-resourced communities have the power to ensure that every child has the chance to learn – not just a small number reached through externally driven programmes.
Powered by partnership
Rise Up is made possible because of incredible partners standing behind it, organisations and supporters who share our belief in the power of community in shaping every child’s future.
Together, we are investing in community-led solutions that are transforming the way children learn, both in the classroom and at home.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
You can help spark lasting change for children, families and communities across northern Ghana.
Join AfriKids and be part of a growing movement transforming education through the power of community.
