Is University Education More Important for a Boy than for a Girl? Social approval of unequal educational opportunity across 21 countries

In Mauritania, many learners struggle with French, one of the official languages of instruction at school. This language barrier hinders student progress with the curriculum, increasing the chances of leaving school. This risk disproportionately affects adolescent girls due to discriminatory social norms undermining their continued education, even in urban areas of the capital, Nouakchott. To address these challenges, UNICEF Mauritania, in collaboration with the Akelius Foundation and national partners, has initiated a blended course to improve French proficiency for girls in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of Nouakchott. The blended course, which takes place at a community-based facility during afternoons, integrates regular teaching with the offline use of the Akelius Digital Learning app. This research brief presents evidence on how the blended course supported vulnerable girls’ learning and other socio-emotional skills. It highlights lessons learnt for practitioners in implementing digital learning in resource-constrained environments, including the reliance on offline solutions and the co-design of digital content with the teachers.

En Mauritanie, de nombreux élèves rencontrent des difficultés dans la maitrise du français, l'une des langues officielles d'enseignement à l'école. Cette barrière linguistique entrave la progression des élèves dans le programme, augmentant ainsi les risques d'abandon scolaire. Ce risque touche en particulier les adolescentes en raison de normes sociales discriminatoires qui compromettent la poursuite de leurs études, même dans des zones urbaines de la capitale, Nouakchott. Pour relever ces défis, l'UNICEF, en collaboration avec la Fondation Akelius et des partenaires nationaux, a lancé un cours hybride visant à améliorer la maîtrise du français pour les filles vivant dans un quartier défavorisé de Nouakchott. Ce cours hybride, qui se déroule dans un centre communautaire l'après-midi, intègre un enseignement traditionnel avec l'utilisation hors ligne de l'application d’apprentissage digital Akelius. Cette note de recherche présente les résultats que le cous hybride a contribué à atteindre en termes l'apprentissage et de compétences socio-émotionnelles. Elle met en lumière les enseignements tirés dans la mise en œuvre de l'apprentissage numérique dans des environnements aux ressources limitées, notamment en s'appuyant sur des solutions hors ligne et en concevant conjointement le contenu numérique avec les enseignants.

‘Known from Birth: Generating and using evidence to strengthen birth registration systems in low- and middle-income countries’ is the evidence component of Strengthening Birth Registration Systems to Protect Every Child from Child Labour, a UNICEF project supported by the Government of Norway. The project focuses on implementing comprehensive programmes in Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Nigeria to accelerate birth registration (BR) for all children – especially children from the most vulnerable communities – starting from birth.

This brief is an evidence gap map created as part of the Known from Birth project, which is producing a series of products developed collaboratively by UNICEF Innocenti and South Africa Centre for Evidence (SACE). These products examine birth registration and its critical importance for child protection. The project is supported by the Government of Norway and focuses on implementing comprehensive programmes in Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Nigeria to accelerate birth registration for all children – especially children from the most vulnerable communities – starting from birth.