By Abi Nokes, CEO of Future First Global
It’s a new year and over the holiday period the team and I enjoyed taking the opportunity to reflect on a transformative 2018. In this blog we’ll share with you our five big learnings and what we’re looking forward to in the coming year.
In 2018 we worked with eight brilliant partners in nine countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. We supported them to build strong networks and alumni communities that will benefit an estimated 120,000 young people over the next two years.
By working across so many different contexts, we are developing deep insight into what works for different networks. For example, how networks in rural schools differ from urban, or how school-led alumni communities differ from youth-led networks born out of organisations. Here are our top five learnings from 2018:
1. Relatable role models promote Gender Equality
Late last year, we launched a programme with CARE Foundation in Pakistan. Speaking with school leaders, students and alumni in Lahore, demonstrated to me just how important building alumni communities is to achieving Gender Equality.
It’s a societal norm in rural communities for young girls to leave education early and take up a role in the home. But if somebody from your own community bucks that trend, it can help break down that norm and encourage you to complete school.
I saw the power of this myself as some former female students, now in jobs, shared their stories with a class of 14-year-old girls. Since they’d come from the same communities and fought the same battles, these women were relatable role models and were able to provide advice and inspiration that felt relevant.
2. Teachers are inspired by returning students too
Throughout 2018 we continued our work with the inspiring Akazi Kanoze Access in Rwanda. Hannah, our Project Lead, picked up on an indirect benefit of bringing former students back into schools.
Though the alumni networks are focused on helping current and former students to build their networks and have access to professional support, teachers are also reflecting on the benefits they’ve yielded. Rosa de Lima, a teacher in Kigali, spoke of her increased knowledge of real world practices and functions, she said:
“I’m only informed of what I see in my day to day life and what I witness in the classroom or hear from my supervisors. The alumni show me what’s happening outside of this bubble and I can adapt my lessons accordingly.”
3. Youth sector is recognising key role of networks and role models
One of the issues of promoting the benefits of “alumni communities” is that not everybody understands what it means, or they feel that they are only relevant to schools. Our work this year is beginning to change that.
We have been working with organisations that run youth programmes, on things like leadership or careers, and building networks out of their former programme participants. Connecting current with former participants not only strengthens the programme but also creates a strong community that young people can rely on throughout their lifetime.
The success of this work is sparking interest across the youth sector. For instance, over 30 education and youth organisations came together to an event we hosted in Kampala last Autumn to discuss the role of networks and role models in young people’s development.
4. Former students keep young people in school
One of the big successes of our work in Rwanda with Health Poverty Action has been the evidence mounting that alumni communities are effective at retaining pupils and preventing drop-outs.
We have long suspected that this could be a key benefit to schools, as relatable role models serve to inspire people to achieve more. However, now we are seeing this hope become a reality.
Of the 28 schools we are working with, 1111 students were registered as absent or drop outs. But within the last 12 months, nearly half (478) have returned to school. Crucially, at least 59% (284) of those that returned reported alumni engagement as the reason for doing so.
5. World Governments are waking up to the value of alumni
We understand that we can’t achieve our vision of the world alone, working project-by-project with different partners from place to place. That’s why we commit to reaching out wider and seek to influence, share and learn with others.
Over the last 12 months we’ve spoken to over 100 organisations, school leaders and policy-makers around the world, all thinking about network building and alumni engagement for the first time. They are starting to recognise it as a way to build opportunities for young people, close the education and employment gap, and support gender equity.
We’re pleased to see some National Government level commitments arising, with Kenya formally acknowledging alumni development as part of its Education department’s work and regional commitments too with Delhi and Rajasthan in India making official mandates for schools to reconnect with their former students.
Sneak Preview of 2019
We’re kicking of 2019 with a busy schedule of partnership work across the world. Here’s a few highlights of what we will be up to in the first quarter alone:
- In Pakistan to train CARE Foundation, a network of 800 and one of the largest education networks.
- In Uganda to work with Opportunity International and PEDN, who will be working with 100 teachers over the next 12 months as part of a DFID-funded Girls Education Challenge project.
- In South Africa to do some scoping work with Columba Leadership who run high quality leadership programmes for students in over 150 schools across the country.
To support us to deliver all this work, we will be expanding the team in the early part of this year too. At the time of writing, the job advertisement is still live so check it out if you’re interested.
Another key priority for this year is to formalise our approach to learning and sharing. Last year saw a soft launch of a global network of organisations interested in alumni communities and youth networks. This year, we hope to launch that movement as a public-facing global community of organisations, all committed to improving the development of networks for young people.
—
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our partners for supporting us and for the work they are doing in their communities to improve the life chances of young people. We are proud to be a part of movement of organisations striving to do the same thing and our advice and support has no impact without local partners there to deliver on it.
With thanks to: Open Society Foundations, CARE Foundation (Pakistan), Columba Leadership (South Africa), EducAid (Sierra Leone), Frontline (UK), Health Poverty Action (Rwanda), Volta Capital and the LEAP partnership (Kenya, Tanzania), Mastercard Foundation (Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda) and PEDN (Uganda).
Thank you also to those who have been generously sharing their learnings and practice as part of the global network: Future First USA, Future First (UK), Future First Kenya and Ourschool (Australia), who are all running national alumni community building programmes.