The transcripts are from the endline evaluation data collection of the Girls’ Access to Education – Girls’ Educaiton Challenge (GATE-GEC). GATE-GEC was an FCDO-funded Girls’ Education Challenge Transition (GEC-T) project implemented from April 2017 to July 2021 in Sierra Leone. GATE-GEC aimed to support marginalised girls and children with disabilities in primary schools (PS) and junior secondary schools (JSS) in Sierra Leone to attend school, reach their full learning potential, learn in a safe and inclusive environment, and successfully transition to further education and beyond. The project was implemented by Plan International UK, working with Humanity and Inclusion, ActionAid, and the Open University, to deliver the project across approximately 430 schools in rural areas of the districts of Kailahun, Karene, Kenema, Kono, Moyamba and Port Loko in Sierra Leone.

The endline evaluation used a theory-based implementation and process evaluation approach to blend a systematic analysis of existing project monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) data and documentation with qualitative primary data, in order to capture an in-depth understanding of beneficiary experiences and the project’s contribution to outcomes. Data collection took place from 19 – 31 May 2021 in each of the six operating districts of the GATE-GEC project. A total of 42 project beneficiaries and 22 school stakeholders (head teachers, programme volunteers (PVs), and newly-qualified female teachers (NQFTs) were interviewed. Data was also collected during interviews with project staff across all consortium partners and four key national stakeholders.