The Advancing Youth Project Learning Agenda: A Tracer

The Advancing Youth Project Learning Series

A Tracer Study of Level 3 ABE Graduates | 1

The Advancing Youth Project Learning Agenda:

A Tracer Study of Level 3 ABE Graduates

February 2017 Prepared by: Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) 1025 Thomas Jefferson St. Suite 700W Washington, DC 20007



Table of Contents List of Figures .....................................................................................................................................3

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................4

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................7

Literature Review...............................................................................................................................7

Method .............................................................................................................................................9

Sample ....................................................................................................................................................... 9

Data Collection and Tools ........................................................................................................................ 10

Limitations ............................................................................................................................................... 10

Findings ........................................................................................................................................... 10

Demographics .......................................................................................................................................... 11

Incidence of Meeting Goals ..................................................................................................................... 12

Learners Who Met Their Goals ................................................................................................................ 12

Learners Who Did Not Meet their Goals ................................................................................................. 13

Defining Success ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Skills to Achieve Goals ......................................................................................................................... 14

Support and Challenges ........................................................................................................................... 16

Personal Challenges ............................................................................................................................. 17

Family Challenges ................................................................................................................................ 17

Community Challenges ........................................................................................................................ 17

Proposed Advancing Youth Project Activities to Meet Challenges ..................................................... 18

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 18

Key Findings and Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 20

References ....................................................................................................................................... 22

Appendix 1: Study Plan .................................................................................................................... 23

Background .............................................................................................................................................. 23

Design ...................................................................................................................................................... 23

Limitations ............................................................................................................................................... 24

Appendix 2: Survey .......................................................................................................................... 25



List of Figures Figure 1: The Factors That Affect Learner Engagement and Achievement ................................................... 9 Figure 2: Study Design ................................................................................................................................. 10 Figure 4: Learners Who Achieved Their Goals ............................................................................................. 11 Figure 5: Learners Who Achieved Their Goals, by Sex ................................................................................ 11 Figure 3: Sex Distribution of Sample by County .......................................................................................... 11 Figure 6: Current Occupations of Successful Learners ................................................................................ 12 Figure 8: Trends in What Successful and Unsuccessful Learners Are Doing at Least 6 Months after

Graduation ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 7: Occupations of Unsuccessful Learners ......................................................................................... 13 Figure 9: New Goals of Goal-Achieving Learners ........................................................................................ 14 Figure 10: Perceived Usefulness of Advancing Youth for Achieving Learner Goals .................................... 14 Figure 12: Useful Non-classroom ABE Skills ................................................................................................ 15 Figure 11: Skills Necessary to Achieve Learner Goals from ABE Classroom................................................ 15 Figure 13: Support for Successful Learners ................................................................................................. 16 Figure 14: Challenges Faced by Youth Who Did and Did Not Meet Their Goals ......................................... 16 Figure 15: Types of Personal Challenge Experienced by ABE Graduates .................................................... 17 Figure 16: Types of Family Challenge Experienced by ABE Graduates........................................................ 17 Figure 17: Type of Community Challenge Experienced by ABE graduates ................................................. 18



Executive Summary The USAID Liberia Advancing Youth Project provides increased access to quality alternative basic education (ABE) classes, social and leadership development opportunities, and livelihoods skills training for out-of-school youth, ages 13 to 35, with marginal literacy and numeracy skills. Project activities support the continued growth of economic opportunity through work-based learning and an emphasis on clubs and local alliances to support the education and livelihoods of youth. The Advancing Youth Learning Agenda focuses on research questions that have arisen during project implementation, enabling the exploration of the effectiveness and sustainability of the integrated learning, leadership, and livelihoods model. In order to learn how youth are faring after they graduate from ABE Level 3 (with the equivalent of a sixth-grade education), the USAID Liberia Advancing Youth Project (Advancing Youth) implemented a tracer study with learners who graduated from the program by June 2015. Advancing Youth sought to understand how easy or difficult graduates found the transition from an ABE program to formal education or employment sectors, as well as what challenges or support mechanisms were key during this transition. Thus, the following research questions served as a guide for the study: What percent of Level 3 graduates have transitioned to the formal educational system or to employment

opportunities consistent with their self-identified goals?

What societal, social, and personal factors do learners perceive to positively or negatively affect their

ability to achieve these goals?

These two research questions guided our inquiry into learners’ lives approximately six months after their

successful completion of ABE Level 3. The research team sought to document youth’s education or

employment outcomes and to understand whether or not they achieved the goals they had set for

themselves at completion testing. In addition, Advancing Youth sought a deeper understanding of why

learners did or did not achieve—or perceive themselves to have or have not achieved—these goals.

This tracer study makes use of a non-experimental, posttest-only design with Advancing Youth learners

who have graduated from the program by passing completion testing at the end of Level 3 of the ABE

curriculum. The study uses quantitative data collected through a survey designed and implemented by

the Advancing Youth research team. Data was collected after the beginning of the second semester of

the academic year, which was at least six months after the most recent cohort of Level 3 learners had

graduated from Level 3. This timing allowed the most recent graduates the time to establish themselves

in further education or in employment. Advancing Youth staff met with the graduates and conducted a

face-to-face survey with each graduate, entering data directly onto tablets.

The study traced learners’ goals and incidences of achieving those goals at least six months after

graduation. It also addressed learners’ successes, the obstacles that impeded their goals, and the types

of support learners used to help themselves along the way. ABE graduates identified three main goals

that they wanted to pursue post-ABE—trade school/technical and vocational education and training

(TVET) (40.8%), business (27.4%), and formal education (25.1%).



Of the 179 youth who participated in the study, 26% were successful in achieving a goal, and 74% were

not. The most common pursuit for successful learners was to go into business for themselves; almost

half (49%) of these learners chose this path.1 Nearly a quarter of successful youth were able to continue

formal education in either day school (19%) or night school (4%). This statistic reinforces the finding that

although continuing formal education was a goal for learners, it was not attainable for many successful

ABE graduates. However, among successful ABE graduates, 49% of learners reported that they would

like to pursue further education in the future.

Of those who did not achieve their goals, 65.4% had wanted to continue learning—in particular they

were interested in additional skills-based training (48.8%)—but were not successful. If successful and

unsuccessful learner groups are considered together, the majority of learners wanted to continue their

education (58.2%). However, they were prevented from doing so by limiting factors such as access,

finances, and lack of direction.

All of the ABE graduate learners surveyed in this study reported challenges that constrained their post-

graduation opportunities. Personal matters (69.3%) were reported as the primary obstacle of achieving

their goals. Within personal matters, financial challenges (82%) were overwhelmingly the chief concern.

Family challenges were the second-most cited obstacle (51.4%) to youth achieving their goals. Family

challenges were also largely financial in nature because family obligations, such as helping on the family

farm, limited youth business opportunities. Concerns related to supporting their families may explain

why nearly half (49%) of the 47 learners who met their goals went into business ventures.

In addition to learner challenges, a number of factors contributed to the perception of learner success.

In particular, learners felt that the amount of support and empowerment they received was critical to

their post-graduation success.

Key Findings and Recommendations

Through implementation of an integrated learning, livelihoods, and leadership model, the Advancing

Youth project provided opportunities for Liberian youth to address some of the personal and contextual

constraints that affect their chances of success. Both youth who did and did not achieve their goals

faced similar personal, familial, and community challenges. Some of these youth were able to push

through these challenges—perhaps with the support of family, but often without this support—to

achieve their goals. While this study does not fully answer the question as to why some Advancing Youth

learners did achieve their goals and some did not, it highlights key areas for future research, including

the psychosocial and societal factors that influence youth’s success and definition of their goals.

A majority of the youth in this study did not achieve their goals (74%). Within this group, the majority of

ABE graduates were unable to access technical and/or livelihood skills training and vocational education

or start a business. This study’s postgraduate learner findings have informed the following

recommendations:

1) Almost half of all learners (40.8%) wanted to gain additional skills training. However, only 6.7%

of learners were able to actually pursue skills training.

1 Successful youth are defined as youth who achieved the goal they set for themselves for what they wanted to do after completion of Advancing Youth’s ABE program.



• Recommendation: Vocational education policies and their implementation need to take

into account the availability of and ease of access to technical and vocational skills-

training programs. Accessibility includes making vocational training available for those

who have less than a ninth-grade equivalent education. Improving access and linking

vocational training to private sector demands may increase the possibility of learners

being employed on completion of such training.

2) All learners in this survey confronted challenges after graduation, with financial constraints the

most pressing challenge for the vast majority of those surveyed. (These learners graduated

before Advancing Youth started implementing Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) with

ABE learners.)

• Recommendation: ABE graduates need to have increased access to financial services.

The ability to save and have access to credit has the potential to improve their business

and educational prospects. One possible solution may be providing youth with access to

a microfinancing mechanism, such as a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA)

program, that may aid many of these learners in achieving their goals.

3) Although formal education (day or night school) was not pursued by many learners in the

sample, continuing education was a goal for a majority of learners. This finding implies that

continuing education, broadly understood, is a desired outcome for Liberian youth that ABE-

implementing programs must more adequately address.

• Recommendation: ABE programs need to provide transitional assistance to their

learners. Advising services would help learners understand their post-graduation options

and better prepare them for continuing their education and/or entering the workforce.



Introduction The Advancing Youth Project provides an integrated alternative basic education (ABE) literacy,

livelihoods, and leadership experience to help young people who have had no or minimal formal

education to carve a path to further schooling and/or employment opportunities.2 The goal of this

integrated approach is to provide learners with a level of mastery of basic skills that not only allows

them to complete a grade 6 level of education, but it also empowers them with key social and work

readiness skills so they can continue to improve their lives beyond the Advancing Youth Project. Thus,

graduates from the final level (Level 3) of ABE are encouraged and expected to continue into further

education and/or employment.

In order to learn how youth are faring after they graduate from ABE Level 3, the USAID Liberia Advancing Youth Project (Advancing Youth) implemented a tracer study with learners who graduated from the program by June 2015. Advancing Youth sought to understand how easy or difficult graduates found the transition from an ABE program to formal education or employment sectors, as well as what challenges or support mechanisms were key during this transition. The following research questions served as a guide for the study:

What percent of Level 3 graduates have transitioned to the formal educational system or to employment

opportunities consistent with their self-identified goals?

What societal, social, and personal factors do learners perceive to positively or negatively affect their

ability to achieve these goals?

These two research questions guided our inquiry into learners’ lives approximately six months after their

successful completion of ABE Level 3. The research team sought to document youth’s education or

employment outcomes and to understand whether or not they achieved the goals they had set for

themselves at completion testing. In addition, Advancing Youth sought a deeper understanding of why

learners did or did not achieve—or perceive themselves to have or have not achieved—these goals.

Literature Review Liberian youth must navigate a post-war context in which the lack of opportunities to engage in

sustainable livelihood endeavors or to access adequate education and skills training leaves them

economically and socially vulnerable. Further complicating the Liberian situation, employment statistics

in Liberia do not paint a complete picture of the economic reality. Although 62.8% of Liberians are

reported as active in the labor force, as compared to 37.2% who are inactive, the informal employment

and vulnerable employment rates are the most telling indicators of the true economic situation. The

majority of the 1.1 million Liberians who are classified as working are employed in the informal sector

(68.0%) and working under conditions that make them vulnerable (77.9%), such as being without job

security, a guaranteed salary, pension, or health benefits. Those that work in the informal sector

typically work for themselves (“own‐account workers”) or work for their own household but are unpaid

2 Completion of all three ABE levels is equivalent to a grade 6 education.



(“contributing family workers”).3 It is not surprising given the lack of access to education, health care,

and viable markets that the rates of informal employment are greater in rural than urban areas, and also

greater for females than for males (LISGIS, 2011). These labor statistics, when coupled with data

indicating that more than 56% of female youth and 39% of male youth reported that they never

attended school (Women Refugee Commission, 2009). Summarize some of the many challenges facing

Liberian youth.

Yet, while personal, institutional, and national obstacles challenge their full integration and inclusion,

some Liberian youth manage to find and succeed in education or employment opportunities (Munive,

Wisner, & Lakovits, 2006). The factors that variably affect youth’s differing outcomes are complex and

can be understood through three different lenses, ranging from the macro to the micro: (1) societal

push and pull factors, (2) an individual’s social network, and (3) an individual’s personal competence and

sense of agency.

Societal factors either incentivize or dis-incentivize youth to seek education or employment

opportunities. Existing in a web of social and economic relationships, youth are pushed to decisions by

“resources, expectations, and social relationships” (Keep, 2012) to choose or not choose opportunities.

At the same time, youth are also pulled by opportunities “both to learn and to then utilize that learning,

either for personal pleasure (intrinsic reward), to benefit others (altruistic reward) or for tangible gain

through some form of paid employment” (Keep, 2012). The particular combination of push and pull

factors felt by a particular youth influences his or her decision to act in different ways at different times

when considering opportunities and setting and achieving goals (O’Conner, 2002). Such push and pull

factors intervene to influence youth’s outcomes such that these external factors are crucial for

understanding youths’ ability to set and act on goals.

Social networks can also influence a youth’s ability to set and achieve his or her goals, especially when a

social network operates as social capital. According to Woolcock and Deepa (2000), a social network is

social capital when “one’s family, friends, and associates constitute an important asset, one that can be

called upon in a crisis, enjoyed for its own sake, and/or leveraged for material gain.” Thus, the extent or

depth of a youth’s social network—and its potential for being leveraged as social capital—can affect a

youth’s ability to set and achieve goals in an opportunity-scarce environment, such as Liberia. A social

network that operates as social capital can provide a critical safety net of support for help in navigating

the opportunities for schooling or employment.

Personal competence and a sense of agency can also affect a youth’s ability to set and achieve goals.

Beyond the push and pull of societal factors and the social capital (or lack of social capital) provided by a

vibrant and connected social network, an individual’s background and personal characteristics play a

role in one’s ability to reach his or her goals. Research in developmental psychology suggests that an

individual’s sense of agency and personal competence are instrumental for his or her engagement in

learning opportunities. A sense of agency empowers the individual to proactively and strategically assert

power and influence on conditions to achieve desired outcomes. This agency is limited by the available

possibilities or the negative action of others. In addition, competence—having requisite or adequate

3 Definition of the informal sector is generally limited to non-agrarian employment and excludes professionals, those who have businesses registered with the Ministry of Commerce, or people working in establishments with five or more persons.



ability or qualities—promotes deeper engagement in learning (O’Donnell, Reeve, & Smith, 2012). Other

researchers have found that people who have succeeded against the odds have key soft skills such as

confidence, optimism, and goal-orientation, which allows them to have high expectations for

themselves and profound self-efficacy (O’Conner, 2002). Thus, personal competence, agency, and

attributes further affect a youth’s ability to achieve his or her goals, despite the societal or social odds.

Together, these three lenses provide a framework for youths’ ability to find and take advantage of

opportunity in post-war settings in which youth are economically and socially vulnerable (see Figure 1).

Societal factors, one’s social network, and one’s personal competence and sense of agency all affect

one’s ability to engage in learning and to set and achieve goals, key elements to the kind of success

Advancing Youth Project envisions for its learners. While the learners in this study have already

demonstrated their ability to engage in learning by graduating from ABE, several factors may still

variably prohibit or help them to transition to formal schooling or work. This study sets out to

understand those factors and their variable effects on learners.

Method This tracer study makes use of a non-experimental, posttest-only design with Advancing Youth learners

who have graduated from the program by successfully passing a completion test at Level 3 of the ABE

curriculum. This study uses quantitative data collected through a survey designed and implemented by

the Advancing Youth research team.

Sample. Learners who had graduated from Level 3 by June of 2015 completed a simple exit interview

at completion testing, in which they were asked to indicate their post-graduation goals. This study

intended to reach the population of 197 graduates (101 males and 96 females) who completed that exit

survey. Out of that population, 179 graduates actually participated in the study (90.9%). These 179

Figure 1: The Factors That Affect Learner Engagement and Achievement



graduates were those whom Advancing Youth Project staff could reach for the survey. Throughout this

study, the data are treated as population data.

Data Collection and Tools. Data collection began

in the second semester of the academic year after

the most recent graduates had graduated from Level

3. (Figure 2.) This timing allowed the most recent

graduates the time to establish themselves in further

education or in employment. Advancing Youth staff

met with the graduates, conducted a face-to-face

survey with each graduate, and entered the data directly into tablets.

The survey implemented with graduates was developed by the Advancing Youth research team and

based on the exit survey delivered to graduates at their graduation. The tracer study survey consisted of

close-ended questions that ask graduates about their current academic or employment achievements,

their perceptions of having reached or not reached their respective goals, and the obstacles that they

have faced along the way.

Limitations. This tracer study does not seek to generalize findings to a larger population or to attribute

any successes to Advancing Youth Project interventions directly; rather, this study reveals where

program graduates are in terms of education and employment approximately six months after

completing the ABE program. Further, since Advancing Youth staff interviewed as many of the 197 Level

3 graduates as they could reach, the sample of 179 graduates surveyed may be skewed towards more

stable or more connected learners. If this is true, the findings may be biased upward, although the size

of this bias would likely be quite small as only 9% of graduates could not be surveyed for the study.

Additionally, learners were asked at least six months after graduation from Level 3 to recall what their

goal at graduation had been. Since we had graduation exit survey data in which several youths told us

their goals, we sought to verify whether their perception of what their goal was after graduation

matched the goal they had stated at least 6 months earlier at graduation. Of the 47% whose answers

could be validated in this way, 27.9% incorrectly recalled their goal from graduation. Since exit survey

data were not available on all graduates, the team chose to use the recall data only, with the knowledge

that such data only represents graduates’ perceptions of having achieved a goal with which they are

satisfied and not their actual achievement of an original goal. This is a major limitation of this study, as

we know that this recall data are not accurate representations of the learners’ original goals.

Findings Level 3 graduates were traced at least six months after their graduation with the goal of understanding,

in accordance with Advancing Youth’s research questions, whether or not learners had transitioned to

formal education or employment consistent with their goals, and what factors learners perceived to

have helped or hindered their transition. The top goals recalled by learners included:

Figure 2: Study Design



• Trade School-TVET4 (40.8%)

• Business (27.4%)

• Formal education (25.1%)

This section details findings related to those learners who successfully met their goals as well as the

challenges learners faced in their efforts to meet their goals.5

Demographics Level 3 graduates who participated in this study (n = 179) came from five counties in which the

Advancing Youth Project works (Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Montserrado, and Nimba).6 Roughly half of the

whole sample (50.8%) was male, which is similar to the Level 3 population gender demographics (53.3%

male). The distribution of males and females was not equal across the five counties included in this

survey as Figure 3 shows.

4 Throughout this report, any reference to trade schools includes TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) programs. Where trade school-TVET appears, two separate survey answer choices (trade school and TVET) were combined to form one category. If only TVET appears, trade schools were not selected as a possible answer choice. 5 Successful youth are defined as youth who achieved their goal which they had set when they completed Advancing Youth’s ABE program. 6 The USAID Liberia Advancing Youth Project serves youth from six counties—Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Margibi, Montserrado, and Nimba. The six sites in Margibi are split between the Montserrado and Grand Bassa offices for project support. Throughout this report, information for learners at sites in Margibi are included with information for the county office that supports that site.

Figure 4: Learners Who Achieved Their Goals Figure 4: Learners Who Achieved Their Goals, by Sex

Male44.7%

Female55.3%

Figure 5: Sex Distribution of Sample by County

16 15 12 9

39

11

28

3 3

43

Bong Grand Bassa Lofa Montserrado Nimba

Sex Distribution by CountyMales Females



Incidence of Meeting Goals At least six months after graduation from Level 3, learners were asked what they were doing and if that

activity aligned with the goal they had set for themselves. Of the 179 learners surveyed, roughly a

quarter of the learners (26.3%; Figure 4) indicated that they perceived themselves to have met their

goal (n=47). Figure 5 shows the gender of the learners who reported achieving their goals.

Only minimal demographic differences emerged between learners who reported achieving and those

who reported not achieving their goals. For example, learners who met their goals did not come

disproportionally from any one county. However, the group that met their goals was slightly more

female than the group that did not meet their goals.

Learners Who Met Their Goals As Figure 6 shows, nearly half (49%) of the learners who met their goals (n = 47) had goals to engage in

business. Nearly a quarter (23%) of successful youth were able to continue formal education in either

day school (19%) or night school (4%). This statistic reinforces the finding that although continuing

formal education was a

goal for learners, it was not

attainable for many

successful ABE graduates.

However, among

successful ABE graduates,

49% of learners reported

that they would like to

pursue further education

in the future.

Skills training, pursued by

16% of successful learners,

was also an important

goal. Learners successfully

participated in TVET (6%),

Advancing Youth Project

job training (2%), and

formal (2%) and informal

(6%) apprenticeships. The

desire to continue to learn new skills and abilities was important for successful graduates—39% of

successful graduates are continuing either their formal education or skills-based training.7

Very few successful learners were working for someone else (6%) or farming as their main source of

employment after completing their ABE education. It seems that self-employment was a more attainable

job for Advancing Youth graduates than finding employment with someone else.

7 Continuing education was compiled by combining night school, day school, TVET, Advancing Youth Project job training, apprenticeships, and learning a trade informally.

23%

49%

16%

6%2% 4% Basic education

Business (self)

Skills training

Working forothers

Farming

Other

Figure 6: Current Occupations of Successful Learners



Learners Who Did Not Meet their Goals Learners who did not achieve their goals since graduation (n = 132) had earlier set a range of different

goals (which they recalled for this survey), with going to trade school-TVET (39.8%) and doing business

(19.5%) being the most popular. Less popular goals included going to formal day school (16.5%), going to

night school (9%,) or beginning a trade (9%). Less than 5% of learners who did not achieve their goals

had chosen as their goal either farming, working as a driver, or working for a company. For learners who

did not achieve their goals, nearly half wanted to pursue skills training (48.8%).

An examination of the current vocations of ABE graduates who did not achieve their goals reveals that

the largest proportion of learners were farming (43%), doing nothing (28%), or engaged in business

activities (16%). Very few learners were working for others (8%), continuing formal education (2%), or

engaging in skills training (3%). Incidence of returning to any kind of education was low in this group.

(See Figure 7.)

Defining Success From analyzing both successful and

unsuccessful ABE graduates, a definition

of success for these students begins to

emerge. (See Figure 8.) Successful

learners prioritized self-employment

(49%), formal education (23%), and skills

training (16%). These three categories

were among the least frequent

responses for unsuccessful learners.

Similarly, the inverse is true in that

farming and doing nothing accounted for

70% of unsuccessful learner livelihoods.

Farming was not seen as the occupation

of a successful ABE graduate. Less than

5% of learners had set farming as their

goal. The 2012 Advancing Youth Labor

Market Assessment (EDC, 2012) found

that youth are frequently unaware of

the full range of the agricultural value

chain across different commodities,

where income may be higher. Instead,

youth view traditional agriculture as

laborious work with little room for

advancement. This lack of knowledge

leaves youth with the perception that

farming does not have a lot of

potential for future fiscal success. As a

result of this perception, Liberian

49%

23%

16%

2%0%

16%

3% 4%

43%

27%

Self-employment Basic Education Skills Training Farming Nothing

Successful learners Unsuccessful learners

Figure 8: Occupations of Unsuccessful Learners

Figure 7: Trends in What Successful and Unsuccessful Learners Are Doing at Least 6 Months after Graduation

2%16%

3%

8%

43%

28%

Formaleducation

Business (self)

Skills training

Working forothers

Farming

Nothing



youth do not deem agricultural activities as having “high status” or being a “respectable” vocation (EDC,

2012). This finding points to the need to continue to educate Liberian youth on the opportunities

available to them in the agricultural field.

When successful learners were asked if they believed they could still achieve more than they already

had, learners expressed overwhelming hope for the future. No successful learners indicated that they

did not believe they could achieve more. The majority (78.7%) of learners, in fact, expressed that they

believed they could achieve much more than they had already, with the rest indicating that they felt

they could achieve a little more.

The most popular future goal among the learners who achieved their goals was to attain a senior high

school (SHS) diploma (30%), followed by a certificate/diploma in TVET (19%). (See Figure 9.) When

compiled these results mean that 68% of learners who were successful want to pursue additional

formal or vocational education.

Skills to Achieve Goals. Learners who

achieved their goals were asked to

indicate how much they attributed this to

their participation in any aspect of the

Advancing Youth Project. The majority

(68.1%) of these learners indicated that

participation in the Advancing Youth

Project completely or mostly influenced

their achievement of their goal, with

29.8% saying the Advancing Youth Project

influenced them “a little bit” and only one

individual saying that the Advancing Youth Project had not been influential at all. (See Figure 10.) Youth

who were successful at achieving their goals perceived that participating in the integrated ABE program

provided by the Advancing Youth Project played a role in postgraduate success.

4%

30%

19%

15%2%

4%

2%

19%

4%

JSS certificate

SHS diploma

Certificate/diploma in TVET

College education

Certificate/diploma in business

Work for myself

Work for company

Not decided

Vocational training

Figure 9: New Goals of Goal-Achieving Learners

68.1%

29.8%

2.1%

A lot

A little

Didn't help

Figure 10: Perceived Usefulness of Advancing Youth for Achieving Learner Goals



Of skills learned in ABE classrooms, successful learners indicated that numeracy and literacy were the

most helpful to their current activities, with 61.7% of learners saying numeracy skills were helpful and

48.9% of learners indicating that literacy skills were helpful (Figure 11). Similar findings on the

significance of numeracy and literacy skills were found in USAID Liberia Advancing Youth Project’s

qualitative Youth Measures of Success (YMS) study 2016 (EDC, 2016). For learners in both YMS and the

current tracer study, the ability to recognize numbers and complete simple arithmetic had an immediate

effect on many aspects of their day-to-day lives.

The next most helpful skills were work readiness (44.7%), skills training (27.7%), and life skills (21.3%).

While just 4.3% said that business skills were helpful, business skills are not a core focus of ABE classes

(they are part of the Work Readiness curriculum in Level 1 and the Literacy for Work curriculum in Level

2), so this low number might be less an indication of the helpfulness of those skills and more a reflection

of it not being a priority of the curriculum.

Learners were also asked to indicate what, apart from the skills that were taught in the classroom, they

gained from their participation in the Advancing Youth Project that was most important to achieving

their goals. Almost half (47.8%) of successful learners indicated that self-confidence was the most

important thing they gained, with good marketing skills (21.7%) and customer satisfaction skills

(15.2%) the next most popular. Again these findings are supported by the YMS where learners highly

valued the confidence and satisfaction they gained from literacy and numeracy. According to learners

61.70%

48.9%

44.7%

27.7%

21.3%

4.3%

Numeracy skills

Literacy skills

Work readiness

Skills training

Life skills

Business skills

Figure 12: Skills Necessary to Achieve Learner Goals from ABE Classroom

47.8%

21.7%

15.2%

8.7%

2.2%

Self-confidence

Good marketing skills

Customer satisfaction skills

Good hygiene practices

Leadership skills

Figure 11: Useful Non-classroom ABE Skills



Family31.3%

Myself27.1%

NGO16.7%

Community10.5%

School12.5%

Other1.9%

interviewed for the YMS, these skills have symbolic social capital as well as practical utility. Being

perceived as educated provides the chance to drastically change an individual’s social standing and

social capital. Only one learner indicated that leadership skills were the most important, and four stated

that good hygiene practices had been the most important, with two indicating that nothing outside of

skills taught in classes had been helpful to them.

Support and Challenges Learners who had achieved their goals were asked

what sources of support were the most important

for them to achieve their goals (see Figure 13).

Successful learners were primarily supported by

their families (31.3%), their schools (12.5%), and

their friends/community (10.5%). Interestingly,

27.1% of successful learners said they only relied on

themselves to achieve their goals. Although this

Level 3 Survey only asked successful learners for

their sources of support, both groups of learners

faced personal, family, and community

challenges.8

Both successful and unsuccessful

learners met similar challenges as they

tried to achieve their goals. The majority

of youth indicated that personal matters

were a challenge, followed by family

matters, with community matters

presenting a challenge for the fewest

number of youth in both groups (see

Figure 14). These similar rates indicate

that Liberian youth face the same types

of challenges, regardless of their current

livelihood.

Youth who did not achieve their goals were also asked their opinion of which challenge, were it

removed, would have made it most possible for them to achieve their goals. Almost half (46.8%) of

these youth indicated that the removal of personal challenges would have allowed them to achieve

their goals, followed by family matters (24.6%), with only one individual choosing community

challenges. While “financial matters” was not included as an option, enough individuals indicated it was

an “other” challenge to constitute 15.2% of the respondents. The importance of financial matters is

8 Learners responded yes or no to whether or not they had experienced that form of challenge. Many learners listed having multiple difficulties hampering their ability to reach their goals.

80%

51%

13%

74%

57%

16%

Personal Challenges Family Challenges CommunityChallenges

Learners Who MetGoalsLearners Who DidNot Meet Goals

Figure 14: Challenges Faced by Youth Who Did and Did Not Meet Their Goals

Figure 13: Support for Successful Learners



Sickness5%

Financial Difficulties82%

Family Responsibilities

9%

Migration/ Relocation

2%

Death of close family

member2%

Figure 15: Types of Personal Challenge Experienced by ABE Graduates

borne out in the breakdown of personal matters (Figure 9) where financial matters was chosen as by far

the most limiting personal challenge (82%).9

Personal Challenges. A total of 124 youth (69.3% of all learners) indicated that personal challenges

were a factor in reaching their goals and were

asked to indicate which personal matter made

it the most difficult to achieve their goals. As

Figure 15 shows, of the 124 youth who

selected personal challenges as an issue for

them, the majority (82%) indicated that

financial difficulties were the biggest personal

challenge. These 102 learners believe that

removing these financial difficulties would

greatly improve their odds for achieving their

post-graduation goals.

Family Challenges. Of the 92 ABE graduates

(51.4% of all learners) who indicated that family matters made it difficult for them to achieve their goals,

the majority (79.3%) indicated that family responsibilities were a factor.10 Some youth (14. 0%) also

indicated that being engaged in farming for the family made it challenging to achieve goals. It’s possible

that the need to be available for annual planting and harvesting curtails learners’ abilities to be involved

in other industries or to pursue education opportunities. Figure 16 summarizes the findings.

Community Challenges. Of the 25

ABE graduates (14% of all learners)

who indicated that community

challenges presented an obstacle to

achieving their goals, the majority

(40%) indicated that the greatest

challenge was the lack of vocational

opportunities in their communities

(Figure 17). It is possible that vocational

opportunities were constrained for

learners both due to the distance of

trade schools and inadequate financial means to pay for school tuition. These two limiting factors may

have mitigated learner abilities to pursue vocational education or apprenticeships. This challenge is

particularly significant when skills training was the third largest goal of all ABE graduates. A few learners

9 Learners were asked which challenges hampered their abilities to achieve their goals. All study participants listed either a personal, family, or community challenge. Thereafter, learners could select multiple types of challenges under these three categories. This survey did not ask participants follow-up questions as to why they selected specific challenges and/or challenge categories as limitations to their ability to attain their post-graduation goals. 10 ABE graduates could select as many challenges as they wanted. This accounts for why the reported family challenges add up to over 100%.

79.3%

14.0%

5.4%

5.4%

4.3%

4.3%

3.3%

Family responsibilities

Farming

Sickness

Lack of resources

Relocation

No assistance

Death

Figure 16: Types of Family Challenge Experienced by ABE Graduates



(12%) indicated the lack of economic opportunity as a challenge, and some (12%) also indicated the lack

of school opportunities (both formal and vocational) as a challenge.

Proposed Advancing Youth Project Activities to Meet Challenges. Since youth identified meeting

personal financial challenges and accessing skills training opportunities as two key challenges, it is no

surprise that, when asked what activities Advancing Youth could provide that would help them to reach

their goals, they pointed to additional skills trainings and access to finance. Access to skills training, like

TVET, has been a consistent request of Advancing Youth learners since the project’s inception (Youth

Livelihood Assessment; EDC, 2013). Learners consistently wanted Advancing Youth to be more focused

on skills training than was the Advancing Youth Project’s original objective. Although livelihood training

is a component of Advancing Youth’s integrated approach, it is not its sole focus. This difference

between learner expectation and program goals may have carried over into learner goal expectations as

opposed to the eventual feasibility of these goals.

Successful and unsuccessful ABE graduates differed in what they thought would be most helpful for

them moving forward with future goals. More youth who met their goals asked for access to finance

while more youth who did not meet their goals asked for additional skills trainings. Specifically, while

51.1% of youth who met their goals asked for access to loans and finance, 33.3% of youth who did not

meet their goals felt this access will help them better meet their future goals. Conversely, 43.9% of

youth who did not meet their goals felt that additional skills trainings would have helped, while just 34%

of youth who did meet their goals

felt additional skills trainings

would be useful.

For learners who achieved their

goals, additional finance may be a

means to improve their current

livelihoods. The Advancing Youth

team has seen the effect that

access to finance can have for

youth. The Advancing Youth

Project’s Village Savings and Loan

(VSLA) study found that increased

access to loans improved business

outcomes and allowed learners to save money to build homes in the future and to send their children to

school. These results are in line with the aspirations of successful learners from this tracer study.

Learners who did not achieve their goals, on the other hand, may have wanted additional training so

they could find a new livelihood or financial opportunity in general. However, youth in this study were

largely unable to pursue skills training due to lack of access and availability. Increased skills training

opportunities might in turn improve youth’s livelihood capacity in the future.

Conclusion This study, which followed up with recent graduates of the USAID Liberia Advancing Youth Project’s ABE

program, traced learners’ goals and incidence of achieving these goals. The study reported on categories

of youth who felt that they were successful and not successful in attaining their post-graduation goals.

Traditional practices

8%

Lack of vocational opportunities

40%

Death4%

Leadership8%

No school12%

Engagement16%

Economic activity

12%

Figure 17: Type of Community Challenge Experienced by ABE graduates



This study documented learners report of their successes, the obstacles they encountered while trying

to achieve their self-defined goals, and the types of support learners believed were useful to help them

on the way.

The major goal for successful youth (49%) was going into business for themselves. Nearly a quarter of

successful youth met their goal of continuing their formal education (23%). This statistic reinforces the

finding that although continuing formal education was a goal for learners, it was not attainable for many

successful ABE graduates. However, among successful ABE graduates, 68% of learners reported they

would like to pursue further formal education or skills training as a future goal.

For learners who did not achieve their goals, nearly half (48.8%) wanted to pursue vocational

education or skills training (48.8%). An additional 16.5% of unsuccessful learners were interested in

formal education. When taken cumulatively, the majority of learners (both successful and unsuccessful

learners) involved in the tracer study wanted to continue either their formal education or skills training

(58.2%). However, the ABE graduates reported that they were prevented from doing so by limiting

factors such as access, finances, and lack of direction.

By contrasting the current occupations of ABE graduates, this study was able to define how Liberian

youth perceived postgraduate success. Liberian youth were the most interested in pursuing business,

education, and skills training. Farming was not seen as the occupation of a successful ABE graduate by

youth themselves. This finding points to the need to continue to educate Liberian youth on the

opportunities available to them in the agricultural field. The Advancing Youth project recognized early in

the life of the project that the main set of opportunities for their learners was in the agriculture

sector/informal economy (EDC, 2012; EDC, 2013), and it has focused on educating youth on the

opportunities of agricultural value chains through activities such as the “Grow Your Business” program

and youth clubs.

Although a large proportion of youth were interested in skills training opportunities—through

opportunities like TVET and apprenticeships—few learners were able to achieve these goals (16%).

Advancing Youth provided all youth participating in the ABE program with short-terms skills training in

skills such as food preservation and soap making. The project also provided longer-term vocational

training opportunities through LOIC, a TVET institution, for some learners in Montserrado and Grand

Bassa. Youth participating in the Advancing Youth Project have repeatedly requested increased access to

TVET in particular (EDC 2013). However, formal skills training opportunities (including TVET) have been

stymied by lack of availability, location, and cost.

All of the ABE graduates surveyed in this study reported challenges that constrained their post-

graduation opportunities. Among the learners surveyed, personal matters were reported as the primary

obstacle to achieving their goals. Within personal matters, financial challenges (82%) were

overwhelmingly the chief concern. Family challenges were the second most cited obstacle (51.4%) to

youth achieving their goals. Family challenges were also largely financial in nature because family

obligations, such as helping on the family farm, limited youth opportunities. Concerns related to

supporting their families may explain why nearly half (49%) of the 47 learners who met their goals went

into business ventures.



Key Findings and Recommendations

Through implementation of an integrated learning, livelihoods, and leadership model, the Advancing

Youth project provided opportunities for Liberian youth to address some of the personal and contextual

constraints that affect their chances of success. Both youth who did and did not achieve their goals

faced similar personal, familial, and community challenges. Some of these youth were able to push

through these challenges—perhaps with the support of family, but often without this support—to

achieve their goals. While this study does not fully answer the question as to why some Advancing Youth

learners achieved their goals and some did not, it highlights key areas for future research, including the

psychosocial and societal factors that influence youth’s success and definition of their goals.

A majority of the youth in this study did not achieve their goals (74%). Within this group, the majority of

ABE graduates were unable to access technical and/or livelihood skills training and vocational education

or to start a business. This study’s postgraduate learner findings have informed the following

recommendations:

1) Almost half of all learners (40.8%) wanted to gain additional skills training. However, only 6.7%

of learners were able to actually pursue skills training.

a. Recommendation: Vocational education policies and their implementation need to take

into account the availability of and ease of access to technical and vocational skills-

training programs. Accessibility includes making vocational training available for those

who have less than a ninth-grade equivalent education. Improving access and linking

vocational training to private sector demands may increase the possibility of learners

being employed on completion of such training.

2) All learners in this survey confronted challenges after graduation; financial constraints were the

most pressing challenge for the vast majority of those surveyed. (These learners graduated

before Advancing Youth started implementing Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) with

ABE learners.)

a. Recommendation: ABE graduates need to have increased access to financial services.

The ability to save and have access to credit has the potential to improve their business

and educational prospects. One possible solution may be providing youth with access to

a microfinancing mechanism, such as a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA)

program, that may aid many of these learners in achieving their goals.

3) Although formal education (day or night school) was not pursued by many learners in the

sample, continuing education was a goal for a majority of learners. This finding implies that

continuing education, broadly understood, is a desired outcome for Liberian youth that ABE-

implementing programs must more adequately address.



a. Recommendation: ABE programs need to provide transitional assistance to their

learners. Advising services would help learners understand their post-graduation options

and better prepare them for continuing their education and/or entering the workforce.



References EDC. (2012). Labor market assessment report. Unpublished report for USAID Liberia Advancing Youth

Project.

EDC. (2013). Youth-led livelihoods assessment report. Unpublished report for USAID Liberia Advancing

Youth Project.

EDC. (2016). Advanced youth project harmonization workshop. Unpublished report for USAID Liberia

Advancing Youth Project.

EDC. (2016). Youth measures of success report. Unpublished report for USAID Liberia Advancing Youth

Project.

Inter-Ministerial TVET Taskforce (2015). National TVET policy, 2015-2020. Monrovia, LR: Ministry of

Education and UNESCO Capacity Development for Education for All Programme.

Keep, E. (May 2012). Youth transitions, the labour market and entry into employment: Some reflections

and questions. (SKOPE Research Paper No. 108). Oxford, Cardiff, UK: SKOPE, Cardiff University.

Liberian Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS). (2011, February). Report on the

Liberia labour force survey 2010. Prepared for ILO. Retrieved from

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---

stat/documents/presentation/wcms_156366.pdf

LISGIS. (2014). Liberia demographic and health survey, 2013. Monrovia, LR: Author.

Ministry of Agriculture. (2008). Food and agriculture policy and strategy: From subsistence to sufficiency.

Monrovia. LR: Author

Ministry of Education. (MoE) (2016). Joint education sector review report (draft). Monrovia, LR: Author.

Munive, J., Wisner, G., & Lakovits, C. (2006, December). Employment opportunities and working

conditions of rural and peri urban youth in Liberia (Prepared for ILO and UNDP). Retrieved from

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---africa/---ro-addis_ababa/---ilo-

abuja/documents/publication/wcms_303650.pdf

Nelson, J and O'Donnell, L. (2012). Approaches to Supporting Young People Not in Education,

Employment or Training: A Review (NFER Research Program: From Education to Employment).

Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research.

O’Conner, C. (2002). Black women beating the odds from one generation to the next: How the changing

dynamics of constraint and opportunity affect the process of educational resilience. American

Educational Research Journal, 39(4), 855–903.

O’Donnell, A. M., Reeve, J., & Smith, J. K. (2012). Educational psychology: Reflection for action (3rd ed.).

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Republic of Liberia. (2012, November 25). Liberia national vision 2030: Draft summary report. Monrovia,

LR: Author.

UNICEF. (n.d.). The situation of children and women in Liberia 2012: From conflict to peace. Retrieved

from http://www.unicef.org/liberia/SITAN_LBR2012-2017.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/presentation/wcms_156366.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/presentation/wcms_156366.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---africa/---ro-addis_ababa/---ilo-abuja/documents/publication/wcms_303650.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---africa/---ro-addis_ababa/---ilo-abuja/documents/publication/wcms_303650.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/liberia/SITAN_LBR2012-2017.pdf



USAID. (n.d.). Country development cooperation strategy: Liberia 2013–2017. Retrieved from

https://www.usaid.gov/liberia/cdcs

Woolcock, M., & Deepa, N. (2000). Social capital: Implications for Development Theory, Research, and

Policy. The World Bank Observer, 15(2), 225–249.

Appendix 1: Study Plan S.R 2.2. Can Level 3 graduates successfully transition to the formal system? What are the factors that

affect success?

Background Advancing Youth Project approaches in Liberia are focused on providing an integrated ABE literacy, livelihoods, and leadership experience to help young people who have had no formal education to carve a route to further schooling in the formal system and/or to meaningful and sustainable employment and personal development. This study traces the current status of graduates from the final phase of Advancing Youth Project/ABE program, that is, graduates from Level 3 of the ABE program, to learn how transitioning into the formal educational system, into employment, or into self-generated income generating opportunities. A tracer study is one way to gather the essential information to enhance the availability and quality of opportunities for schooling and training outcomes. Similarly, a tracer study is used in this context as an opportunity to explore in-training and post-training linkages that are necessary in programs for youth and adult learners to improve prospects for continuing to other levels of schooling or acquiring a sustainable livelihood. At the completion phase of the ABE program Advancing Youth Project youth were interviewed on the goal each set for him/herself after graduation: whether it was continuation in the conventional schooling system including vocational school or employment prospects. A main objective of this Tracer Study therefore is to learn the extent to which the young people are moving toward or have actually achieved the goals they set for themselves post-graduation. We recognize that we cannot overlook the external social factors in the wider society and within the labor market that are also crucial for understanding the factors that impact youth’s ability to act on the goals they set for themselves. The perspective is that the ability to or the incentive for youth to pursue their goals tends to be structurally embedded in and mediated through the social and economic structures and labor market of the particular society. Specifically, the questions to be answered in this study are:

• What percentage of Level 3 graduates have transitioned to the formal educational system or to

employment opportunities consistent with the goals they identified in the exit interview?

• What is youth’s perception of factors affecting--positively/negatively--their access to achieving

the goals they set for themselves?

Design This Tracer study will make use of a survey of learners done at the point at which those learners exited Level 3, the final level of the ABE program. In the exit survey, learners were asked to identify their achievement goals after completing the Advancing Youth Project/ABE program. In this Tracer Study, those youths from whom data was collected in the exit survey will be invited to

participate in a face-to face survey immediately after the start of the second semester of the academic

https://www.usaid.gov/liberia/cdcs



year that followed the date of their exit survey. The focus of the survey will be on the progress

graduates have made toward achieving their stated goals and, if no progress is perceived to have been

made, what they believe might have hindered their progress towards their goal. The study also

considers the young persons’ perception of the possible impact of personal, social or economic factors

on their chances of success as defined by them.

Whose information will we collect? The population of reference for this study will be youth who were

participants in the exit survey from the program, across the five counties in Liberia. The survey was

conducted in 2013/2014. The original group of graduates was made up of 197 youth. The target

population for this follow-up phase of the study will be 134. Youth will be purposively selected for the

sample: youth whom we can reach will be asked to participate in the survey.

How and when will we collect the data? A survey developed for this tracer study will be designed to find

out about the progress each of the contacted participants have made toward achieving the goal/s

he/she identified in the exit survey. The development of the survey questions and protocol will be

informed by the exit survey. The method of data collection will be a structured questionnaire with

mostly closed questions that will be administered to individual graduates.

Scheduled survey sessions with each of the participants will be conducted by Advancing Youth Project

staff beginning immediately after the start of the second semester. Staff will conduct surveys with

youth, asking for their responses to items on the questionnaire. Individual graduates will be asked to

come to a central site in the county for the survey to be conducted. In the case where this is not

possible, the surveyor will go to the place where the participant is located.

How will we analyze the responses? The responses from graduates/participants will be analyzed from

three perspectives:

1. Their current status in the workplace or school and how it aligns with their goals on the Exit

interview

2. Their perception of access—conditions and incentives—to work or educational opportunities

3. If their exit interview goal was not achieved, what were the contributing factors?

Analysis will consist of frequencies and means to help evaluators describe youth who both did and did

not achieve their goals. The sample size is likely too small to draw statistically significant comparisons

between youth who did and did not achieve their goals.

Limitations Because the sample of youth will be purposively selected and include only youth whom evaluators can

reach, findings may be biased towards youth who are more stable or more responsive. This could bias

upwards results if there is a positive correlation between achieving one’s goals and the

conscientiousness that is described by responding to Advancing Youth Project assessors’ phone calls,

staying in contact with Advancing Youth Project staff, or arriving for the survey at the appointed place

and time.



Appendix 2: Survey

CONSENT STATEMENT

Hello, my name is______________________, I work with Advancing Youth Project. Today, we

will be asking you some questions about your current and future plan as regards to the goal

your set for yourself since graduating from ABE Level 3.

The reason for asking you these questions is to know where most of our Level 3 graduates can

end up (business, conventional school, vocational etc.) and what problems they are faced with in

trying to achieve their goals. This will help us understand more about ABE graduates and

problems they are faced with for future programing.

This interview has nothing to do with your future participations in any Advancing Youth Project’s

activities or other activities in the community.

This information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anybody outside of

Advancing Youth Project. We will not use your name or the names of anyone when we write

reports.

I will ask you the questions and you answer me to the best of your ability, if any question is not

clear, let me know and I will be glad to explain until it is clear.

Once we begin, if you don’t want to answer any question, that’s ok. Do you have any questions?

Do you agree to participate? YES NO

Liberia Advancing Youth Project Level 3 Tracer Study Data Collection Tool

Demographics

1. County Bong Grand Bassa Lofa

Montserrado Nimba

2. Site where did ABE class: (Write site name) □Urban □Rural

3. Name of Learner

4. Gender Male Female

5. ABE Level Level 3 Graduate

6. Year of Birth

7. Last 3 digits of Student ID Number



General questions

1. What are you doing right now since you graduated from Advancing Youth Project/ABE Level 3? (if

‘NOTHING’ skip to question 12)

Going another night school

Going the conventional school (day

school)

Going to technical

Going to trade/vocational school

Doing business

Doing farming

Work for government

Work for a company

Nothing

Other, Please Specify:

__________________

2. Was this your goal (dream) after graduating from Level 3? (If NO, Skip to question 12)

Yes

No

Don’t know

No answer

QUESTIONS for Youth who followed their Goals:

3. If yes, what/whose support has been most important in your achievement of this goal?

My Community

My School

My Family

My Friends

My Neighbor

NGO

No One

Other, (Specify):_______________

4. Do you feel satisfied that you have fulfilled your goal? (if YES, skip to question to questions 7-11; if

NO, Don’t Know or No Answer, continue on to question 5)

Yes

No

Don’t know

No answer

5. Since you are not satisfied with the goal you achieved, have you set a new goal for yourself? (if NO

or No Answer, skip to question 7)

Yes

No

No answer

6. What is the new goal you have set for yourself?

Going another night school

Going the conventional school (day

school)

Going to technical school (TVET)

College education

Going to trade//vocational school

Doing business

Doing farming

Working in government

Working in a company

NONE



Other, Please Specify: __________________

7. How much do you feel your current activity (JSS, business, trade etc.) was reached as a result of

your achievements in the Advancing Youth Project/ABE School?

Completely

Mostly

A little bit

Not at all

No answer

8. What skill you learnt in the classroom was the most helpful to you for your present activities? (If

learner name more than one skill area, rank order the item (most helpful at top to least) in the order

it is called out by the graduate, using the identifying letter. For example, if they say “Literacy” first,

this is the top rank identified by the letter A; if they say “Skills Training”, this is the next to the top

rank identified by the letter E.

Literacy

Numeracy

Life skills

Work Readiness

Skills trainings

NONE

Other, Please Specify: ______________

9. Apart from the skills you were to learn or develop in the classroom: what else did you get from

the program that was most helpful to you in reaching your present activities or goals?

Self-confidence to speak

Good hygiene practice

Customer satisfactions skill

Good marketing skills

Leadership skills

NONE


_____________________

10. Do you believe that you can continue to achieve more than where you are today?

Yes, I believe I can achieve much more than I have already.

Yes, I believe I can achieve a little more than I have already

No, I don’t believe I can achieve more than I have already.

Don’t know

11. Was there any major challenge that you faced in what you have achieved since graduation? (if Yes,

skip to question 15-17; if No, skip to question 19 & 20)

Yes, lots of major challenges.

Yes, a few major challenges.

No, no major challenges.

Other, Please Specify:_____________

QUESTIONS for Youth who did not follow their Goals:



12. What was your dream when you graduated from Level 3?

Go to another night school

Go to conventional school

Go to technical school {TVET}

College education

Go to trade/vocational school

Do business

Do agriculture (Do farming)

Work for government

Work for a company

Other, (Specify):_______________

13. After graduation: how much time did you put in to reach your goal?

Yes, I put more time

Yes, I put less time

No, I did not put more time.

No answer.

14. Did you face any hard times while trying to reach your goal of (refer to the goal identified in 12-e.g

going to trade school, JSS, doing business, etc)? (if NO, skip to question 19, and if YES, continue to

15a )

Yes

No

15a. Were there any family matters that made it hard for you to meet your goals? (If YES, ask 15b, if

NO continue to 16a)

Yes

No

15b. {If yes} what family matters made it really hard for you to reach your goals after

graduating from ABE Level 3? (if more than one is named, ask the graduate to rank order the

challenge starting with the most difficult factor first, on top)

More family responsibilities to take care

of

My husband/wife did not approve my

school

Engagement of farming for family

Sickness of family member (e.g.

husband, wife, child etc.)

Relocation of family to another

community

Other (Specify):___________________

16a. Were there any community matters that made it hard for you to meet your goals? (If YES, ask

16b, if NO continue to 17a)

Yes No



16b. {If yes} what community matter that made it really hard for you to reach your goal after

graduating from ABE Level 3? (If more than one is named, ask the graduate to rank with the most

difficult factors first, on top)

Traditional practices (e.g. Sande and

Poro society)

Community leadership responsibilities

Death of community member

Community engagement with NGOs,

Gov’t etc.

Lack of school

Lack of vocational opportunities

Lack of economic activities in the

community

Other (Specify):_______________

17a. Were there any other personal matters that made it hard for you to reach your goals after

graduating from ABE Level 3? (If yes, ask question 17b, if NO, continue to 18)

Yes

No

17b. {if yes} what personal matter made it really hard for you? (If more than one is named, ask the

graduate to rank starting with the most difficult factors first, on top)

Sickness

Financial difficulties

Family responsibilities

Migration/relocation

Death of closed family member

Other (specify):____________

18. (Remind the graduate of the challenges or hardships he/she identified in items 15-17b). Tell me

which one of the problems, that if removed, will make it most possible for you to achieve your goal?

Family matter

Community matter

Personal matter

Other:_________________

19. Thinking of the future, what is the highest level of education or employment you hope to achieve?

(Educational aspiration and motivation. If more answers are given, ask learner to rank)

JSS Certificate

SHS Diploma

Certificate/Diploma in TVET

College education

Certificate/Diploma in business

Work for myself

Work for government

Work for a company

Not decided

Don’t know


____________________

20. What other activities could have been included in Advancing Youth Project/ABE program that

could better help you reach your goal?



More advance ABE level

More skill trainings

Access to loan and finances

More internship opportunities

Career/job coaching

Don’t Know

Others (Specify)________

Documents

The Advancing Youth Project Learning Agenda: A Tracer