Summary: The study aims to understand how many children are out of school following the pandemic, who they are why they are out of school, to I) inform policy, by highlighting the core challenges with robust and relevant data; ii) strengthen the local system, by identifying a sustainable approach to capture national, sub-national and local data; and iii) strengthen programmes, by enabling Save the Children and wider stakeholders to improve real-time, effective data capture of OOSC for programmatic and advocacy responses.

Our Approach: Q3 strategy led the design and development of an OOSC data and resource toolkit to enable users to collate accurate, standardised, real-time data around how many children are not attending school, who they are, their intentions to return and the decision-making context behind their presence/absence using. The toolkit consisted of three tools; 1. a contextual analysis and baseline assessment tool, 2. In- person data collection survey and 3. key informant interview guide. The tools were piloted in Malawi and Peru by a team of researchers led by Q3 Strategy.

Outcome: The development of an in-depth report to inform policymakers and wider stakeholders and develop key recommendations on how to address the issue. The report is complemented by two country- level in-depth reports.