An estimated 20% of children in cocoa growing areas of Côte d’Ivoire miss out on their fundamental right to education. Bridging classes are a type of accelerated education programme to help out-of-school kids catch up on missed learning and get back into the classroom.
From 2019 to 2021, the International Cocoa Initiative set up 131 bridging classes in partnership with the Ministry of Education of Côte d’Ivoire, the Jacobs Foundation and Nestlé, within the framework of TRECC (Transforming Education in Côte d'Ivoire). They used the innovative "Teaching at the Right Level" child-paced learning approach.
This study follows more than 800 children participating in bridging classes in Côte d'Ivoire to follow their progress.
Key findings:
- 99.8% of children re-joined mainstream school
- 72% of children stayed in school
- Children were more than 6 times more likely to score average grades than in traditional bridging classes
- The prevalence of child labour more than halved, reducing from 63% to 23%
View the summary report: The effect of bridging classes on child labour
View a presentation of key findings: Getting kids back to school: what we've learned
