New tool: Pathways to Enhancing Social Accountability in Education
Discover our new illustrative tool developed to support CSOs and other stakeholders in understanding and applying social accountability strategies in education.
Social accountability mechanisms are inherently complex and often difficult to articulate clearly. The process is rarely linear; instead, it is marked by unpredictability, messiness, and chaos—driven by diverse interests, power dynamics, and contextual factors. Through a new model, Education Out Loud is aiming at simplifying these processes and hoping to provide clearer pathways that help education actors navigate the steps and processes involved with greater confidence.
The tool simplifies the understanding of social accountability by illustrating key steps, processes, and tools drawn from the experiences of CSOs supported under Operational Component 2.
“It consists of a graphic illustration followed by an explanation of the elements. Importantly, it should not be seen as a model to be applied in all social accountability processes – rather, it is an illustration that combines existing practices across OC2 and generalises them,” explains Dorte Jørgensen, Senior Programme Coordinator, Education Out Loud.
The pathways move from civil society strengthening, to collecting and making data actionable, to policy dialogue and advocacy, and finally to transforming education systems. Follow the line from the bottom left of the illustration and see if the process becomes clearer and more meaningful.
“By illustrating key steps and strategies, we seek to support more inclusive participation and more effective advocacy—when civil society empowers even the most marginalised communities to engage meaningfully in shaping education systems,” says Dorte Jørgensen.
To learn more about how Education Out Loud supports social accountability in education, explore the following learning resources and articles:
- Publication: Transforming Education Systems through Social Accountability – insights from OC2 grantees in Asia
- Video: Key learnings from African grantees’ work with social accountability
- Reflections: Learning events in Tanzania and Benin
- Publication: Eight Ways to Social Accountability in Education in Africa – strategies implemented by OC2 grantees supported by Education Out Loud