CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – POSTER PRESENTATION
Across Africa, millions of children attend affordable non-state schools. These affordable non-state schools play an increasing role in expanding access to education in sub-Saharan Africa especially in contexts where public provision is limited by conflict, crisis, or resource constraints (Baird et al., 2018). However, while these schools improve access to education, challenges related to household costs, quality assurance, and weak regulatory oversight may limit their benefits and widen inequalities in access and learning outcomes (UNESCO, 2021/2022). Yet these schools are often missing, underrepresented or poorly understood in education data, policy, planning, regulation and support systems. Their experiences, contributions, and challenges are often poorly understood, while their voices may be missing from decisions that directly affect them.
For this Call, affordable non-state schools refers broadly to low-fee private, community-based, faith-based, philanthropic or other non-government schools that serve families and communities for whom affordability and access are significant considerations.
The African Affordable Non-State Education Summit 2026 brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, school leaders, education organisations and other stakeholders to examine how affordable non-state schools can become a more visible and constructive part of education systems.
At the heart of the Summit is RISE — Recognition, Inclusion, Support and Engagement.
What does RISE Up mean? RISE Up means moving affordable non-state schools from the margins into the education system.
Recognise — See and Know
See the schools. Know where they are, who they serve, how they operate and the role they play.
Include — Bring Them Into the System
Bring them into education policy, planning, regulation, programmes and accountability.
Support — Enable Them to Fulfil Their Role
Create access to the conditions, capabilities, resources and services they need to provide education effectively.
Engage — Listen and Work Together
Create meaningful opportunities for schools and their representatives to participate in dialogue, decisions, co-design and feedback.
RISE Up is about making affordable non-state schools visible, included, supported and heard.
WHO SHOULD SUBMIT?
We invite abstracts for poster presentations that contribute to our understanding of how affordable non-state schools fit into, interact with and contribute to education systems. We welcome work from across Africa and beyond, including:
- University researchers and academics
- Postgraduate and early-career researchers
- Affordable non-state school owners and operators
- Teachers and school leaders
- Policymakers and government officials
- Education entrepreneurs and innovators
- Education consultants
- Civil society organisations
- Development and philanthropic partners
- Education technology and data organisations
- Community organisations
- Researchers and practitioners working across Africa
Your work may focus on one RISE dimension, more than one dimension, or the connections between them.
TYPES OF ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS
We welcome abstracts based on:
- Empirical research
- Case studies
- Comparative studies
- Systematic or scoping reviews
- Policy analysis
- Programme evaluations
- School-based innovations
- Practitionr experiences
- Community-based initiatives
- Emerging models and innovations
- Data-driven education solutions
- Conceptual or theoretical contributions
- Field work notes or journal
Completed research is not required. Emerging findings, promising practices, innovations and evidence-informed ideas are also welcome, provided the contribution and learning are clearly articulated. Selected abstracts will be published in the book of abstracts on the SEED Website.
MORE DETAILS ON THE KIND OF WORK WE ARE LOOKING FOR.
We are particularly interested in work that helps us understand how education systems see, incorporate, enable and engage affordable non-state education.
1. RECOGNITION – (SEE & KNOW):
How can affordable non-state schools, the learners and educators they serve, and their contribution to education systems be better recognised and understood?We welcome work addressing areas such as:
- Sector Visibility: mapping, identification, regoistration, enumeration, geographic visibility and understanding the scale and distribution of affordable non-state schools.
- Data representation: representation of schools, learners and educators in education data and information system
- Data quality, completeness, disaggregation, interoperability and accessibility
- Methods for identifying schools that are missing from official education data
- Sector intelligence: research and evidence that deepen understanding of the diversity, operating realities and role of affordable non-state education
- Understanding the learners, families and communities served by affordable non-state schools
- Evidence on the contribution and role of affordable non-state schools within wider education systems
- New approaches to generating, analysing and communicating evidence about the sector
- Data, research and evidence that can make affordable non-state education more visible and knowable to policy and education stakeholders
2. INCLUSION – (DESIGN WITH)
How can affordable non-state schools become meaningfully included in education systems? We welcome work examining:
- Policy inclusion: how affordable non-state schools are considered in education policy formulation, design and implementation
- Planning inclusion: how schools, learners and sector realities are incorporated into education planning and implementation
- Regulatory fit: registration, licensing, regulation, quality assurance and accountability arrangements, including their clarity, feasibility, proportionality and implementation
- Programme inclusion: whether affordable non-state schools are formally eligible for relevant government programmes and whether they can actually access and participate in them
- Accountability inclusion: how affordable non-state schools are incorporated into quality, safeguarding, compliance, transparency, complaints and redress systems
- Policy implementation and reform
- Education planning and information systems
- Public–non-state collaboration where it concerns the incorporation of schools into education-system processes
- Evidence on the gap between formal policy and implementation
- Experiences of moving from nominal inclusion to functional and effective inclusion
- Comparative approaches to incorporating affordable non-state schools into education systems across African contexts
3. SUPPORT – (ENABLE & STRENTHEN)
What conditions, capabilities, resources and system-enabled mechanisms enable affordable non-state schools to fulfil their education role effectively, sustainably and accountably? We welcome work addressing:
- Teacher workforce support: professional development, professional recognition, workforce information and other system-enabled mechanisms supporting teachers in affordable non-state schools
- School leadership support: leadership, management, governance, human-resource and organisational development
- Quality improvement support: mechanisms that help schools diagnose, address and monitor educational quality improvement needs
- Financial and economic enabling conditions: government-facilitated financing, risk-sharing, relevant financial information and other system-mediated mechanisms
- Infrastructure and learning resources: mechanisms enabling access to or improvement of WASH, learning materials, technology, connectivity, electricity and other essential conditions
- Information and technical assistance: guidance, technical assistance and information that help schools navigate regulations, programmes, administrative processes and education systems
- School improvement models and system-enabled improvement approaches
- Technology and innovation where they strengthen system access, capability or support
- Financing and investment approaches where there is a clear connection to the conditions in which affordable non-state schools operate
- Practical solutions to constraints facing affordable non-state schools
- Evidence on how system support is accessed, reaches schools and is experienced in practice
4. ENGAGEMENT – (LISTEN & SHARE AGENCY)
How can affordable non-state schools and legitimate sector representatives have meaningful voice and agency in shaping education systems? We welcome work exploring:
- Structured dialogue: institutionalised and ongoing channels for exchange between education systems and affordable non-state schools
- Consultation: opportunities for schools and sector representatives to provide informed input into specific decisions before they are finalised
- Representation and voice: who represents affordable non-state education, how representation is established, and whether diverse sector interests and experiences are reflected
- Co-design: substantive participation in defining problems, developing solutions, drafting, testing, piloting and refining policies, programmes or tools
- Responsiveness and feedback: how education systems acknowledge, consider, communicate and follow up on stakeholder input
- Government–school engagement
- School associations and collective action
- Practitioner and school-owner voice
- Parent and community participation where it contributes to the relationship between affordable non-state schools and education systems
- Partnerships and networks that create meaningful participation, influence or system collaboration
- Community-based initiatives with demonstrable system engagement
- Accountability and feedback mechanisms
- Development and philanthropic partnerships where they involve meaningful stakeholder participation or system engagement
- Models for meaningful stakeholder engagement across African education systems
KINDLY READ THROUGH THE ABOVE CAREFULLY BEFORE FILLING THE FORM
Abstract Submission Deadline: 20th October, 2026
Abstract Acceptance Notification: 26th October, 2026