**Project Background**

Plan International Nigeria's Country Strategy (FY2024 – FY2028), titled, *"Girls are empowered to take action and drive change",* aims to reach and empower 20 million girls in Nigeria. A key pathway to achieving this is through our Education programmes, particularly those targeting Out-of-School Children (OOSC) through the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP). The FCDO-funded PLANE II project (2022-2025) successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of ABEP, mainstreaming over **17,000 learners** into formal schools and exceeding its targets.

While the success of transition is well-documented, a critical gap remains in our evidence base. There is currently no systematic understanding of what happens to these learners *after* they are mainstreamed. We do not have comprehensive data on their retention, academic performance, psychosocial adjustment, or the specific barriers they face in the formal school environment. The PLANE II endline evaluation revealed high confidence among learners to continue their education, but also highlighted systemic barriers like poverty, hunger, and insufficient school infrastructure that threaten this very continuation.

To address this evidence-gap and inform future programming, Plan International Nigeria seeks to conduct a targeted **Retention Study: "Beyond Transition."** This study will focus on learners who have been mainstreamed from ABEP into formal primary and junior secondary schools in Borno and Yobe states.

**Purpose of the Retention Study**

The primary purpose of the study is to generate robust evidence on the academic, psychosocial, structural, and household-level factors that influence the retention and sustained participation of mainstreamed ABEP learners in formal schools.

**Objectives of the Baseline Survey**

1. ## Specific objectives:
2. **To assess retention rates** of mainstreamed ABEP learners and identify patterns of dropout or irregular attendance.
3. **To evaluate academic adaptation** by examining the academic performance of mainstreamed learners compared to their peers and identifying challenges in curriculum alignment and learning progression.
4. **To explore psychosocial adjustment**, including learners' sense of belonging, self-esteem, peer relationships, and experiences with school culture and safety.
5. **To identify structural and systemic barriers** within the formal school environment (e.g., classroom dynamics, teacher capacity in inclusive pedagogy, school infrastructure, availability of WASH facilities) that affect learner retention.
6. **To analyze household and community-level factors** such as economic pressures (poverty, child labour), family support for education, and community attitudes that influence a child's ability to stay in school.
7. **To provide actionable recommendations** for Plan International Nigeria, government stakeholders (SUBEB, SAME), and donors on strengthening retention strategies, improving transition pathways, and enhancing the capacity of formal schools to support mainstreamed learners.