Empatika partnered with Stats4SD to conduct a mixed methods baseline study commissioned by UNICEF Indonesia to support the start of their programme on supporting girls to thrive in West Papua. The study explored a wide range of issues including literacy, WASH, in-school participation, life skills, bullying and violence.

The quantitative portion of this mixed methods study used a survey conducted with students and teachers at eight schools (4 SMP and 4 SD) in the Sorong district of West Papua. During the survey an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) was also conducted with grade 2 and 3 students. Following the survey fieldwork our researchers returned to conduct a RCA immersion in three of the survey locations, staying with some of the students to gain deeper insights and learn more from the students, their families, and the surrounding community. School observations were also conducted both during the survey fieldwork and the immersions in order to help complete the picture around these issues.

Some of the key findings from the study include:

• Students are in general happy, physically active, enjoy school and feel relatively safe.

• In many aspects boys are doing less well than girls at both SD and SMP level although more so at SMP level.

• Papuan students are often treated differently and discriminated against both in school and in mixed-ethnicity communities. This affects how teachers view their Papuan students but also how Papuan students see themselves.

• Physical punishment is widespread in schools but is used more for boys and particularly male SMP students; however very few students have a strongly negative view of physical punishment.

• Students made clear distinctions in their assessment of what constitutes harassment and felt that the level of inter-student teasing and ‘banter’ did not amount to harassment although students considered to be 'geeky' were said to be the least likely to cope well with this.

• WASH knowledge and practices were poor and not integrated into day-to-day teaching and learning.

• Absenteeism is high with both teachers and students and school contact hours are on average quite low.