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This paper is concerned with the gap in educational provision for vulnerable learners in Malawi who are at-risk of falling behind and dropping out of school due to irregular attendance. It draws on a study in high HIV-prevalence areas that explores the patterns of inequality and disadvantage that disrupt learning and uses this knowledge to design a school-based intervention to complement conventional schooling with more open and flexible delivery of the curriculum and increased school and community support. The intervention was implemented over one school year and evaluated using a randomised controlled design. The findings show that the intervention reduced drop-out overall by 42% in intervention compared to non-intervention group. These findings suggest that there is a role for more open and flexible models of schooling and support in reducing educational inequalities. However, transforming established practice would require an integrated strategy supported by national policies that recognise the need for schools to change.

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Communities in Malawi selected 15 children deemed "at-risk" -predominantly orphans -in Class 6 of each of 20 intervention schools to receive learning materials, support from the community and a school "buddy." An experimental evaluation found that dropout was reduced by 45% across intervention schools compared to 20 control schools. The program had spillover effects, indirectly reducing dropout among older pupils in the class not deemed at-risk. These findings imply that age, and not orphanhood, was the main indicator of vulnerability and that when targeting criteria are considered carefully, flexible learning programs can reduce dropout substantially among vulnerable children.

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