Designing an Educational Model for Out-of-School Children Based on UNICEF Experiences: A Qualitative Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

This study aimed to design a comprehensive, localized, and flexible educational model for out-of-school children based on UNICEF experiences using a grounded theory approach. This applied-developmental study employed a qualitative grounded theory design. Participants consisted of 18 experts, specialists, educational managers, policymakers, and scholars in education, curriculum planning, educational management, educational equity, child support, and related fields. Participants were initially selected through purposive sampling, followed by theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. Interviews lasted between 48 and 64 minutes. Data were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA 2022. Credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability were considered to enhance the trustworthiness of the findings. The analysis indicated that an effective educational model for out-of-school children comprises eight interrelated dimensions: policy and management, curriculum and education, support and welfare, family and participation, identification and return, educational retention, evaluation and monitoring, and localization and flexibility. The findings further indicated that educational exclusion is a multidimensional phenomenon and that sustainable return to education requires simultaneous interventions addressing educational, socioeconomic, familial, institutional, and contextual barriers. The core category was identified as “designing and validating a comprehensive, localized, and flexible educational model for out-of-school children based on UNICEF experiences.” The resulting paradigmatic structure suggested that sustainable reintegration depends on the interaction of supportive conditions, appropriate governance, flexible educational strategies, active identification mechanisms, and continuous monitoring. The proposed model suggests that policies for out-of-school children should move beyond a narrow enrollment-oriented approach toward a continuous process encompassing identification, needs assessment, referral, educational reintegration, remedial learning, psychosocial support, retention, and monitoring. Contextual adaptation of UNICEF experiences, together with intersectoral coordination and flexible educational pathways, may strengthen sustainable school return, reduce repeated dropout, promote educational inclusion, and advance educational equity.