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Education
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Education
The success of adult literacy programmes has been
controversial, particularly regarding its sustainability and cost (Walter, Bhola,
Cairns). Since the Jomtien Declaration on Universal Primary Education in 1992,
the education sector has targeted children of primary school age to increase
access to school (Hyde, Macleod, Morriera). The focus on goal-based planning,
however, implies that there are difficult choices to be made in the tradeoffs
between quantity and quality of education (Hyde). Furthermore, the push for a
rapid increment in the numbers of scholars with a basic education has resulted
in new attention to monitoring learning achievement. The adopted formal education systems, based on European
models, run parallel to traditional educational processes, which are based on
rites of passage. Conflicts between
traditional and adopted systems pits ‘defenders of culture’ against
‘defenders of rights.’ One well-known example is the issue of female
circumcision (see Prendiville in the section on health). Evaluation in education will have a positive role in
questioning assumptions that have been taken on lock, stock and barrel with the
current formal education systems. For example, much of the tacit knowledge that
has been gained on project evaluations is being collected through the efforts of
evaluators working in education, and will challenge education policy in Africa. Author:
Bhola, H.S. Title: Programme
evaluation for programme renewal: a study of the National Literacy Programme in
Namibia (NLPN) Source: Studies in
Educational Evaluation, 24 (4) 1-28, 1988 Key words:
theory of evaluation, literacy, programme evaluation, Namibia Description:
This evaluation reviews policy and performance of a
national literacy programme that set out to achieve 80 percent literacy among
the then estimated 440,000 adult illiterates in Namibia by the year 2,000.
It includes analyses of organizational arrangements, state and civil
society networking, programme implementation as well as programmecost-effectiveness
and is one of six evaluations commissioned to evaluate the NLPN. An epistemic triangle formed by systems thinking,
constructivist thinking and dialectical thinking served as the epistemological
and methodological ground for this particular evaluation study of policy and
performance of the NLPN. With the
systems thinking as the arrowhead of analysis, the author built a checklist for
policy and planning performance. This
was conceptualized as a matrix of eleven component-systems for an idealized
literacy system and four dimensions: expectations (“ideal norms”),
environment (“contextual norms”) actual performance, and recommendations for
renewal of policy and performance. The
eleven subsystems of the total literacy system are: ideological, policy and
planning, institutional and organizational, curriculum development, methods and
materials, training and orientation, teaching-learning, transfer for utilization
for further education or life and work, monitoring and evaluation, and
professional support components/ subsystems. Each of the eleven subsystems was described and evaluated
in terms of the idealized contextualized criteria, using constructivist ways and
methods of collecting and interpreting data.
The author went through three different levels of cross-validation: first
impression, deeper social immersion in field realities and a final nuanced
presentation. The author summed up the evaluation in two parts, one
summing up the evaluation of the subsystems, and the other summing up issues of
epistemology-methodology of evaluations from within the epistemic triangle.
In the first summation, previous evaluation reports of the programme
(1995) were still valid. Furthermore,
since 1995, organizational intelligence had increased, there was greater
institutionalization. This
development had positive and negative attributes – better chance of NLPN
survival tagged with increased bureaucratization and routinization.
Each subsystem is dealt with in the summation, for example policy had not
improved the institution, and mobilization efforts were not paying off. In the second summation, the author suggests that
evaluations located within the epistemic triangle of systems thinking,
constructivist thinking and dialectical thinking should not be critiqued used
the criteria of the systematic rationalistic approaches to evaluation.
He concludes “for real change, a new model of change, an ethics of
frugality, person-centered development, and adult literacy for new independent
identities, must all come together.” Author:
Cairns, J.C. Title:
Ghana literacy assistance program Source:
Archival documents (CIDA, SIL International), 1991 Key words:
literacy, empowerment, capacity building, Ghana, CIDA Reviewer:
Stephen L. Walter Description:
This 47 page report is the final evaluation of an adult
literacy and development project carried out by the Ghana Institute of
Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation with funding from the Canadian
International Development Agency. The
project being evaluated is actually just one phase of a continuing literacy and
development initiative which has been underway in Northern Ghana for more than
20 years. This initiative is
designed not just to provide basic literacy, but to foster a level of community
development, broadly understood, in which the focal communities are able to
achieve full managerial and financial autonomy in the management of ongoing
development and educational activity. The first part of the evaluation summarizes project design
and project achievements in specific quantitative terms.
In the view of the evaluator, the project phase being evaluated has been
very successful in terms of education goals (adult literacy). Much of the evaluation takes up the more complex and
interesting issue of literacy for development.
Most such assessments use specific economic measures as indicators (or
not) of the (presumably) causal relationship between literacy and development.
The initiative being described in this evaluation takes a more
process-oriented approach emphasizing leadership development, institution
building, and human capital formation. While
the evaluation does not dig deeply into the theoretical implications of this
approach, it does investigate the progress being made toward this goal by
project activity. The findings of the evaluation confirm many intuitions
about this approach to development. It
takes time. It takes a lot of
investment in training, mentoring, and follow-up.
It requires technical resources that many NGOs lack. Of particular interest is the fact that two of the project
components are communities which have achieved the proposed level of
developmental autonomy. This
evaluation provides some insight on how this was achieved and what it takes to
assist other communities in reaching such a goal. Author(s):
Hyde, K.A.L., Kadzamira, E.C., Sichinga, J.C., Chibwana, M. P., and
Ridker, R. Title: Village
based schools in Mangochi, Malawi: An evaluation Source: IPR Working
Paper Series: Determinants of Educational Achievement and Attainment in Africa.
Lilongwe, Malawi: Institute for Policy Reform, 1997 Key words:
community schools, education, programme evaluation, cost analysis,
Malawi, SCF Description:
This evaluation was designed to assess the effectiveness
and sustainability of an innovative community school model run by Save the
Children Federation (US). The
Authors compared four model village-based schools in this programme to three
normal government schools (GS) and three government schools that have received
some assistance from SCF (AS) in the same geographical area on a number of
dimensions. The main comparisons
were on levels of achievement, community and parental involvement, teacher
effectiveness and cost per pupil. The Authors used a variety of methods to assess different
groups in two complementary studies, one school-based and the other household
based, which were carried out simultaneously.
In the school-based study, they used a specially-designed achievement
test for standard 1 and 2 pupils, an observation instrument for teachers,
interviews with teachers/head teachers, focus group interviews with parents, and
open-ended interviews with village heads, District Education Officers, the SCF
supervisor, the SCF director, school committees and programme managers.
The household survey was administered to 234 parents of tested children
to obtain information on parental education, income and resources as well as
attitudes towards schooling. Village-based schools generally performed better than the
government schools on all measures. The conclusion was that the VBS model has
proved successful in developing schools in rural area that can effectively
instruct children in Standard 1 and 2, and were better able to retain students
in school. The reasons for their
better performance were judged to be, in order of importance, a curriculum that
focused on the core subjects, more regular supervision, smaller class sizes and
more participatory instructional strategies.
This better outcome was achieved in VBS schools in spite of similar
household and income characteristics compared to children in GS and AS schools.
Cost per pupil was apparently about eight times higher in
the VBS schools though they had lower cadre teachers (mostly graduates of
Standard 8 only) and had much smaller classroom sizes (about three to four times
smaller) than GS schools. However,
the Authors caution that the evidence they have presented is not conclusive to
establish that VBS schools are significantly more expensive to establish or run
due to lack of data. They point out
that the issue should be on cost effectiveness rather than absolute cost,
measures that put the VBS schools ahead of the government schools.
They address specific recommendations to different levels of management. Authors:
Hyde, K.A.L., Ocitti, J.P., Bua, V., and Abagi, O. Title:
Complementary opportunity for primary education programme: interim review Source:
UNICEF, Uganda, 1997 Key words:
education, informal, children, Uganda Reviewer:
Patricia Hari, Kenya. Description: The Complementary Opportunity For Primary Education (COPE)
Initiative is a basic education programme developed jointly by the Ministry of
Education and UNICEF in Uganda and intended to benefit children aged 8-14 years
who have never been to school. A formative evaluation of COPE was conducted as part of the
mid-term review of the UNICEF country programme. The evaluators were asked to make recommendations that would
enable the Ministry of Education and UNICEF to make appropriate mid-term
adjustments and modifications in implementation procedures. The team had access to documentary evidence including
publications, reports, minutes of meetings, etc. pertaining to COPE.
Interviews were held with representatives of COPE stakeholders, namely,
Ministry of Education, UNICEF, local government officials, district officials,
parents, COPE instructors, pupils and management committees.
In addition to this, classrooms and the environment were observed of
sampled centers in the districts where COPE was operating.
One primary school in each district was also included in the study and
similar data was collected from each. This evaluation supports the continued existence and
expansion of COPE as a potentially effective means of enhancing the provision of
basic education in Uganda. However,
there were a few areas of concern that the team felt should be addressed before
such expansion was effected. Inadequate mobilization strategies had resulted in poor
understanding, acceptance and support for project activities within the
communities which had in turn negatively impacted on the implementation of these
activities. The evaluation noted
that poorly developed linkages between different sections in the Ministry
headquarters and between field staff and headquarters hampered the effectiveness
and efficiency of the management and administration of the initiative, as did
the lack of clear guidelines on lines of authority, roles and areas of
operation. Learners were reported to be generally positive about the
learning in the centers although children in primary schools considered them
inferior. However, it was noted
that the quality of teaching and materials used in the centers, although of high
standards, required urgent reviewing. It
was also noted that no explicit preparation was being made for the transition of
COPE graduates to the formal primary school system.
Although the administrative and instructional personnel in
the project were appropriate for their posts, it was noted that the process used
in their selection had not been open or competitive.
Furthermore, administrative and management personnel received no
training, and training for instructors was too short. The team made a number of recommendations for
implementation in the short-, medium- and long-term.
These recommendations focus on issues such as training, community
mobilization, improved administration of payment for instructors, financial
sustainability and the improvement in the organizational structure through
review and clarification of guidelines, roles and lines of authority in
management, administration and other areas of operation.
The team also called for stronger, more effective, linkages within the
various sections and structures within and between the Ministry and the project.
Another recommendation was for the identification and development of
post-COPE opportunities and in particular the strengthening of the link between
COPE and the formal primary school system through the development of a
transition policy that takes into account the range of ages, interests and
capabilities of the learners. Author:
Macleod, D.M., Owol, R., and Opolot, J.A. Title:
Health sciences education rehabilitation (Uganda) evaluation, visit:
April 7-12, 1994 Source:
IDRC division, Evaluation unit, 1994 Key words:
health, PHC, training, Uganda, IDRC Reviewer:
Karen T. Odhiambo, Nairobi University, Kenya Description:
The evaluation is concerned with the evolution of the new
community-oriented curriculum for primary health care from in their education
programmes from 1989-1994 at the University of Makerere. The health science
education rehabilitation programme originated with the declaration of Alma Ata
and the growing commitment of many medical schools, including Makerere
University Faculty of Medicine, to primary health care education programmes.
This resulted in a faculty curriculum review through workshops towards a new
community oriented curriculum and a plan for re-orientation of the undergraduate
medical training programme. IDRC provided the funds for implementation of the
new curriculum. The evaluators addressed three major areas of interest to
IDRC in relation to sponsorship of the rehabilitation programme, that is, the
curriculum itself, the role of the research unit in support of the programme and
impact of the project of the education programme. The methodology involved a
briefing in Nairobi on April 5th. and 6th. Subsequently, interviews and
discussions were conducted continuously in Kampala during the period April 7th
through 21st. A debriefing interview was held in Nairobi on April 22nd. The evaluators commended the curriculum as being
comprehensive in it's approach and that it was well written and its learning
objectives were clear. They also established that the philosophy of the
programme had gained high support from students to the rest of the stakeholders
as well as some international bodies such as WHO and UNICEF. The programme had
also helped faculty attract outside support from donors such as IDRC. However
the programme is expensive and there were problems with implementation one
drawback being lack of resources. Collaboration with the various tiers were
looked into and it was revealed that relationship between the MOH and medical
faculty had improved and the faculty had a close working relationship with
Mulago hospital. However, university rules and structures have hindered the
evolution of the faculty. The dean’s position is weak. In terms of capacity
positions in the faculty are not adequately filled mainly due to low pay. This
has tended to hinder development of research to impede interdisciplinary
education initiatives. There has been positive impact. The evaluators recommend faculty wide commitment to
community orientation, development of administrative mechanism with
accountability, restructuring the deans office and defining roles and
responsibilities, review (not reorganize) the curriculum to strengthen it
further and to consider semester system to increase flexibility, assessment of
the impact of the curriculum on student performance and on community health
indicators, and, draw out a plan for sustainability Author:
Morriera, S., and Nyathi, R. Title:
Evaluation of the early childhood education and care programme, Zimbabwe Source: Ministry of
Education, Government of Zimbabwe, Government of The Netherlands, UNICEF, 1997 Key words:
education, early childhood education, programme evaluation, Zimbabwe Description: This evaluation set out to track progress with the
implementation of the early childhood education project in Zimbabwe.
The Authors looked at how best to strengthen community-based approach;
how to improve the quality of the programme; how to expand access to early
childhood education care (ECEC) and how to better manage the programme. Through review of existing baseline information and formal
sampling on a nationwide scale, the Authors studied events in four districts
representative of major land use types in rural settings in the country and
randomly selected four ECEC centers from each district.
Within each selected district, the Authors compared two centers not more
than ten kilometers apart and another two at a driving distance of forty to
fifty kilometers from the first two. They
carried out semi-structured interviews with policy-level, implementation
manager-level, implementation-level and community-level stakeholders and held
focus group discussions with parents, community leaders and community members. On strengthening the community-based approach, the Authors
suggested that community awareness is the most important factor in the long-term
sustainability of this programme. This
is currently being carried out through short community awareness workshops that
need to be longer (two days instead of five hours) and linked to the training of
teachers. Furthermore, advocates
for the programme to motivate community members and ECEC teachers need to be
cultivated, trained and supported. Currently,
District Trainers who could best perform these tasks through the training they
had received lacked confidence to motivate the community.
This lack of confidence was attributed to lack of a full grasp of the
concepts behind adult education and community development and the volunteer
nature of the work that District Trainers do.
Training and advocacy for payment of services would build up confidence
and stimulate motivation. The quality of the programme was increased by the training
provided to the ECEC teachers and by the involvement of other non-governmental
organizations. However, they felt
that the Ministry of Education had to make a policy decision regarding targeting
more teachers for a basic training package or carrying out in-depth training for
a few ECEC teachers. The quantity
vs. quality choices had to be taken in light of other factors: there were not
enough teachers trained in ECEC, facilities for ECEC were often inadequate,
teachers who had gone through ECEC training did not have formal recognition
(certification) and supervision and support was ad hoc. The means of expanding access to ECEC appeared to be the
most difficult. Ministerial policy
issues on the registration of rural ECEC centers were leading to expectations of
remuneration from a volunteer cadre and a lack of understanding of the purpose
of registration. This probably
contributed to the lack of information to obtain a national picture of access
rates in various districts and to identify under-served communities.
The variance between the community-based nature and expectations and
government controls to assure minimum levels of quality has to be rationalized.
In urban areas, control of standards was lost in the multiplicity of
government and local authority organs involved as well as the mushrooming of
centers all over towns and cities. The evaluators proposed that in addition to the current
strategies that have contributed to the good progress toward achieving its
objectives, management had to improve communication and feedback between
different levels of implementation. Project
managers also had to reduce delays in the release of funds to the district
level. In conclusion, the Authors
recommended that the successful activities needed to be replicated with a larger
number of beneficiaries, as an enormous need had been demonstrated for ECEC. Author:
Walter, S.L. Title:
Community-based literacy, Burkina Faso Source:
Evaluation Report for CIDA, SIL Literacy Office in Dallas, TX, 1995 Key words:
literacy, adult literacy, programme evaluation, Burkina Faso, SIL, CIDA Reviewer:
Stephen Walter, SIL Literacy Coordinator Description:
This fifty page report is the final project evaluation of a
relatively small adult literacy project in Burkina Faso funded by CIDA (the
Canadian International Development Agency).
The literacy project was a joint effort of SIL International (an NGO
specializing in language development work) and DPEB AM (the adult literacy
section of the national Ministry of Education). The literacy project focused on four distinct people-groups
(Bissa, Bwamu, Cerma, Karaboro) in Burkina Faso comprising approximately ten
percent of the nation’s total population.
The project was touted as an example of
“community-based literacy” in that it was firmly rooted in the local
community. The project began with
the organization of a local sponsorship committee.
All materials were in the local language, all teachers were members of
the local community, and all instruction was in the local language.
The instructional content was basic literacy and numeracy according to
the national prescription for adult literacy programs. In a linguistically diverse nation such as Burkina Faso
with a highly rural population, a low level of general development, and low
rates of existing literacy, adult literacy is both a developmental necessity and
a tactical challenge. These
realities were clearly reflected in the project.
Over the lifetime of the project (three years), 5,829 people enrolled in
classes, 3,950 completed the classes, and 1,651 people successfully passed the
final examination. (The low pass
rate reflects an unusually rigorous math component in the final exam.)
The percentage of those completing the program--about 65 percent--is good
for literacy programs in such contexts. The basic literacy programme was deemed a general success
qua literacy. The technical quality
of the programme was very acceptable, the results were slightly better than
projected, and the working relationship between an NGO and a government agency
was reasonably strong and positive. On
the flip side, the evaluation report also took a broader look at the role and
context of literacy in Burkina Faso vis-a-vis development.
This picture is considerably more pessimistic.
Even though Burkina Faso is a relatively up-beat country, its lack of
resources, poorly educated population, and low carrying capacity leave it poorly
positioned for the future. Against the towering developmental challenges of a poor
country, the literacy project reviewed in the report was just one small ripple
in a sea of need, a ripple which has largely escaped public notice.
But to those three thousand or so who became literate, it was a
meaningful, perhaps even transformational experience. Author:
Wright, K. Title:
An assessment of the importance of process in the development of
communications materials in Uganda Source:
Evaluation and Programme Planning, 21 (4), 415 - 427, 1998 Key words:
communication, Uganda, UNICEF Reviewer:
Noreen Prendiville, Kenya Description:
In Uganda, the development of communications materials has
evolved from production orientated single-issue vertical project approaches to a
process involving a broad-based programme arrangement working with a large
stakeholder base. This assessment
examined the various processes used in the development of communications
materials in Government of Uganda-UNICEF programmes. The assessment focused in particular on the influence of the
various processes on stakeholder ownership and use and aimed to determine
whether opportunity costs incurred by each process development method were
justified. Methodology for the assessment involved the examination of
all communications materials produced since the beginning of the restructured
country programme and the categorization of these materials according to the
process used in their development. Materials
were categorized according to their specific purpose and considered the
development in terms of initial organization Interviews with all those involved
in materials development were conducted individually and in groups.
A detailed analysis of six cases, each representing a category of
material development, was then conducted. The findings of the assessment were presented as a series
of tables which allowed for cross comparisons of the various methods used in the
development of communications materials. The
single most important element in the development of successful materials was the
appropriate participation and involvement of the stakeholders.
Participation which allowed transparency in decision making and clarity
in accountability was most significant, underlining the importance of ownership
of materials in the development process. The
second significant finding of the study was the importance of choosing a process
appropriate to the needs of the materials which are to be developed.
Guidelines to assist in this choice were developed as part of the
assessment. Another key issues
which influenced the process of materials development were lack of effective
facilitation in group process. The
role of effective conceptualization was also examined. Those undertaking the assessment observed that the most
successful materials development processes were those which began with a clear
set of goals, objectives and activities. Recommendations
of the assessment included the establishment of ‘facilitation unit’ within
the UNICEF office, with counterparts in the government, to support the
implementation of materials development. |