Developing an M&E system for Education Monitoring and Evaluating Progress in Education 27 – 31 October, 2008 Pala Wari, PRIDE Project

Outline Why do we need to monitor and evaluate the NEP? Education for All Goals National Education Plans How well are we implementing the NEP? Why do we need to monitor and evaluate the NEP? Challenges for developing a good M&E system

Education for All Goals In 2000, over 160 countries committed themselves at the World Education Forum to archiving EFA Goals and Targets for every citizen including the Millennium Development Goals; Donors and NGO’s pledge support to this; Governments called for regular monitoring of the progress made in archiving the EFA Goals Emphasis the need to improve upon scientific quality of evaluations of EFA Goals

MDA of EFA Goals and targets EFA is NOT an agency programme a separate programme EFA IS a set of universal goals, pledged by governments and partners a subset of the Millennium Development Goals translated into national targets to be attained by year 2015 contained in your Country EFA National Action Plan and/or embedded explicitly or implicitly in national Education Sector Development Programme or the National Education Plans

EFA Commitments (i) expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, (ii) ensuring that by 2015 all children in difficult circumstances to have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality; (iii) ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes;

EFA Commitments (iv) achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults; (v) eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, and (vi) improving all aspects of the quality of education especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

National Strategic Development Plan Business/Management Plan Planning Framework National Strategic Development Plan EFA MoE Strategic Plan 2006 - 2008 FBEAP MDGS MoE Corporate Plan 2006 Business/Management Plan Individual Work Plans

National Education Plans Development of NEP’s. Since 2007, significant progress has been made in developing and implementing NEP’s. All countries have developed NEP’s PRIDE helped with Provincial Education Plans in PNG (20), Solomon Islands (10) and State Education Plans in FSM. For the first time NEP’s have been produced consistent with the EFA Goals. Countries have also developed EFA Action Plans Country NEP or EFA Actions have focus on areas of need

How well are we implementing? Large variation in the progress made A number of countries have achieved student access goals. More work is required to address education quality goals Country NEP or EFA Action Plans have focus on areas of need Limited resources and lack of trained manpower are often highlighted as areas of concern Some countries are not sure how well they are doing in implementing the NEP’s.

How well are we implementing? How well are doing in achieving the six EFA Goals? Which areas are we doing well? Which areas are we struggling?. How do we compare with other countries? What more should we aim to achieve? What must we do better to achieve our education goals? Do we really know how well we are doing?

Primary Education Low retention, high repetition and low achievement Inequities in access for persons with disabilities Low education quality

Gender Parity Have we archived the goals of gender parity in primary and secondary? Although improvements are being made, disparity emerging is lower participation and achievement of boys In which areas do we need improvement?

Early Childhood Care and Development How well are we achieving the ECCD Goals? Countries have or are in the process of developing ECCD Policies. ECCD is part of the formal education system. In which areas do we need improvement?

Non-Formal Education How well are the NFE being achieved? Slow but steady progress being made? In which areas do we need improvement?

Secondary Education How well are we achieving this Goal? Are there enough places for all children to attain high school education? In which areas do we need improvement?

Improving Quality in Education How well are we achieving this goal? Low level of learning in many countries. In which areas do we need improvement?

Why monitor and evaluate NEPs? M&E should be seen as part of planning and management Have essential information to improve on the past performance Provide management to take corrective measures Measure progress against objectives and targets, and Determine cost-effective measures of delivering education services

Challenges in M&E effectiveness of monitoring and evaluating the NEP depends on the accuracy of the data collected; analysis and feedback about the data to those collecting it to check for accuracy; In some countries, ccurrent systems at the provincial, district and school levels do not provide reliable and timely data;

The PRIDE Project Please visit us: www.usp.ac.fj/pride (website) Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu Please visit us: www.usp.ac.fj/pride (website) www.paddle.usp.ac.fj (resources)