Opening Sentence.... “The Australian Government spends millions of its overseas aid dollars on scholarships, some of which were handed to foreign politicians' children while others funded courses in design and photography”. Canberra Times, Markus Mannheim, Public Sector Reporter 27 April 2011

Students arrive in Australia under the Colombo Plan Training Scheme Source: Australian News and Information Bureau

Why are our Pacific Island Students Failing?

 Tonga Tracer Study, 1991  Indonesia Tracer Study (Degrees of Success) Daroesman, 1992  Western Samoa Tracer Study, 1992  Solomon Islands Tracer Study, 1993  Tuvalu Tracer Study, 1995  Laos Tracer Study, 1996  Philippines Tracer Study, 2000  Cannon Studies on Organisational Impact 1995 (IDP) & 1997 (ADB)

 enhancing performance management of the ADS scheme, through the development of appropriate performance indicators and more systematic reporting of performance results;  ensuring appropriate attention to monitoring and addressing the level and impact of scholarship scheme losses and additional costs which result from students discontinuing their studies, not completing their studies within their award period, or not returning home;  increasing the focus of ADS assistance to partner countries, through improved analysis of their human resource development needs and enhanced targeting of awards to help meet these identified needs

 The New Indonesian Challenges and the ADS Scheme – Evaluation Conference Jakarta 24th – 25th July 2000  New design for ADS in Indonesia and the Philippines (embedding M&E, Key Agencies)

 ADS II in Indonesia (Performance monitoring and Impact Evaluation)  HRD Facility in Philippines (Balanced Scorecard, KPIs and Tracer Study)  ADS Vietnam (Periodic Tracer Studies 2002, 2005 and 2008)

AusAID scholarships provide rewarding higher education opportunities for people from developing countries to build skills and knowledge to promote development in their home country and build enduring people to people linkages. AusAID AusAwards Factsheet (

OBJECTIVE: To enhance the pool of Indonesians with Australian postgraduate qualifications in order encourage positive relations with Australia and to strengthen the capability of Indonesian organisations to provide services. GOAL: To work in partnership with the GoI to achieve a prosperous, democratic and safe Indonesia through the provision of postgraduate scholarships OUTCOME 1. Alumni apply knowledge and skills in their workplaces OUTCOME 2. Alumni effectively reintegrated into Key Agencies in order to strengthen agency service provision OUTCOME 3. Alumni initiate and/or support linkages between Indonesia and Australia OUTCOME 4. Alumni return with and maintain a positive perception of Australia Alumni Return to Indonesia with New Skills & Knowledge Output 1: Select Good People that match priorities Output 2: Place them in Good Quality Education Programs Support them to Maximise Educational Success

 A total of five tracer studies, three independent completion reports and three joint reviews (with New Zealand) of scholarships programs were completed over 2009 and ~ Overview of Scholarships  M&E embedded in larger programs  48% of scholarship programs have less than adequate M&E systems ~ Quality at Implementation (27 programs)

“Taken together, these reviews provide significant insights into AusAID’s tertiary training assistance, including what is working, what is not, and the reasons why”.

The Colombo Plan Education is Good PICs Realisation that it would be nice to know more about academic achievement Early Tracer Studies Desire for more Information about results Early M&E Systems in Country Programs Embedded M&E Systems based on Outcomes Process Driven. Desire to prove scholarship impact Process Driven. Desire to prove scholarship impact Clearer explanation of intended program outcomes s

 Inadequate data systems and corporate knowledge (SIMS-SIMON-OASIS)  Program diversity and complexity not well handled – sharing information, common approaches  Poor knowledge management and transparency

 Selection  Placement  Academic Success  Return  Re-employment  Organisational Impact  Institutional/ People to People Links  Development Impact (portfolio approach)

 Need for some standardisation of approaches across countries  On-Return Surveys  Longitudinal Studies  Selected Case Studies (organisations, clusters, development issues)

“Australia spends, on average, $105,000 educating each development scholar. Our aid budget is too precious, and too far below the Millennium Development Goals, to throw this amount at the wind and hope it lands in the right place.” Canberra Times, Markus Mannheim, Public Sector Reporter 27 April 2011