Windhoek, 21 Nov. 02Education Sector Analysis1 IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4 Education Sector Analysis ADEA...

Windhoek, 21 Nov. 02

Education Sector Analysis 1

IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4

Education Sector Analysis

ADEA Working Group on

Education Sector Analysis (ESA)

Presented by:

Richard SACK




Objectives

• A brief, one-day overview of the purposes, uses and utility of ESA

• Participants are expected to gain a general understanding of why ESA is useful and how it is done




Context & background• Sector analysis = policy analysis, which has been

around for years• Underlying assumptions:

– Effective policy needs empirical grounding & rational analyses

– ESA can produce framework for assigning objectives, targets, criteria, priorities

– This will promote stakeholder confidence, including that of external financing agencies

– Ideally, ESA is a process that develops both knowledge & capacity, together (I.e., the process is part of the product) return




Ambitions & objectives

• Promote dialogue on goals, objectives, needs, methods, resources & constraints

• Provide thorough knowledge of status of the sector & the impact of government policies

• Identify strengths & weaknesses, resources & constraints, demands & needs

• Establish database & methodology for planning




Ambitions & objectives

• Specify (i) areas for investments & (ii) reallocations of existing resources for improved cost-effectiveness & performance

• Monitor system performance• Provide basis for long-term improvements in

planning, implementation & monitoring of the system

• Identify methods & means for improved management & implementation




Who promotes ESA

• In Africa, mostly the development agencies

• Models for ESA have, largely, come from the World Bank




Issues

• Are assumptions realistic?

• How & by whom is the ESA agenda determined?

• Who benefits?

• Capacity building: for doing ESA & for policy formulation




Tools and skills: data

• First of all, identify, find & exploit the raw information—the DATA on– Numbers of: students (attendance, age) by grade;

teachers; schools, classrooms– Costs: teacher salary & career structure; books &

other materials; buildings; other– Financing: who pays what & how much; ‘who’ =

parents, students, communities, local & national governments

– Outcomes: learning results




Tools and skills: data

• Where to find the data?

• Is there an EMIS?

• Is there an assessment system (e.g., SACMEQ)?

• What do you know about the quality of the data?

• Level of disaggregation?




Flows & quantities

• Student flow analyses projections, forecasting– This is the traditional tool of education planners

(cohort analyses, etc.)

• Financial (computer) simulation models projections, forecasting– Same starting logic as flow analyses, but capable of

simulating costs, depending of assumptions & data quality

• It’s all quite mechanical—conceptually straightforward & mathematically complex




Demand for education

• Assessing demand using household surveys

• Identifying factors that influence demand– This will be very helpful for developing

policies aimed at increasing demand– Policies for EFA, girls could benefit from

this




Learning outcomes & improving quality

• Learning assessment studies, such as SACMEQ

• Quantitative approaches that assess achievement levels & contributing factors




Processes: Management & implementation

• If policy is as implementation does

• And implementation depends on ability (capacity, willingness) to get the work done

• Then, attainment of policy goals will greatly depend on the existing institutional capacities




and, Therefore• Institutional capacities are crucial for

successful implementation of the complex tasks (processes) of the education system

• Successful implementation requires capable institutions

• Which requires understanding how they work, or don’t (their dysfunctionalities)




Operational Conclusion

Careful analysis of institutional capacities

is key to getting the policy right




Issues

• Data reliability, quality

• Accessibility of the tools

• Building capacities, learning-by-doing

• Who does the work

• Replicability

• Usability by policymakers



IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF.

4 Finding the information

• The usual places– Within the education system: Statistics on

enrollments, teachers, examination results– Elsewhere: Ministry of Finance for salary

information; Civil service commission for teacher career info.

• Unusual places: Faculties of education & libraries for research




Issues• What is ‘valued’ knowledge, what information &

knowledge have ‘currency’?– Locally developed research? Research done by

external bodies & people, by powerful institutions?– Does some knowledge/information have greater

legitimacy than other?

• What/whose knowledge speaks to power? What/whose knowledge does power listen to?

• Is there knowledge that is “overlooked and undervalued”?




Capacity building

• Two major issues:– Capacity to do/perform ESA (the “supply

side”).– Capacity to use it in policy formulation (the

“demand side”).

• Capacity is required on each side




Skills for ESA: on the “supply side”

• Quantitative skills– Statistics: understanding data collection,

quality & analysis– Research design

• Qualitative skills– Functional analysis of institutions




“Skills” for ESA: on the “demand side”

• Willingness to base policy on empirical analysis

• Ability to absorb the logic and rationale of ESA analyses

• Ability to reconcile technical analyses and political imperatives and pressures



Skills for ESA: between the supply & demand sides

Communication capabilities that include– Presentational skills (writing, graphics,

avoiding presentations that nobody understands…)

– Willingness & ability to make the analytical results known to, and understood by, all stakeholders



Strategic options forCapacity building

• From the beginning, ESA conceived as a capacity building exercise

• External experts focus on capacity building & skills development

• Extensive use of local expertise linked to education sector (I.e., avoid the ‘commando’ approach)

• Learning-by-doing• Tools & methods that are not overly

sophisticated

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