Windhoek, 21 Nov. 02Education Sector Analysis1 IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4 Education Sector Analysis ADEA Working Group on Education Sector Analysis (ESA) Presented.

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

Windhoek, 21 Nov. 02Education Sector Analysis1 IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4 Education Sector Analysis ADEA Working Group on Education Sector Analysis (ESA) Presented.

Documents

education sector analysis

education sector analysis

complex slide

planning slide

policy right slide

policy formulation slide

richard sack slide

product returnreturn