What we did:

Conducted evidence-based, policy-oriented, and publication-quality research for developing an indicator measuring SDG Target 4.7. This included:

• Overview and analysis of available international tools and mechanisms for stimulating, monitoring, and evaluating development education, sustainable development education, global citizenship education, and other value-based educational practices
• Overview and analysis of indicators for Target 4.7 in 2030 Agenda 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.7.3, 4.7.4, 4.7.5, and how they can be taken into consideration when implementing SDG strategies by European institutions and member states

Developed a framework for measuring progress towards SDG Target 4.7

What we did:

Managed the administering of a survey on the International Aid Architecture to almost 30 Ministry of Education staff in the below countries. The survey aimed to solicit their views and perceptions on how the global education architecture operates in their countries:

• Malawi
• Namibia
• Angola
• South Africa
• Comoros
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Tanzania
• Seychelles
• Congo Brazzaville
• Gabon
• Cameroon
• Ivory Coast
• Mali

What we did:

Formative evaluation of the GATE Scholarship Programme for UNICEF and the Afghanistan Ministry of Education to assess the extent to which it is progressing in relation to intended objectives of increasing female teacher presence in hard-to-reach areas, and increasing the number of girls participating in learning spaces. The evaluation findings and recommendations will inform the Local Education Group (LEG) composed on in-country education stakeholders such as the ministries of education and finance, donors, development partners, UN agencies and civil society organisations on the achievements of the programme. They will also be used to further shape, scale up and strengthen the GATE Programme while producing valuable insights to inform and guide future interventions in the education sector in Afghanistan and beyond.

What we did:

Continuous external evaluation of the European Union Child Rights Education Project (Children as Champions of Change: Ensuring Children’s Rights and Meaningful Participation) including design and implementation of a monitoring framework for the 7 countries participating in project, design and conduct a mid-term formative evaluation and design and conduct impact evaluation at end of the project. Specifically:

• Perform an in-dept review of project objectives and approaches, carrying out a desk review of relevant project documentation, and carrying out inception meetings with the Project Officer and project partners.
• Continuously monitor the performance of each project partner against their agreed Deliverables, flagging any shortfalls, delays or risks, with the Project Officer and working collaboratively with partners to ensure deliverable targets are met on time and as described in project plan.
• Conduct consultative workshops with the project partners as needed, in close collaboration with the project Officer.
• Collect information from project partners via email, telephone, workshops and other methods, as needed, in close coordination with the Project Officer.
• Provide continuous feedback to the Project Officer on any potential improvements, gaps and opportunities that arise during the evaluation, discussions or reviews.
• Provide consistent consultative availability for email and telephone (including online) discussions with Project Officer and partners.

What we did:

Impact evaluation of 7 Girl’s Education projects in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana and Malawi. The evaluation included schools that had been visited in 2017 for an effectiveness review of girls’ education projects to assess how Misean Cara funded education focused projects evolve over time and to get a sense of their longer-term impact on the learners, their families and their wider communities. The results of this evaluation were also used as a learning tool by providing insight into project achievements and lessons learned that are based on evidence to inform strategic decision making for the improvements in Girls Education Projects by Misean Cara and its Member Organisations. Specifically, this evaluation involved the following:

• Identify and describe impact on learners/girls/project participants
• Identify and describe impact on families and communities in the projects’ catchment areas
• Identify and describe impact of the selected schools/projects at district and national level on policies, plans, programmes and practices in the national development plan on education
• Identify examples of change brought about as result of Misean Cara’s effectiveness review conducted in 2017, and any evidence of changes in long-term planning as a result of evaluation findings or the evaluation process overall
• Identify the contribution to the project of the Missionary Approach to Development
• Identify learning for local teams, member organisations, Misean Cara and other development actors; and to inform Misean Cara’s strategic planning and policy development.

What we did:

Supported the Centre for Global Development (CGD) survey data platform by managing the administering of a survey on teacher unions in the following countries:

• Chile
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• South Korea
• Vietnam

The survey aimed to collect data about the legal rights of teachers and teacher unions around the world, and to better understand the different ways that teacher unions function in different contexts – their size and funding, how they are organized, what they bargain over, and their policy priorities.

What we did:

Assessed the performance of the capacity building project on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and capture project achievements, challenges and promising practices to inform future projects. As a multi-country, two-year, initiative, the project aimed to strengthen Plan International’s internal capacity to deliver high quality CSE in Eastern and Southern Africa and supported staff in understanding and applying the global CSE standards and guidance.The focus is on five countries in the region:

• Malawi
• Rwanda
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Specifically, the aims of this evaluation were to:  

• Assess the performance of the project
• Capture project achievements, challenges and promising practices to inform future projects
• Explore lessons learnt and recommendations for the future, including unexpected outcomes.
• Explore adaptation in terms of how well the initiative adapted to new circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic

What we did:

Managed a survey to support the Centre for Global Development (CGD) and World Bank to understand the views and priorities of policy makers and officials from Ministries of Education and Finance, as well as Members of Parliament on a range of education topics the following countries:

• Bangladesh
• Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
• Ghana
• Pakistan
• Uganda
• Vietnam

Topics covered included official budgeting, girls’ education, and education system responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim was to compare and contrast country specific information and produce country by country results which may contribute to international and domestic conversations in the education sector. 

What we did:

Assessed the performance of the capacity building project on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and capture project achievements, challenges and promising practices to inform future projects. As a multi-country, two-year, initiative, the project aimed to strengthen Plan International’s internal capacity to deliver high quality CSE in Eastern and Southern Africa and supported staff in understanding and applying the global CSE standards and guidance.The focus is on five countries in the region:

• Malawi
  Rwanda
  Uganda,
  Zambia
  Zimbabwe

Specifically, the aims of this evaluation were to:

• Assess the performance of the project
• Capture project achievements, challenges and promising practices to inform future projects
• Explore lessons learnt and recommendations for the future, including unexpected outcomes.
• Explore adaptation in terms of how well the initiative adapted to new circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic

What we did:

Established baseline values and targets for the project, as well as qualitative information to support programme decision making. The study included a rapid gender analysis which was conducted alongside the baseline study to assess the existing gender dynamics in the two target districts to generate insights on the underlying situation and provide recommendations/draw actions to inform project activities. The study also included literacy and numeracy assessments among children aged 3 – 8, as well as formative research in participating communities to assess the enablers and barriers to girls and children with disabilities accessing an education to inform implementation of project activities aimed at improving positive attitudes and practices from households and communities on importance of pre-primary education, children with disabilities attending education and girls learning.

What we did:

Within the global Teachers for All (T4A) Project, we explored how the allocation of teachers at primary school level may be optimized to improve equity in learning outcomes for primary school level students at national and subnational levels in Zambia.

This included an assessment of opportunities, policy gaps, and bottlenecks/constraints in the availability and equity of teachers, both across and within schools, and its impact on student learning outcomes. We also reviewed, co-created/adapted the data collection instruments for relevance to the Zambia context, conducted KIIs and FGDs with central, provincial and district level government officials in key government ministries and departments involved in teacher recruitment, as well as headteachers and teachers in selected schools. We provided quality assurance for data collection in Zambia, transcribed and coded KIIs and FGDs and wrote a summary report of qualitative findings from the Zambian leg of the global T4A project.

What we did:

Conducted an internal process review of UNICEF Nigeria’s ongoing education interventions’ relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and cost-effectiveness within the Country Programme (2023 – 2027). We also developed of a Theory of Change for UNICEF Nigeria’s Education Programme in the new Country Programme (2023 – 2027). We assessed the Education Programme to identify areas of improvement to ensure that the programme interventions will achieve the intended results. This involved fine-tuning the programme model by clarifying key elements and linkages from inputs to activities, and processes to outputs, outcomes and impacts. We also identified issues that have arisen or may arise during implementation and offered recommendations for adjustments based on input from programme stakeholders in 7 field offices. Further, we assessed the extent to which the education programme interventions, including their associated activities and sub-activities, are aligned with and can lead to the achievement of the intended results and outputs, as per the set Theory of Change (ToC).