IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4 Education Sector Analysis

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Education Sector
Analysis

• ADEA Working Group on
• Education Sector Analysis (ESA)
• Presented by
• Richard SACK

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Objectives

• 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Context 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Ambitions 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Ambitions 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF
. 4Who promotes ESA

• In Africa, mostly the development agencies
• Models for ESA have, largely, come from the World
  Bank

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Issues

• Are assumptions realistic?
• How by whom is the ESA agenda determined?
• Who benefits?
• Capacity building for doing ESA for policy
  formulation

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Tools and skills data

• First of all, identify, find exploit the raw
  informationthe 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Tools 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?

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Flows 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
• Its all quite mechanicalconceptually
  straightforward mathematically complex

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Demand 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Learning outcomes
improving quality

• Learning assessment studies, such as SACMEQ
• Quantitative approaches that assess achievement
  levels contributing factors

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Processes 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4and, 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
  dont (their dysfunctionalities)

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Operational Conclusion

• Careful analysis of institutional capacities
• is key to
• getting the policy right

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Issues

• Data reliability, quality
• Accessibility of the tools
• Building capacities, learning-by-doing
• Who does the work
• Replicability
• Usability by policymakers

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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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Issues

• 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?

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Capacity 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

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF.
4Skills for ESA on the supply side

• Quantitative skills
• Statistics understanding data collection,
  quality analysis
• Research design
• Qualitative skills
• Functional analysis of institutions

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IIEP/WGESA/2002/INF. 4Skills 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

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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

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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