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NEWS AND ANALYSIS ON EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

A young teacher in Mariama Kunda, Gambia, May 2017.

VOL. XXXIII N°2 JULY 2017 - DECEMBER 2017

PUTTING PLANS INTO ACTION

EDUCATION PLANS: TURNING INTENT INTO ACTION By Anton de Grauwe, IIEP-UNESCO

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ducation plans serve several purposes: they bring a variety of stakeholders together around a common vision; they help ensure that this vision can be implemented through a careful identification of the most relevant and feasible strategies, and through wellargued estimates about the plan’s cost and financing; and they are tools for mobilizing the human and financial resources needed to improve an education system.

But the simple existence of a plan is not enough. When plans are well designed but not implemented, the entire vision is threatened. While overly ambitious plans pose one challenge, the more pressing concern is that ministries of education and their partners often think their work is finished once the plan document exists and they pay little attention to its fulfillment. In this scenario, the plan is quickly forgotten and the original enthusiasm channeled ••• - W W W. I I E P. U N E S C O . O R G -

EDITORIAL

VISION & ACTION CAN CHANGE THE WORLD FOCUS

OVERCOMING CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS BREAKING BARRIERS

THE HUMANITARIANDEVELOPMENT NEXUS

HIGHLIGHTS

EDUCATION 2030 IN LATIN AMERICA

IN THIS ISSUE

EDITORIAL VISION & ACTION CAN CHANGE THE WORLD By Suzanne Grant Lewis, IIEP-UNESCO

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mplementation is one of the most important steps of the education planning cycle because without implementation, the vision captured in the plan has no chance of becoming a reality. IIEP’s founding Director, Philip H. Coombs, reiterated the importance of implementation in the opening pages of his seminal 1970 book, 'What is educational planning?' He wrote that planning “does not cease when a plan gets on paper and has won approval. Planning, to be effective, must be concerned with its own implementation –with progress made or not made, with unforeseen obstacles that arise and with how to overcome them.” Despite Coombs’s counsel, insufficient attention is given to implementation today. To help adjust the balance between plan formulation and implementation, we’ve dedicated this newsletter to practices to support successful implementation. One technique is an institutional analysis, which highlights capacity constraints and helps ministries in overcoming organizational and administrative shortfalls. The experiences of Madagascar and Comoros are cited. Our work with the Ministry of Education in Comoros also highlights how looking at the local context is key in helping select what type of plan is most suitable and feasible. A third key planning practice is monitoring and evaluation, which plays an important role in spurring change and creating a culture of accountability for results, as illustrated in the experiences of Cambodia and Ethiopia. The story of Afghanistan’s national training centre for educational planning and management illustrates how a comprehensive plan that includes strategies for developing the capacities of educational planners and managers can create fertile grounds for more successful plan implementation with trained individuals to carry a plan forward. This type of work is especially relevant in our shared global quest to support countries in achieving the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4). Education sector plans, when built on solid analyses of system performance, are key tools that countries can use to lay out a blueprint for education systems that reach all children and foster in them a lifelong curiosity for learning. But they must not lie dormant. Plans are documents of great national value that must be invested in, revisited, updated, and monitored over time. In the words of Nelson Mandela, "vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world.”

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THE IIEP LETTER VOL. XXXIII N°2 / PUTTING PLANS INTO ACTION

EDUCATION PLANS: TURNING INTENT INTO ACTION.............. 1 EDITORIAL............................................... 2 TOWARDS MORE EFFECTIVE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATIONS............... 4 FROM THE PLANNER'S DESK..................... 4 FROM CAMBODIA TO ETHIOPIA, EXPERIENCES WITH M&E......................... 6 THE ROLE OF A NATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE IN AFGHANISTAN..... 8 BREAKING BARRIERS IN EDUCATION........................................ 9 LOCAL CONTEXT MATTERS: LESSONS FROM COMOROS.................. 10 ALIGNING ACTION WITH STRATEGIC PLANS ................................... 11 RECONCILING PLANNING & BUDGET CYCLES................................ 12 PERSPECTIVES..........................................13 HIGHLIGHTS.......................................... 14 THE 2030 AGENDA IN LATIN AMERICA TRAINING PROGRAMMES....................... 15 APPLY TODAY IIEP PUBLICATIONS...................................16 A TALK WITH THE AUTHOR: LUCY CREHAN

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO or IIEP. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this review do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or IIEP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.

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••• CONTINUED

into its creation may turn into disappointment, and even cynicism about the value of any plan. Plan implementation is, on the whole, more difficult than plan design. While the latter demands technical skills, as well as strategic and political intelligence, the work can be undertaken by a small group of centrally placed, usually likeminded, experts. However, turning the plan’s intent into action depends on a much wider group of people who work at different levels and with varying, and at times contrasting, opinions and interests. Implementation quickly encounters the constraints of an inflexible reality: limited budgets, insufficient institutional capacity, the power of habits, and the inevitable slowness of bureaucratic structures. An education ministry – and even less so an external partner – cannot guarantee the successful implementation of a plan, but they can and should develop strategies that will facilitate this. The feasibility of the plan itself is important. A plan has to take into consideration all of the risks and the financial, technical, and institutional limitations it could face in implementation.

Those who will play an important role in bringing a plan to life should be present during the design phase, for this can help build ownership and improve plan relevance from the start. During the plan’s execution, a ministry’s role shifts towards the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the plan. The ultimate purpose of M&E is to learn about how the plan’s content and implementation can be improved. An effective M&E framework goes beyond the usual administrative reporting, so that new lessons can be learnt, but does not become so heavy and demanding that an inordinate amount of time is spent on reports and review meetings and that professional staff feel overburdened by control. The linkage between plans and budgets, including through the preparation of Mid-Term Expenditure Frameworks and operational plans, is essential to creating the fiscal predictability needed to translate the plan into action. However, the main brake on putting the plan into effect, is often not the scarcity of financial resources, but the weak capacity of the educational administration. Overcoming that weakness requires a

profound analysis of its causes and a well-argued identification of appropriate strategies – an area of work that IIEP is turning into a systematic practice within an education sector analysis, which precedes or accompanies the design of the plan. One of the most common capacity constraints relates to the absence of technical expertise in local education offices, which are key to the plan’s success. Work to strengthen local expertise, including through reinforcing national training providers, is crucial and valuable, especially in countries that are in a process of decentralization. The combination of these different strategies will help ensure that the education plan brings together not only central ministry staff and their close partners, but the whole education community. An education plan is not only a nicely presented document – the pride of the planning department – but a genuine tool for change that can guide action from the central ministry to the classroom.

The planning cycle: from formulation to implementation From vision to plan

From plan to action

Support to ministries of education in preparing educational plans

Support to ministries of education in educational plan implementation

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Education Sector Analysis: analysing overall performance and capacities

Policy formulation: choosing policy priorities and key strategies

Programme design: translating policies into programmes

Plan costing and financing: estimating required resources

Monitoring and evaluation: measuring progress and achievements

Learning lessons and improving practices through Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks Promoting safety, resilience, and social cohesion by planning for crises and forced displacement Securing fiscal predictability through linking plans and budgets

Creating effective educational administrations by overcoming capacity constraints Reinforcing national training providers to boost capacities at the decentralized level

Standard-setting guidelines and Methodological tools 3

TOWARDS MORE EFFECTIVE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATIONS By Anna Seeger, IIEP-UNESCO

Institutional analyses can highlight problem areas and aid ministries in overcoming administrative capacity constraints.

© DIETMAR TEMPS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Students in primary school on June 1, 2016 in Morondava, Madagascar.

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n Benin, less than a third of senior and mid-level managers at the Ministry of Education have the required technical profile. Many are former teachers or lecturers who were assigned or nominated to the Ministry due to health issues. A 2007 study found that because of this mismatch of profiles and required skills, managers often lack authority among their staff, which in turn creates parallel and informal hierarchical structures. In many countries, ministries of education and other authorities tasked to manage education service delivery are confronted with similar capacity constraints.

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This can impact the whole education sector and impede it from reaching its goals. IIEP supports ministries of education in preparing capacity development plans that provide strategic actions to overcome weaknesses in the education administration. The basis of such work is known as an institutional analysis. It examines and creates a shared understanding of the capacity constraints education administrations face in the design and implementation of education policies, plans, and programmes. This in turn helps to guide ministries of education and partners to develop more realistic and feasible education strategies and plans.


A WIDER APPROACH TO PLANNING

An institutional analysis is ideally part of a wider sector planning process such as the preparation of an education sector analysis. It is rooted in a methodological framework for capacity development that gauges how an education administration is reaching its goals by looking at: • the individual level: the profile of education planning staff at central at local levels; • the organizational level: the mandate, structure, and internal management of organizational units, for example the planning

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department within the ministry of education; the institutional level: the management of the civil service, and; the contextual level: the quality of interministerial relationships and between education ministries and external stakeholders, including teachers’ unions, development and humanitarian agencies, and civil society groups.

Different sources of information provide the responses to questions within and across these four capacity levels. HOW ARE CONSTRAINTS IDENTIFIED?

A document review provides insights into the structure, legal, and regulatory frameworks of an education system. Semistructured interviews with individuals and focus groups provide clarity on how education staff perceive problems, how they adapt to their work realities, and how planning and management practices may differ from rules and regulations. A survey for education planners and managers also generates insights into the professional background, skills, needs, and perceptions of education staff. Combined,

this information illuminates the causes of capacity constraints and paints a more comprehensive picture of existing strengths and weaknesses. For example, the analysis could reveal poor coordination and communication between District Education Officers and central staff. This could result from different realities, such as a conflict-ridden relationship between central and local government staff, conflicting mandates, a lack of incentives for qualified staff, half-heartedly executed decentralization reforms that demand more from local governments without matching funds, and so on. The analysis devotes much time to unravel how such dysfunctionalities are connected across the four levels of capacity development. However, it is equally important for education administrations to understand and internalize their very own assets and strengths. IDENTIFY STRENGTHS, NOT JUST WEAKNESSES

In Madagascar, a small group of senior and retired education planners at the central level are currently providing countless hours of on-the-job training to young education staff. An institutional analysis conducted in 2017 showed that in light of limited funding for formal training, this activity is key to ensuring that institutional

knowledge and planning competencies are developed and retained in the country. Capacity development strategies that aim to build on such existing capacities need to understand how individuals behave in institutions, how they make decisions given the incentives they have, and how they can influence and improve the rules that structure their work. In Madagascar, senior and retired education planners enjoy much respect among their colleagues due to their professionalism and firm belief in positive change. This is an important incentive for public servants to perform well and provide support when needed. The institutional analysis provides valuable insights in this regard. APPLYING AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS

Towards the end of the analysis phase, education officials and partners in the education sector meet to fill potential gaps and allow all stakeholders to reflect on, interpret, and discuss the hypotheses provided by the institutional analysis. Where countries are in the process of developing education sector plans, its results can be used to identify and integrate appropriate strategies to overcome capacity constraints.

From the planner's desk Olivier Theodule Razafindranovona worked for more than a decade with Madagascar’s Ministry of National Education (MEN). Today, he advises the Ministry on educational planning and is part of the national team leading the institutional analysis with IIEP. What are the most pressing capacity constraints facing education management and administration today? In my opinion, the MEN must strengthen its institutional capacities for planning, programming, human resources management, and coordination in the management and administration of the system at all levels (central and decentralized). Thus, the MEN must have agents (planners, educational administrators, qualified teachers, competent supervisors, etc.) who are able to contribute to the changes envisaged, especially in the context of the new sectoral plan for education (2018-2022). The MEN will also have to develop mechanisms to promote the rapid availability of quality information on the education system. How do you hope to use the results of the institutional analysis to improve Madagascar’s education system? Based on the results of the institutional analysis, an institutional strengthening plan will be proposed to address the highlighted

challenges. This document should include strategic orientations, expected results, proposals for strategies implementation, cost factors, the responsibilities of the entities involved, the programme of activities, the management skills required, the M&E, and a risk assessment. What helped you personally develop your skills as a planner? I started as a high school teacher and then became head of the schooling department at the Secondary Education Department, while taking part in the permanent monitoring of learning achievements. That allowed me to already acquire some planning skills. I was then assigned to the Directorate of Educational Planning. There, I learned while working. I took part in various activities of management, received training from national and international consultants, and attended distance and face-to-face courses at IIEP.

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The Federal Ministry of Education in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

FROM CAMBODIA TO ETHIOPIA: EXPERIENCES WITH M&E FRAMEWORKS By Mariela Buonomo Zabaleta and Amelie Gagnon, IIEP-UNESCO

The merits of monitoring and evaluation are clear. With proper use, such frameworks can help guide plan implementation and instil change.

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n effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework can significantly contribute to change in an education system. For this to happen, the framework needs to go beyond the surface and not just be a tool for control or reporting. Monitoring and evaluating a plan is important to guide plan implementation, but also to create accountability for results and, even more, to learn and improve policy and practice. M&E is a form of organizational learning that implies intensive

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interaction and communication between the staff of the different units. Ultimately, those involved in a plan not only want its actions to be executed, but to instil change in the system and achieve the policy goals that it sets forth. More specifically, an M&E framework ensures that there is: • a common reference to identify what are the changes wanted (results), • agreement on how change is expected to happen, and

Moreover, the assessments only occasionally feed into the decision-making process and therefore are not used to improve policies and practices. This is partly related to the insufficient capacities of staff in charge of M&E regarding the evaluation of education policies and the use of these studies for policymaking. A robust results framework is a powerful management tool to guide education sector planning and implementation. It includes two key components: a results chain that describe the logical cause-and-effect pathways between activities and their expected results, and a results matrix, which provides an overview of the performance indicators that will track progress on the effects of implementation. The absence of a results framework can lead to partial monitoring and loss of coordination in the implementation of sector activities, especially when the direct relationships between each and every programme activity, outputs, and outcomes is not clearly established.

©AMELIE GAGNON/IIEP-UNESCO

RESULTS FRAMEWORKS IN ETHIOPIA: THE MAP AND THE COMPASS TO TRAVEL THROUGH PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

For the past year, IIEP has been supporting the Federal Ministry of Education of Ethiopia, and the Regional Education Bureaus of four Ethiopian Regions to develop results frameworks for their respective Education Sector Development Program V (ESDP V). In turn, the regions, as well as the federal level, aim to integrate these results frameworks into regular monitoring and planning processes, therefore facilitating annual reporting, mid-term reviews, and final evaluation. These are opportunities to take stock of the progress made, and make sure that the implementation of the plan is going in the right direction. These activities took place as a set of professional development opportunities and working sessions, with the support of UNICEF-Ethiopia. MONITORING AND EVALUATION IN CAMBODIA: NOT AN END IN ITSELF

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under which assumptions (results chain), a clear measurement methodology for this change over time (indicators, data collection and a processing system), agreed principles on how to interpret status and movement towards change, a well-defined organizational structure and reporting processes, a timeframe to evaluate what strategies work, which don’t and why, so that interventions become better (e.g. annual, midterm review, and final evaluation).

AN UNEVEN BALANCE BETWEEN 'M' AND 'E'

Too often, the accent of the actual practice of M&E is on reporting and not so much on evaluating the strategies implemented or how successful they have been in attaining the outcomes expected and the reasons behind the achievements or lack thereof. Countries tend to focus on the ‘M’ and not so much on the ‘E’ of the M&E framework.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) of Cambodia has recently completed the M&E framework to monitor the implementation of its ongoing education sector plan (ESP). This framework describes the roles and responsibilities of the different departments and levels of the education system concerning M&E activities, as well as the different reports that are to be produced at the various levels. As part of its twinning program with the MoEYS of Cambodia, IIEP cooperates with the Directorate General of Policy and Planning to improve the processes and reviews that are part of this M&E framework. One of the areas of collaboration has been the development of the Midterm Review of the ESP. This review, done through a consultative process with subsectors, development partners and other stakeholders, led to the revision of the ongoing ESP and a strengthening of several reforms, including upgrading teacher qualifications and improving teaching practices. Current support focuses on refining different monitoring tools, such as those used in annual performance monitoring, as well as enhancing the relevance and deepening the analysis in the reports produced by the Directorate General, so that they are of more use to policy reform.

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THE ROLE OF A NATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE IN AFGHANISTAN By Jimena Pereyra and Morten Sigsgaard, IIEP-UNESCO

Successful plan implementation depends on the capacities and overall commitment of a country’s local education offices and administration. As Afghanistan shows, national training centres can play an important role.

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fghanistan’s recently launched third National Education Strategic Plan (NESP-III) sets the direction for the education sector over the next five years until 2021. Developed and endorsed by both Afghanistan’s government and partners, it puts special emphasis on improving educational quality and relevance, equitable access, and efficient and transparent management. The NESP-III comes amid many changes in Afghanistan’s education system. Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001,

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educational opportunities have opened for many. Enrolment has increased nine fold, from below one million in 2001 to 9.2 million in 2016. The number of schools have surged from 3,400 to 16,400 and teacher investment has become a priority. Furthermore, nearly 40% of those enrolled are now girls, compared to under one percent during the Taliban years. Education officials in the country hope to see the NESP-III build on these gains, despite ongoing insecurity, corruption, and overall capacity constraints facing its administration. Concurrently, provincial


education plans are created and implemented across Afghanistan to help respond to the varying needs of the country. The actions taken across the country’s provinces to improve access and quality of education hinge on the overall capacities of education officials and institutions to properly develop, implement, and monitor the plans. The National Institute for Educational Planning (NIEP) plays an important role in bolstering capacities of national and sub-national level educational planners and managers. Since officially opening its doors in Kabul two years ago, the NIEP

© LIZETTE POTGIETER /SHUTTERSTOCK

Afghan school girls in Mazar, northern Afghanistan.

THE NIEP HAS BECOME AN EXAMPLE OF HOW A COUNTRY IN A COMPLEX CONTEXT HAS ESTABLISHED A SUSTAINABLE LOCAL MECHANISM TO DEVELOP PLANNING CAPACITIES.

has become an example of how a country in a complex context has established a sustainable local mechanism to develop planning capacities. After the Taliban fell, the Ministry of Education struggled to adequately respond to the challenges of reconstruction. Many experts had left for international NGOs and UN agencies, and those who stayed had few opportunities to update their knowledge and skills. To fill this gap, the Ministry recruited national technical advisors on a temporary basis with funding from international donors. While these

advisors, who were often former Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan with higher education degrees, had some positive effects in the short-term, it was not a lasting solution. Fast forward a decade, and the Ministry’s planning department began to search with donors for a more sustainable way of addressing needs in planning and management. The National Training Programme started in 2012, and three years later the NIEP was inaugurated as a full training centre under the MoE’s Deputy Ministry for Technical and Vocational

Education and Training. IIEP provided technical advice on its set-up and assisted the Ministry with the development of a programme syllabus and training materials. As a result, Afghanistan went from being a training beneficiary to a training provider, reaching officials both in Kabul and across the provinces. Today, 606 MoE officials at the provincial level (of which 7% are women) have received in-service training and are contributing to an overall stronger educational administration. The NIEP also diversified its initial training offer to provide pre-service training courses for 234 female high school graduates, enabling them to seek employment in the education sector. It also offers evening courses and is expected to offer short-term courses in coming years. By strengthening the core competencies of educational officials it is hoped that the country can be in a better position to successfully implement the new plan and further improve its education system.

Breaking barriers in education IIEP is continuing its work in fragile contexts through a new project that aims to close the humanitarian-development gap, funded by the European Commission Service for Foreign Policy Instruments. Key partners in this project are ministries of education and humanitarian and development partners. We spoke with Maria Agnese Giordano and Tyler Arnot, Global Education Cluster Coordinator for UNICEF and Save the Children, respectively.

How can bridging the humanitarian and development divide help secure the right to education in times of emergency? We need to start looking at crisis, which disrupt education, as something not necessarily abnormal but rather to include the risk in our long-term development planning. Preparedness and risk reduction are key, not the least regarding cyclical natural disasters but also under volatile security conditions. The imperative must be how do we reduce interruption for learners and make sure the most possible number of children continue to have access to quality learning outcomes also during crisis. The right for education must be squarely in the center of all our planning and actions and not something to be debated when crises occur.

What role do you see for ministries of education? The ministries of education are the absolute crucial link in ensuring the bridge is made since they are the first entry point for development partners. The education

ministries are increasingly actively taking Education in Emergencies (EiE) under their mandate not only in terms of chairing the Education Cluster/Working Group but also by including EiE in their long-term strategy and making sure they have staff with capacity in the area, thereby grounding the humanitarian need firmly within the institutional long-term development plans.

Have any countries emerged as an example of how these actors can work together? Afghanistan is a good example where the Ministry of Education in close collaboration with the Cluster Lead Agencies (Save the Children and UNICEF) has actively pursued establishing the linkage between humanitarian and development partners through targeted advocacy. It is still work in progress but a telling sign that major development donors such as DFID, USAID, and SIDA prioritise to attend and are active contributors to the Education in Emergencies Working Group meetings, which is chaired by the Ministry of Education.

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LOCAL CONTEXT MATTERS: LESSONS FROM COMOROS By Koffi Segniagbeto, IIEP Pôle de Dakar

Education administrators want to see the objectives of an education plan achieved. In Comoros, this meant looking closely at the national context.

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A secondary school in Moroni, Comores.

©ANNA SEEGER/IIEP-UNESCO

n 2016, education officials in Comoros opted to prepare a second transitional educational plan instead of a full, longterm plan. During the first three-year plan of this type, there was not enough time to adequately develop institutional capacities. Furthermore, Ministry officials and development partners believed a second short-term plan could help lay the foundation for a stronger ten-year plan later on where goals could be realistically achieved. This decision revealed an important lesson. It is crucial to understand the national context and gauge the institutional strength before embarking on a long-term education plan. A second short-term transitional education plan could provide the time needed to properly strengthen capacities. In Comoros, the government and its partners decided to put the focus on overcoming weak planning capacities as part of the three-year transitional plan, both at the individual level, but even more so within the institutions responsible for education service delivery. An analysis of the Comorian education institutions’ strengths and weaknesses was conducted and has provided a better understanding of capacity constraints experienced by education officials in the country’s capital Moroni and in the three island administrations. This qualitative analysis simultaneously ran with a quantitative diagnosis of the education sector. Among its achievements was the creation of a general agreement between the government, national administrators, and technical and financial partners to overcome blockages in the planning and management of education to ensure the success of the next sector plan. Based on the results of the analysis, the Ministry of Education prepared a detailed capacity

development plan for individuals, organizations, and institutions as part of the transitional education plan that also looks at more traditional strategies to improve quality and access to education. The capacity development plan provides the framework for: • redefining roles and responsibilities of the institutions in charge of the education and training sector, both at the central and island level, • improving coordination and communication between the different stakeholders, • increasing the efficiency of planning, budgeting, pedagogical supervision, and monitoring and evaluation. These activities aim not only at improving governance and monitoring of the education sector but also at preparing the ground for a successful implementation of the ten-year plan, which is supposed to follow the second transition plan.


IIEP supported the government and its partners throughout this process, from the start of the diagnosis through to the production of the budgeted triennial action plan. This continuous support made it possible to establish a closer link between the different phases and elements of the chain: the diagnosis of the education system, a simulation model, the definition a strategy, and the creation of a sector plan, including a concrete operational plan. In many countries, these steps happen in isolation and are not strongly linked enough. This is primarily because of the intervention of a multitude of stakeholders who have a limited knowledge of all of these different steps. The comprehensive approach taken in Comoros was very successful in this regard. Looking ahead in Comoros, all of the involved actors need to ensure that there is enough political will to ensure full implementation of the whole sectorial programme.

© MOE SKN, 2017

Primary school children in St. Kitts and Nevis.

ALIGNING ACTION WITH STRATEGIC PLANS By Khadim Sylla, IIEP-UNESCO

A strategic education plan translates the vision of national development authorities in the sector.

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n education plan serves as a guide for government action and contains a set of guidelines and strategies for the coherent implementation of development priorities. The creation of a plan is based on rigorous analysis with the objective of highlighting the strengths, constraints, and challenges of the education system. The projection and financial simulation models define, with relative precision, a reference scenario that is financially and technically feasible and sustainable. This also helps assess the quality of a strategic plan. Feasibility and sustainability are equally relevant for the preparation of short- to medium-operational plans, which translate the education sector’s strategic vision into actionable programmes and projects to help achieve overall education goals. Responsible entities, programme implementers, and budgets are specified in the operational plans, as is the important

role of financial and stakeholder accountability. In reality, operational plans and strategic plans are often only loosely linked. The reasons for this are numerous. While the strategic plan can be based on educational policy objectives, the operational plan is developed according to the administrative or pedagogical structure of the ministry. There is also often a disconnect between the estimated availability of financial resources in the strategic plan and the contributions of sector partners. However, in the operational plan, these funds are systematically taken into account. An excessive time lag between plans can also make estimates and indicators used in the operational plan obsolete. It is essential to ensure coherence and continuity between the two plans by harmonizing their structure and by estimating more precisely, and in an informed way, the resources that can be mobilized.

Furthermore, from a methodological perspective, it is important to simultaneously work on both the elaboration of the strategic plan and the operational plan. More specifically, the aim is to incorporate the financing ambitions of the partners (communities, technical and financial partners, NGOs, etc.) in the macro-financial framework, which are generally reflected in the operational plans. This approach would reduce margins of error in available resources. In doing so, the acceptable threshold for the funding gap, calculated by comparing resources and expenditures, could be estimated more accurately. This approach promotes a better articulation between the two planning documents, particularly in regards to funding. In its mission to support UNESCO Member States, IIEP is continuing its efforts to improve the methodological tools for drawing up plans through its extensive field experience. 11

RECONCILING PLANNING & BUDGET CYCLES For more predictable funding, technical cooperation is putting more focus on creating stronger linkages between planning and budgeting during plan implementation. By Mariela Buonomo Zabaleta, IIEP-UNESCO

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context – in terms of availability of public resources in the shortand medium-term – need to be integrated into the operational plans. In times of economic crisis many countries have adopted measures of fiscal restraint, such as freezing recruitment into the civil service or setting a ceiling on overall expenditure, thus Open-air classroom in Bagan, Myanmar in January 2017. forcing education ministries to make hard trade-offs. To of capacities for strong cost and finance reduce the mismatch between worthy frameworks as an integral component policy goals and economic realities, of education sector planning. Technical countries are increasingly adopting cooperation has also focused on better medium-term frameworks to guide the linkages between planning and budgeting during plan implementation. As several budget formulation process. Many countries are turning to Medium- Member States are introducing resultsterm expenditure frameworks (MTEF) based budgeting as a means of improving to enhance the predictability of funding. performance of public service delivery and These are a government strategic policy and accountability, IIEP has been enhancing expenditure frameworks that are based on its support in this area. During a recent projections about the state of the economy technical workshop organized by UNESCO and the national finances and multi-year Bangkok and IIEP, countries from the Asia assessments of spending requirements. As Pacific region explored the challenges and a result, an MTEF provides a multi-year opportunities of results-based budgeting perspective for budget preparation as well to achieve better educational outcomes. as for the development of education action IIEP is also supporting the development plans. It is also a tool for dialogue and of national capacities through a booklet consensus building between ministries of on the implementation of results-based education, finance, and other stakeholders. budgeting in education in the Asia Pacific MTEFs are frequently accompanied by a region. More information about this project is programme-based approach to budgeting, which further strengthens the link between available on our website. strategic planning and budgeting. IIEP provides technical support to various Member States in the development


© PIXELJOY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

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t would seem fairly obvious to state that an education sector plan cannot be implemented and therefore cannot achieve its policy objectives without the required financial resources. However, policymaking, planning, and budgeting often take place independently of each other. This is partly because these are processes with different horizons, which are led by different actors, and that follow distinct procedures and even schedules. While education plans are developed for the medium- or long-term, budgets tend to have a shorter-term perspective. The ministries or agencies in charge of education lead education policy, whereas the formulation of the national budget is usually steered by the ministry of finance. How can these two processes be reconciled to ensure that the implementation of an education sector plan is supported by adequate and predictable funding? The development of cost scenarios and a financing framework during the plan preparation process contributes to the creation of a more credible plan. Tools such as simulation models and related macroeconomic frameworks present policymakers with different scenarios so that they can choose those that are most realistic in terms of their financial feasibility and sustainability. Multi-year action plans can take the cost and financing framework even further, by enabling a more explicit connection between the financial needs of the education plan and the national budget. For this link to happen though, there needs to be effective dialogue and coordination between the actors involved in implementation, planning, and those guiding the formulation of the national budget. Additionally, the constraints posed by the macroeconomic

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WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IN PLAN IMPLEMENTATION? Join the conversation on Twitter @IIEP_UNESCO

FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM IMPLEMENTING AN EDUCATION SECTOR PLAN REQUIRES STAKEHOLDERS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE AIMING TO ACHIEVE

Attiq Sadiq Project Manager and Planner at Cambridge Education/Mott MacDonald

AND WHAT THEY WILL BE PRIORITISING. ENSURING STRONG LEADERSHIP IS ONE FACTOR, BUT ALSO NOT HAVING AN EXHAUSTIVE WISH LIST IS ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION.

Marouane Faouzi

Educational planning consultant trainee, COPE Rabat

FROM MOROCCO

Sohail Ahmad

MPhil student in education at Aga Khan University in Karachi

FROM PAKISTAN I think the most important step for successful plan implementation is to start working with a small group and utilize multiple sources. In addition, creating ownership could be key to successful implementation. Similarly, in most of the plans developed, the planners seem less aware of ground realities. So before planning, one should have in-depth analysis of particular area. Moreover, in every plan there should be flexibility with respect to the area, because of cultural and other differences between different areas. Involving local competent people can also contribute to successful implementation of plan.

According to my modest experience, the most important factor for successful education plan implementation is to mobilize all partners and actors in the education sector. This step ensures the effective implementation of all phases of the plan. All the intervening parties should work in harmony and consistency in accomplishing their roles in the plan for optimal utilization of time and resources.

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REGIONAL FORUM

Participants at the Regional Forum.

MEETING THE 2030 AGENDA IN LATIN AMERICA By Camila Viteri Vidal, IIEP-Buenos Aires

IIEP Buenos Aires held its annual Regional Forum of Educational Policy to support Latin American countries with planning for more equitable and inclusive education.

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rom 11-13 October, IIEP Buenos Aires held its Regional Forum of Educational Policy, under the title 'Latin America facing the challenges of the Education 2030 Agenda: Planning policies towards an equitable and inclusive education.' The Regional Forum of Educational Policy is a space for dialog and discernment with onsite and virtual components that is tailored to government officials of the Latin American Ministries of Education, as well as civil society representatives, experts from international organizations, and academics. The Forum aimed to contribute to the development of the region’s capacities with an eye towards the accomplishment of the Education 2030 agenda. The Regional Forum operated as a collaborative workspace during two-and-a-half days and was guided by an outline of conferences, workshops, and roundtables. Official representatives of 18 of the region’s 19 countries attended the event, as well as delegates from three NGOs, and eight international organizations. Representatives from five of UNESCO’s field offices were also in attendance.

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The inputs provided by the participants served as the basis for the creation of a permanent network of officials that will exist alongside the annual Forum. At the closing of the meeting, IIEP Buenos Aires also launched an online platform that will function as a permanent space for consultation, networking, dissemination, and the exchange of best practices. Called the 'Virtual Forum', it has been specifically designed to address the needs of technical teams within ministries. It will be continuously active and will help with the preparation of future annual Forums. The 2017 edition of the Regional Forum was planned in alliance with the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), and the UNESCO Section of Partnerships, Cooperation and Research (ED/ESC/PCR). It was organized with the support of UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) and under the auspices of the SM Foundation.

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HONE YOUR SKILLS TODAY By Jim Ackers, IIEP-UNESCO

measuring gender equality and distance courses on Internal Quality Assurance in higher education, crisis-sensitive planning, and adult learning and literacy in education sector planning from a life-long learning perspective in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. We also propose short-term courses in Paris that last two weeks in April and May. In 2018, six courses will cover: EMIS; management of the education sector; projection and simulation models; education programme design; school mapping; and education budgets and financial management. IIEP’s mission is not just to help individuals progress, but rather to contribute to stronger planning in Member States. In line with this, we recently ran a survey for Heads of Planning or supervisors of participants. More than 80% of respondents stated that they ‘agree or strongly agree that IIEP’s training programmes have helped

staff to perform their jobs better and that this in turn translated into improvements at the departmental level’. One respondent stated that: ‘We are now able to develop an education sector analysis and an education sector plan thanks to the strong contribution of the planning department who participated in the ATP and SCP programmes’. If you are based in Francophone or Anglophone Africa, please contact our office in Dakar for details of their course in sector analysis and management, as well as training in the management of technical and vocational training systems. For those in Latin America, our Buenos Aires office offers a regional training programme on the Planning and Management of Education Systems, as well as a number of online training programmes. Visit https://poledakar.iiep.unesco.org/ fr and http://www.buenosaires.iipe.unesco. org/ for more details.

Visit www.iiep.unesco.org

Apply today!

© IIEP-UNESCO

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e are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2018-19 session of the Education Sector Planning (ESP) and Advanced Training Programme (ATP) in educational planning and management. These programmes develop key fundamental competences in education sector analysis and planning. We encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as possible. We would also like to remind you not to be discouraged by the fact that you are normally expected to stay in Paris for six months in one stretch – trainees at IIEP can segment the course and do half of it one year and the rest the next, for example. Indeed, the ATP could be completed over a five-year period. IIEP Paris is also offering six online courses in 2018 that are designed to be very interactive. These include a free massive open online course (MOOC) on

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Lessons from integrating peace, human rights, and civic education into social studies curricula and textbooks

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Lessons from UNESCO’s crisis–disaster risk reduction programme in Gaza

Planning education with and for youth Anja Hopma Lynne Sergeant

About the authors Anja Hopma currently works for a Paris-based French charity which supports students from low-income backgrounds (Frateli). Before this, as a research assistant at IIEP, she worked on fee-free policies and decentralization reforms in education. She has done research in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vanuatu, and managed a project on early childhood education in Cambodia for a French NGO (Chemins d’Enfances). She completed her Master’s in International Development in 2012 at Sciences Po Lille. Lynne Sergeant is an Information Specialist at IIEP, where she has PALESTINE been working on the Institute’s youth engagement in education programme since 2012. Before joining IIEP, she worked as a librarian at the University of Hertfordshire (UK), in the education service at the British Council in Paris, and as an education and social policy research assistant at the British Embassy, Paris. She received her Master of Arts in Translation from the University of London.

International Institute for Educational Planning

Education Sector Planning


ISBN: : 978-92-803-1383-3

A. Hopma, L. Sergeant

Co u n t r y

Melinda Smith

Young people, being a main stakeholder in education, ought to be involved in educational planning. This simple idea is examined in all its facets in this publication, which argues that, in addition to a rights-based defence, research provides several grounds for involving young people in planning, notably the benefits to be obtained by both parties. For example, planners can gain efficiency-enhancing insights from users of the education system, while youth build their transferable skills for the world of work. Although recognizing obstacles – such as the difficulty of finding representative samples of youth delegates and the lack of technical knowledge among young people – the authors conclude that, given the significant benefits of youth participation, Ministries of Education should make the necessary efforts to overcome these. To help them to do so, this book presents solutions which can be adapted to a number of contexts. A thorough review of the extent of youth engagement in existing national education and youth policies and plans is presented in the second half of the book, along with a summary of what Bilal Al Hamaydah, Jo Kelcey, lessons and Ferran canJ.beLloveras learned from these experiences.

Palestine:

Planning education with and for youth

About the book International Institute for Educational Planning


IIEP Policy Forum

Education Sector Planning

QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: DEVELOPMENTS AND DRIVERS

SOUTH SUDAN EDUCATION SECTOR ANALYSIS: PLANNING FOR RESILIENCE

THE USE AND USEFULNESS OF SCHOOL GRANT POLICIES (IN FRENCH)

NOW IN FRENCH! EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF CAREER MODELS ON TEACHER MOTIVATION

Michaela Martin, with Shreya Parikh The precise state of quality management within higher education institutions around the world is not well known. This report seeks to fill this knowledge gap by mapping recent developments, drivers, and obstacles.

Ministry of General Education and Instruction, the Republic of South Sudan A status report of the education system in South Sudan, which is continuously evolving. It has aided policymakers in making informed education policy choices for the country's next plan.

Chloé Chimier and Christine Emeran This comparative synthesis examines why and how school grant policies have been designed and implemented in four Francophone countries: Haiti, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Togo.

Lucy Crehan Drawing on the experience of a wide range of countries, this book explores the links between career structures and teacher motivation, identifying different models of teacher career organization and related implementation challenges.

DOWNLOAD ALL IIEP PUBLICATIONS FREE OF CHARGE OR ORDER A HARD COPY AT PUBLICATIONS.IIEP.UNESCO.ORG

A talk with the author LUCY CREHAN IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK 'EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF CAREER MODELS ON TEACHER MOTIVATION'. SHE EXPLAINS SOME OF HER LATEST FINDINGS. Why is teacher motivation a problem in today's world? The rapid expansion of primary school places has led to a greater demand for qualified teachers, and, as demand outstrips supply, untrained and less-educated teachers are being recruited to fill the gap. Unfortunately, this has had an effect on the status and motivation of teachers, and a number of researchers in such contexts have warned of a ‘teacher motivation crisis’, with others describing it as a ‘colossal problem’. Even in those countries which have been comfortably providing universal access to primary and secondary education for a while, there are

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growing concerns about the single salary schedule. Some teachers get away with showing little interest in improving their students' education, and others get frustrated by the lack of career development, and recognition of their continued efforts. What is the solution? Some policymakers have suggested that the way to address these problems is to pay teachers based on their students’ results. This is the most obvious solution; but it is not the right one. Research into the psychology of motivation suggests that beyond a certain point, money doesn’t motivate. In fact, if people feel that the pay system they work within is controlling, then


payment by results can reduce motivation in the long-term, and lead to a narrowing of focus on measurable outcomes, or even cheating. Intrinsic motivation on the other hand is brought about in environments in which people feel they have autonomy over their work, where they have good relationships with colleagues, and where they have the opportunity to achieve mastery in whatever it is they do. Career structures offer more promise as a means to enhance teacher motivation. Read the full interview at: http:// www.iiep.unesco.org/en/careerstructures-can-improve-teachermotivation-3696.