3.7.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The monitoring of
the Expanded Basic Education Program will be fully integrated into the
Integrated Joint Monitoring system of the ESSP once the system is fully
developed. In the meantime, the practice of annual joint review of the program
by Sida, MOEYS and UNICEF will be continued. However, unlike in the previous
phase in which the review was conducted separately at each department level, the
Technical Capacity Building Coordination Committee of the MoEYS will coordinate
the annual review. Such integration of the Expanded Basic Education Program
monitoring into the ESSP institutional mechanism would feed the lessons learnt
from this exercise into the rolling planning process of the ESSP.
The timely
implementation of the various detailed implementation plans will be monitored by
the Director Generals’ offices and UNICEF every six months. The CBU/ General
Education Director General’s office and UNICEF will also monitor the progress of
the implementation of the province level annual plans bi-annually. The POE and
DOE officials of the concerned Provinces will participate in such review
exercise. At the provincial levels, each POE will also organize quarterly review
of the implementation of their plans. The school cluster directors,
representatives of the School Support Committees, and the concerned officials of
the POEs and DOEs will participate in such reviews.
A formative
mid-term evaluation of the program will occur in 2003, which also coincides with
the mid-term Review of the RGC/UNICEF Master Plan of Operation. A final
summative evaluation of the program will be conducted in 2005.
Besides the specific program related monitoring mechanisms described above, the
impact of the program activities will also be monitored through the regular
monitoring system of the MoEYS, which will be strengthened under the Basic
Education Capacity Building Priorities for SWAp readiness. In particular
concerted efforts will also be made to build up joint donor monitoring capacity
in view of the upcoming Joint Annual Reviews.
The
program also seeks to establish Local Planning and Monitoring as a discrete
program
component under the sub-program Expanded Learning Opportunities for School and
Child Readiness. In this respect, UNICEF will support MoEYS in establishing a
baseline for monitoring and evaluation, and in using the nation wide EMIS for
monitoring of implementation of policies and programs on a regular basis.
Particular focus will be placed on monitoring at the sub-national level to
improve program operation as well as inform the national policy formulation
process. With monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place, and as result of
the continuing information-based school management related interventions, better
gathering and use of data is expected at local, district and provincial levels.
Important baseline information for the provinces of convergence is presented in
Annex 7.
Furthermore, a selective number of important quantitative and qualitative
studies relating to children’s access to education and its quality will be
conducted. The related findings will be shared with all stakeholders concerned.
Action research by teachers, VDCs, SSCs and other
community groups, documentation of innovative practices and methodologies will
also be promoted.
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