Education Quality Improvement Program : Mid Term Review Mission Aide Memoire
| Published: | May 2007 by Norad |
| Commissioned by: | Royal Norwegian Embassy, Kabul and the World Bank/IDA |
| Carried out by: | A joint team from the World Bank/IDA and the Government of Norway represented by consultants from Norway. Teamleader Scherezad J. Monami Latif |
| Series: | Norad collected reviews 8/2007 |
| Pages: | 62 |
| ISBN: | 978-82-7548-207-3 |
| Tags: | Education and research, Afghanistan |
Summary
The Project
Norway has, since 2004, as the only donor besides the World Bank itself, supported the Education Quality Improvement Program, EQUIP in Afghanistan. The support has been given through the ARTF, a multidonor trust fund administered by the World Bank. The objective of the EQUIP is to improve the quality of educational inputs and processes as the foundation for a long-term strategy to enhance the quality of educational outcomes by: a) strengthening the capacity of schools and communities to better manage teaching-learning activities; b) investing in human resources (teachers, principals and educational administration personnel) and physical facilities; and c) developing the institutional capacity of schools, District Education Departments, provincial Education Departments, and the MOE (Ministry of Education.. The program has been declared the national education program for the MOE, Government of Afghanistan. Starting officially in 2004, due to administrative/leadership problems, the program did not really start until 2006. It is due to continue through 2009.
Interesting Findings
• Remarkable progress has been made in increasing rates of female participation notably, the dramatic increase in girls' enrolments and in the number of female teachers.
• EQUIP has been very successful in mobilizing communities for establishing School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Association under the quality grants enhancement subcomponent. Refresher programs will be needed to deepen community understanding of quality education.
• There has been satisfactory progress in infrastructure development: (i) community participation in school construction has been significant; (ii) a menu of cost effective alternative designs has been developed. Technical supervision and enhanced monitoring of construction sites will need to be strengthened.
• The modality for the national in service teacher training program has been established under the multi-donor supported teacher education program. Teacher training needs to be accelerated in order to meet program targets and EQUIP's quality objective.
• Little progress has been made in training of school principals and the capacity building of Provincial and District Education Departments, primarily because of its linkages with the slow Public Administration Reform.
• It is commendable that MOE has completed its Five-Year Education Strategy and has started aligning its programs to this strategy.
• A basic monitoring and evaluation systems in EQUIP is in place, and a comprehensive Educational Management Information System is being developed. Key Performance Indicators need to be revised to better measure project outcomes
• Project management has improved significantly since EQUIP effectiveness; greater effort needs to be made in strengthening coordination across departments.