IIEPin action

2016 | 2017

Are you ready to act?

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this book 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.

Published by:International Institute for Educational Planning7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix, 75116 Paris, France

Design: Julie ChahineCover photo: Anthony Asael/Hemis.fr

Printed by: IIEP

T he start of this biennium, 2016, came on the heels of a

momentous year. In 2015, world leaders adopted the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which put forth a bold,

transformational vision for education as part of a broader blueprint to

eradicate poverty, protect the planet, and build prosperity and security

for all. This vision took under its wing the unfinished business of the

Millennium Development Goals and highlighted the importance not only

of access to education, but also of quality, lifelong learning for all.

Over the ensuing pages, we strive to show that educational planning is more than a

simple technical and mechanical process. As reflected in our forthcoming 10th Medium Term

Strategy, we believe it can be both visionary and pragmatic. Through key interventions, IIEP

supports countries in forging their own path towards creating stronger education systems

that are relevant to local contexts. We help countries look seriously at their education

systems and the demands of a changing labour market, and craft feasible solutions. We

are also paying increased attention to the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of

educational plans.

Our three central areas of focus – training, technical cooperation, and research and

development – work hand-in-hand to mutually reinforce the overall impact of our

efforts, which are further supported by knowledge sharing and outreach activities. We

invite all readers of IIEP in Action to join our networks and support efforts to improve

planning practices.

New partnerships and the participation of a broad range of stakeholders are of utmost

importance in the world we live in today. Education systems are constantly being tested

as governments grapple with the largest refugee crisis seen since the end of the Second

World War. Globally, climate change is contributing to increased instability, conflict,

disaster, and further displacement. Improved evidenced-based educational planning and

management is part of our global response.

Over the biennium, over 8,000 people benefited from our training offers, through

residential training in Buenos Aires, Dakar, and Paris, and through distance and project-

based training. We have stronger more flexible offers to serve our trainees who are

committed to their professions. We are also constantly upgrading our training and

ensuring its alignment with the SDG agenda.

For lasting impact, we are providing more support to national training centres in

education policy and planning. From Afghanistan to Cambodia and Morocco, we are

crafting tailored support to equip both national trainers and centres at large with the

resources and know-how to train planners at provincial and district levels, year after year.

The year 2017 marked the completion of a four-year research programme for IIEP.

It included new publications – in a variety of easily accessible formats and lengths –

on topics such as school grant policies, teacher career models and allocation, internal

quality assurance approaches in higher education, and public access to information and

open data in education, among others. In the domain of education financing, the joint

development of the National Education Accounts methodology with the UNESCO Institute

for Statistics was extremely well received, and has since been recommended by the 2016

International Commission Report as a means to improve education sector efficiency.

Our eyes are focused on 2030 and beyond. But the milestones and challenges along

the way help us to define new priorities and strategies for the present, and encourage us

to set new, bigger goals. Are you ready to act?

Suzanne Grant Lewis

Letter from the Director

Are you ready to act?

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning for all.

Sustainable Development Goal 4

(SDG 4)

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 3

Training for the education of tomorrowTrainers and trainees share highlights from the range of training programmes IIEP offers in multiple languages and formats.

Over the biennium, course options and material were updated to reflect core areas of the global sustainable development agenda.

Research that informs and promotes actionA glimpse into our latest research, covering teachers, school grants, internal quality assurance, public access to information, open data on education, and more.

Our research feeds into our training and technical cooperation work for a more integrated, evidence-based approach to capacity development.

Working together for sustained results Our technical cooperation work includes supporting national training centres for lasting impact, building resilience and promoting safety and social cohesion in and through education, and helping with the development of strategic education documents that guide policy.

Sharing knowledge, enabling changeInformation sharing and building new connections is central to education reform and system transformation.

We bring together stakeholders to exchange knowledge and debate salient issues in educational planning and management.

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IIEP in action • 2016 | 20174

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Training for the education of tomorrow

Trainees participating in group work at IIEP in Paris. (IIEP-UNESCO).

F or over half a century, IIEP has worked with educational planners to develop their capacity to bring about change in the education systems of Member States.

While keeping abreast of the latest trends in educational planning and management, our training material reflects the needs of a fast-changing world and the demands of the new global Education 2030 agenda.

We offer training for individuals, customized in-country or regional training, and technical coaching. Our offices in Buenos Aires, Dakar, and Paris offer residencies, training at a distance, or blended programmes. We aim to provide flexible training offers to career-minded professions. Even, our one-year Advanced Training Programme, which was accredited as a full Master’s programme by the African and Malgache Council for Higher Education in 2017, can be completed over time as the courses are split into different modules. All of our options are grounded in practice and are built on rigorous research and significant operational experience.

Our curriculum continues to be updated with new offers planned in areas such as early childhood development or inclusive education in line with the broader focus of the SDGs. The right to education and equity are both central to this vision.

Our online training now includes new subjects such as transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption measures in education, as well as internal quality assurance in higher education. We also continue to ensure that gender and crisis-sensitive planning is mainstreamed across all our work.

Visit iiep.unesco.org for information on all our training opportunities.

IIEP training at a glance in 2016 and 2017

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On-

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390 trainees

281 trainees

3396 trainees

3081 trainees

698 trainees

28% 27% 47%

64%

72% 73% 53%

36% Proj

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embe

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2836 trainees

30% 70%

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 5

In the words of our trainers

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IIEP training is global in reach and relevance. Our participants

come from multiple regions, including those with the greatest

need for support, where many children are still out of school

and many are not achieving basic learning outcomes. While

our focus is on government analysts, planners, and managers,

we also train key personnel from other agencies, including

development partners, from bilateral and multilateral agencies

and civil society partners that work with governments to

enhance education planning. We offer courses in a variety

of languages - French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese

to help ensure this wide global reach. The focus of our

training continues to be on the practical application of core

competences in areas like the use of administrative and

assessment data for education planning, education finance,

and projections.

IIEP training is innovative.

Our online courses now

feature more choice and

cover 25 topics – an increase

from 15 in 2012. Two

recent massive open online

courses (MOOC) on learning

assessments in French and English were a huge success and

reached over 3,300 people. All of our teaching staff are working

hard to create a more collaborative learning experience and

are using e-resources and learning methods, such as self- and

peer-evaluations, instructional interactive videos, e-journals, and

flipped classrooms where lectures are viewed online, so in-class

time can be solely devoted to discussion and project work.

With the global community

recently committing itself

to achieve the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 4 – and as

education systems require strong national capacities in terms

of education system planning and management, particularly

in developing countries – IIEP training is especially timely.

Our training includes Sectoral Policies and Education System

Management (PSGSE), which celebrates its 10th anniversary

this year.

Training is relevant

because it allows

us to identify the

main issues and trends in educational policy-making and

to tackle the challenges faced by Latin American countries

in the pursuit of inclusive and equitable quality education

systems. At IIEP Buenos Aires, we have developed different

training programmes aimed at offering government officials

from regional ministries of education technical tools to

produce effective educational policies. A highlight of our

regular offer is the Regional Training Course of Educational

Policy (currently in its 20th edition), a blended programme

in which high-level public officials approach core themes of

the educational agenda. Furthermore, as a means to address

the specific educational needs of each country, we develop

tailor-made training courses to provide South-South technical

cooperation to Member States.

This is essential if good ideas are to be transformed into realistic solutions and if the excellent principles enshrined in the SDGs are to be realised. Ultimately we want to be judged by what our trainees can do and not just what they know!

JIM ACKERS Head of IIEP’s training and educational programmes, Paris

THERREZINHA FERNANDESHead of training, IIEP Pôle de Dakar,Dakar, Senegal

GLADYS KOCHENCoordinator of the Regional Training Course of Educational Policy, IIEP Buenos Aires, Argentina

We are using new technologies to broaden our reach and impact and to develop more active, engaging learning processes. PATRICIA

DIAS DA GRACA Head of the IIEP Virtual Campus, Paris

IIEP in action • 2016 | 20176

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Completing the IIEP training symbolizes a milestone along our career paths. We have been adequately prepared for the challenges that we will encounter as educational planners. Each and every participant of the 2016 ATP has grown since our arrival: targets have been met and goals have been successfully achieved.

During the online phase of the training, I was able to clearly understand the team work, especially in educational planning. Once I arrived at IIEP in Paris, the teachers and trainees shared, in a very constructive way, our different experiences. The pedagogical team was very helpful in teaching me about its functioning and thanks to this training, I improved my skills in educational planning and I now feel confident in implementing what I learned in Comoros.

As many governments are committed to improving quality in education starting from early childhood, this MOOC was an excellent opportunity to go deep into core issues related to learning assessments and to reflect on ways to improve assessments at early stages of the education system. Throughout the course, I had access to key publications and resources, and was able to meet and interact with other professionals in the education sector worldwide.

In the words of our trainees

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HYACINTH BRAMBLE-BROWNE, Montserrat, President of the IIEP Trainees’ Association, speaking during the 2016 ATP commencement ceremony.

JOMANA KARMID, A specialist in Stages of Early Education, from the Ministry of Education in Qatar, and participant of the February 2016 MOOC on learning assessments.

MOUSTOIFA MOHAMMED RAD JAY, Director of Educational Policy and Strategies, Directorate-General for Education Policy, Ministry of National Education in Comoros. Advanced Training Programme participant in 2016.

In August 2017, we convened 32 women from 23 countries for a special Summer School course designed to bolster planning capacities and leadership skills in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The course, ‘Policy, Planning, and Leadership for Sustainable Educational Development’, consisted of a two-week online phase followed by a one-week residency at the IIEP headquarters in Paris, France.

The course is helping me learn how to plan, how to monitor, and how to evaluate; how to have a discussion, how to lead a group, and how to correct mistakes within the group. It is helping me a lot.

Summer School 2017: addressing the women’s leadership gap

BUSHRA AL-BUSAIDI Deputy Director of the Studies and Research Department of the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman.

Participants during the residential phase at IIEP. (IIEP-UNESCO)

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 7

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Working together for sustained results

A secondary school in Moroni, Comoros during a 2016 IIEP mission to conduct an institutional analysis, which looks at the functioning of the education administration. (A. Seeger/IIEP-UNESCO)

T hrough technical cooperation, we work with government ministries and national partners to help them improve their education systems.

This includes identifying achievements and challenges, reviewing and reflecting on educational policy options, and providing support with the design and implementation of robust and realistic educational plans for a stronger, more prosperous future. In all areas of our work – training,

coaching, and policy advice – we play a supporting role so that national teams take the driver’s seat in making important decisions. In 2017, an external evaluation found that despite working in often complex, challenging contexts, our capacity development approach produces strong results.

Visit iiep.unesco.org for information on all our technical

cooperation projects.

IIEP is seen as a long-standing, equal technical partner providing high-quality, systematic, contextualized and specialized support. IIEP listens and does not impose; instead, it proposes and discusses. Partners value IIEP for flexibility, pro-activeness, and its solution-oriented way of cooperation.

2017 external evaluation of IIEP’s technical cooperation programme

36 countries received

direct field support in

2016-2017, the majority of

which were least developed

countries (69%) and located

in Africa (63%).

Many of these projects rely

on strong partnerships for

greater impact.

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IIEP in action • 2016 | 20178

Building system strength through customized trainingGlobal experts hone skills on appraising education sector plans When the Global Partnership for Education sought IIEP’s help in 2016 with the design and implementation of a training course on appraisal of Education Sector Plans (ESPs), the Institute gladly accepted the challenge as a logical extension to its joint work on developing Plan Preparation and Appraisal Guidelines.

The objective was to create a shared vision and a common methodology for use among appraisal consultants, to ensure that future appraisals of ESPs would be more consistent.

Examples of customized IIEP training:

S A blended course on strategic educational planning for Ministry staff in Argentine provinces.

S A workshop on conflict-sensitive and risk-informed educational planning for Ministry and UNICEF staff from 15 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

S Four workshops in Guinea-Bissau on system management, analysis of enrolment, and education financing.

S Workshop on quality assurance in higher education for public and private universities in seven countries in West Africa.

S Two online courses to curb corrupt practices and promote transparency in education.

S Training on cost and finance for Arab countries with UNESCO Beirut, with a focus on education for refugees.

Mastering the fundamentals in Myanmar

June 2017 workshop in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. (IIEP-UNESCO)

A customized training programme was designed to hone the technical skills of some 75 education officials in Myanmar, as the country implements its recently launched National Education Sector Plan 2016-2021 (NESP). In 2017, a series of courses covered key concepts in planning and statistics, including sector analysis, how to link planning and budgets, and the fundamentals of project management.

Boosting the capacities of national training providers

Cambodian students posing in front of their school in a village near Siem Reap, Cambodia. (Stephane Bidouze/Shutterstock)

From Afghanistan to Cambodia to Morocco, we have been working with national training providers (NTPs) to ensure that training has a wider, more sustainable impact. By developing the capacities of national centres, more people country-wide are trained year-on-year. Together, we identify a strategy and support mechanisms such as designing courses, translating and adapting training materials, and setting up a virtual library.

In 2016-2017, IIEP continued its long-term support for training centres in Afghanistan and Cambodia and finalized projects in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Viet Nam and Thailand. The Institute also supported centres in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, and played an advisory role in the development of a regional Caribbean training centre.

CAMBODIA IN FOCUS

For five years, IIEP has been collaborating with Cambodia’s

National Institute of Education (NIE) to strengthen its capacity

to reach educational planners country-wide and equip

them with the skills needed to plan for a stronger education

system. We are implementing the following strategies:

S Training senior staff in Paris,

S Offering a blended in-country programme to build a core group of trainers,

S Supporting the preparation of new NIE courses and training materials,

S Undertaking collaborative research on relevant themes,

S Providing assistance in opening a virtual library.

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 9

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Laying the foundation for stronger education systems

Rigorous analysis and a strong knowledge of what is happening in a country’s education system are key to improved outcomes. Whether it be a commitment to advancing equity, girls’ education, or overall learning experiences, an Education Sector Analysis (ESA) is a crucial policy tool in illuminating both educational realities and opportunities for transformation. This diagnosis can be flexible and tailored to fit the needs of a country. It helps lay the foundation for the preparation of a realistic Education Sector Plan (ESP) and other important education documents that can help countries secure the right to a quality education for all. While IIEP supports countries in these activities, we strive to ensure national ownership from the start.

IIEP has supported the following countries in implementing ESAs and ESPs.

Benin: The ESA, produced with IIEP’s support, focused on a reform to expand basic education and a simulation model to estimate the overall cost of the country’s 2016-2025 ESP.

Burkina Faso: The ESA, produced with IIEP’s support, included a section on early childhood education and teachers, which informed the design of a 10-year development scenario for the sector.

Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, and Senegal: The ESA, produced with IIEP’s support, focused on the identification and analysis of obstacles to TVET reforms.

Comoros: Development of the Transitional Education Plan (2017-2020) with IIEP led to the inclusion of a component on strengthening education planning and management. An institutional analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the education administration informed the TEP.

Côte d’Ivoire: IIEP supported a report completed in June 2016 on the state of the national education system.

Gambia: The ESA, first developed in 2011, is being updated with IIEP’s support as the Ministries in charge of education are in the process of updating the education plan for 2017-2030. The ESA will examine population data projections, and review the financing of education, factors that affect learning outcomes, and the relevance of the education system to the labour market.

Guinea: The ESA, produced with IIEP’s support, focuses on the functioning of planning and management departments within the Ministry of Education and on early childhood education. It will help prepare the 10-year strategic plan and a three-year operational plan.

Mali: The ESA, produced with IIEP’s support and completed in 2017, will pave the way for a simulation model and a medium-term expenditure framework.

Mauritania: The ESA, produced with IIEP’s support, looks at higher education and its relationship with the world of work.

Niger: IIEP Pôle de Dakar provided technical assistance for the development of a sectoral diagnosis in advance of the second budgeted action plan for 2018-2020.

Yemen: IIEP provided support for the development of a Transitional Education Plan 2018-2020, including the first phase of an Education Sector Analysis that looks at the impact of conflict on education.

Afghanistan: IIEP supported the formulation of the National Education Sector Plan III. In-country technical advisors trained by IIEP are also involved in preparing operational plans for the Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) application for funding.

Burundi: Through distance support and a mission by the Burundian team to Dakar, IIEP assisted with the development of a draft ESA and an ESP starting in 2017.

Cambodia: IIEP collaborated with the Ministry to draft a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the current ESP and provided assistance in preparing for the next ESP.

Chad: A ten-year ESP and a three-year operational plan are being prepared following an ESA and several technical workshops with the core planning team and discussions with Ministry officials in 2016.

Ethiopia: A results framework was developed in line with the ESP, ‘Education Sector Development Programme V’. Covering the federal level and four regions, the results framework is expected to strengthen implementation of the plan.

Guinea-Bissau: In collaboration with the UNESCO Dakar Office, the ESP was finalized in 2016 and progress was made on the country’s triennial action plan (valid until 2019) after the return of relative political stability in 2016.

Honduras: Support in carrying out an ESA and the development of a plan for 2017-2030.

Jordan: IIEP supported the development of an education strategy and implementation plan for the next five years that includes strengthening the national education system for refugees, but also improving the resilience of the host communities.

Madagascar: IIEP helped prepare an institutional analysis of the functioning of the education administration at the central, regional, and district level that will inform the Ministry of Education’s ‘plan de relève’ (succession plan).

South Sudan: In partnership with UNESCO Juba, a conflict and disaster risk lens was applied to the ESA and fed into the country’s current ESP. Five workshops supported the Ministry of General Education and Instruction.

St. Kitts & Nevis: Distance support was provided by IIEP for the plan preparation process, with in-country support on highly specialized steps, leading the national team to complete the country’s first strategic plan.

Tanzania: IIEP led a UNESCO team of experts from the Dar es Salaam office, the UNESCO Institute for Life-Long Learning (UIL), and the Section for Teachers in the Education Sector to support a rapid ESA and a comprehensive education sector development plan.

IIEP in action • 2016 | 201710

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Education Sector Analysis

Education Sector Analysis and Plan

BENIN

COMOROS

SENEGAL

MALI

MAURITANIA

CAMBODIA

YEMENNIGER

GAMBIABURKINA FASO

CÔTE D'IVOIRE

GUINEA

HONDURAS

BURUNDI

MADAGASCAR

CHAD

ETHIOPIA

TANZANIA

JORDAN

SOUTH SUDAN

ST. KITTS & NEVIS

GUINEA-BISSAU

AFGHANISTAN

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 11

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Tools for evidence-based planning

Work session with educational planners in the Ethiopian city of Yirgalem in November 2016. (IIEP-UNESCO/A. Gagnon)

We work with countries to design tools – such as simulation models or indicator systems – that are applied to local needs and contexts. We then ensure that countries are able to autonomously use and update these tools. We also develop general guidelines that all countries can refer to and adapt as needed.

School mappingThis approach helps ensure that the implementation of education plans is better aligned with local realities. While IIEP has provided support to many countries over many years, most recently we've supported Benin and Côte

d’Ivoire in the analysis and use of local databases for local planning. We also launched a new project with UNICEF Ethiopia to develop the capacities of both government and refugee coordinating bodies in five regions grappling with a high influx of refugees.

Using data for better planning and monitoringOur work aims to ensure that relevant and accurate data are used in planning and monitoring.

Over the last two years, we have worked intensively with the Democratic Republic of Congo to train staff on the construction of an education management information

system (EMIS) and its use for planning and management. We have started similar work in Burkina Faso.

We have been working with the Southern African

Development Community countries to integrate UNESCO’s 15 core global indicators for monitoring and evaluating the education sector response to HIV and AIDS into EMIS. A six-week distance course launched in 2017 aimed to strengthen EMIS capacities in data collection tools, data analysis, and reporting in 20 countries.

1 All references to Kosovo should be understood in the context of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

The Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines

are a blueprint for building robust, comprehensive education

sector plans. The new third edition now includes sections on:

S risk and vulnerability analysis,

S inclusive education for handicapped children,

S political economy and governance,

S institutional capacity analysis.

The guidelines will be co-published by IIEP, UNICEF, GPE,

Department for International Development, and the World Bank.

Simulation models are key tools to help decision-makers and planners envisage the future under different scenarios and choose priorities and targets. All of IIEP's work with countries on the design of an ESP includes support for the development, strengthening, or use of such a model. We have also provided support to Cambodia and Senegal, in collaboration with the local UNESCO offices, to update their simulation model to help them meet their SDG commitments.

The new model will help improve our capacity to plan for implementation of the SDG4-Education 2030 agenda, and we are committed to building our national capacity to master the modelling techniques.

-H.E. Mr Lim Sothea, Director-General of Policy and Planning, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Cambodia

There is growing demand for countries to use data to achieve a more systematic monitoring of their progress. We have worked with the Federal Ministry and with several regional offices in Ethiopia to develop results frameworks, which enable the government and its partners to track the achievement of policy objectives and learn lessons about the effectiveness of different strategies. A similar but smaller-scale exercise took place in Kosovo.1

Assessing corruption risk in education Corruption risk assessment exercises have covered Serbia, Kosovo, Georgia, and Ukraine. To identify so-called red flags, different domains of educational planning and management can be analysed, including financing, public procurement, recruitment and management of school or university staff, school and university admissions and exams, and credentials and diplomas. This allows for the systematic identification of corruption risks and the formulation of concrete policy recommendations on how to improve integrity in the area analysed.

IIEP in action • 2016 | 201712

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Setting global standards in educational planning

National Education Accounts can help govern-ments better allocate resources to areas most in need and improve education efficiency and equity.

A classroom in Lao PDR during an IIEP mission for the NEA project. (IIEP-UNESCO)

Many countries grapple with understanding who pays for what in education. But an international project, jointly led with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and with support from the GPE, is changing how countries gather, analyse, and report on education financing data. Eight countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Lao People's Democratic Republic,

Nepal, Senegal, Uganda, Viet Nam, and Zimbabwe – have developed National Education Accounts (NEAs). A global methodology has also been produced to help other countries improve the tracking of financial flows in education.

How National Education Accounts are spurring change:

S In Lao PDR, the NEA revealed that the country was not meeting the internationally suggested benchmark of devoting 6% of GDP and 20% of government expenditure to education. Only 3.6% of the GDP (equivalent to 12.6% of government expenditure) has gone towards the sector.

S In Uganda, the NEA showed that households are shouldering nearly half the costs of education despite a national drive to provide free education.

Promoting strong education systems during turbulent times

Acect Primary School, Oyam District, Uganda. (IIEP-UNESCO/A. Seeger)

Resilient education systems that promote tolerance, equity, and social cohesion can secure brighter futures for generations to come.

An increasing number of countries acknowledge that merely responding to crisis is insufficient. Instead, ministries of education are looking for ways to strengthen their capacities to anticipate and address the causes of crisis. Planning for disruptions in education – whether due to natural disaster or conflict – can save the lives of students and teachers. It can also significantly reduce the cost of rebuilding expensive infrastructure. This frees up resources for investing in prevention measures. We can no longer draw a distinction between ‘normal’ planning and ‘crisis-sensitive’ planning. All countries must promote social cohesion and resilience.

Sharing findings at an international seminar

The NEA project brought

together more than 70

international experts,

education officials, and partner

organizations for a final seminar

in April 2016 to discuss major

outcomes and advance the NEA

methodology. This work was

recognized in the Education

Commission’s report on how to

finance the ‘learning generation’.

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 13

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Uganda: champions of resilience and preparedness

Students of Bukazi Primary School in the Kisoro District of western Uganda. (IIEP-UNESCO/A. Seeger)

IIEP has worked with the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda to develop and implement policies and programmes for conflict and disaster risk management (CDRM) to ensure that the right to a quality education is delivered regardless of circumstances. Together with IIEP and UNICEF Uganda, the Ministry trained a critical mass of ‘CDRM champions’ at central and district levels. To date, it has reached 150 education policy-makers, planners,

technical staff, administration officers, and school inspectors from 30 districts across the country. This has led districts to include CDRM measures in their respective five-year District Development Plans and Education Sector Action Plans.

Crisis-sensitive education sector planning in South SudanSome 1.8 million children and young adults are currently out-of-school in South Sudan. For those in school, damaged infrastructure and a severe lack of qualified teachers have diminished educational quality. However, a blueprint for education is striving to change the course of education for all of South Sudan’s children and young adults. Known as the General Education Strategic Plan (GESP), it sets the policy direction and education targets for the next five years (2017-2021), while also taking into consideration short-term humanitarian needs. With a collaborative, hands-on approach, IIEP’s involvement in South Sudan since 2011 has helped to develop government capacities at the federal and state levels, while paying close attention to the values of tolerance, justice, and peace.

New tools and resources for improved planning Our planning and curriculum resource kits – created in collab-oration with the Education Above All ‘Protect Education in Insecu-r i ty and Conf l ic t ’ (PE IC ) programme – provide practical guidance on addressing safety, resilience, and social cohesion in planning and in curriculum de-sign, review and implementation. A series of five case studies on Burkina Faso, Nepal, Palestine,

South Sudan, and Uganda describe how countries have addressed safety, resilience, and social cohesion in their education sector planning processes and curricula. They present lessons learned and constitute a resource for ed-ucation actors in other countries.

Guidelines for transitional education plan preparation

During conflict, social unrest, health emergencies, or natural disasters, long-term planning or the implementation of an existing ESP can often become compromised. A transitional education plan can help govern-ments and partners develop an immediate or medium-term plan that addresses critical education needs and reduces the risk of

future crises. IIEP published Guidelines for Transitional Education Plan Preparation with the GPE in 2016 to help countries develop and implement a plan to sustain education services through times of crises.

In October 2016, IIEP organized an e-Forum with the United

Nations Refugee Agency, GPE, and PEIC to discuss this

issue, bringing together 482 participants from 86 countries,

including education officials, humanitarian and development

partners, refugees and internally displaced persons, and

teaching staff.

How can governments and their partners better plan for the provision of education for displaced populations?

'It is not enough to make policies on paper without practically

implementing them.'

-e-Forum participant, 4 October 2016

'Unless ALL education data is collected we will remain in the

perennial situation where refugees and even IDPs become the

concern of external agencies rather than national governments.'

-e-Forum participant, 11 October 2016

IIEP in action • 2016 | 201714

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Research that informs and promotes action

The head teacher of Miadana Primary School teaching students the national anthem in Alasora, Madagascar. (IIEP-UNESCO)

O ur research programme identifies and critically examines new approaches related to political, technical, and methodological aspects of

educational planning and management. This research helps to create a conducive environment for evidence-based reforms in education, through the publication of books, country notes, policy briefs, research seminars, policy forums, and online debates. It guides planning, helping to ensure that education systems are fully accessible, that the increasing number of students does not jeopardize learning quality, and that financial resources are equally allocated and effectively administered.

Teachers matter

IIEP aims to help countries better manage and plan for a strong teaching force – one of the most important factors in student success. We are currently exploring:

S How to improve teacher allocation in sub-Saharan Africa in a more equitable and efficient way (a collaboration with the French Development Agency and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics)

S Teacher career structures and policy options on how to motivate, retain, and attract the most qualified professionals

S A study looking at teaching practices in Argentina

S A new project in Ethiopia, Kenya, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Uganda with the Education Development Trust aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of teacher management policies and practices in refugee contexts

Participants at the teacher allocation workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. (IIEP-UNESCO/L. Marin)

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 15

Open data: a way to improve transparency in education?

Since 2001, IIEP has been a pioneer in the field of ethics and trans-parency in education. Most recently, our re-search examined the use of public access to information and open school data to improve integrity in the manage-ment of education sys-tems. A new book looked at over a dozen school report card initia-tives from around the

world and their impact on transparency and accountability. It includes an index to help policy-makers and programme implementers easily identify which elements of school-lev-el information can lead to increased accountability and transparency, as well as a theory of change and a checklist to guide future school report card implementation.

Study visit on open education data in Australia

Representatives from ministries of education, civil society

organizations and parent-teacher associations from

Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, New Zealand, Paki-

stan, and the Philippines took part in a study visit to find out

how Australia’s ‘My School’ initiative uses public access to

school data to improve transparency and accountability.

As a follow-up, six of the participating countries are also

preparing in-depth case studies on the topic involving

field surveys. Two state-of-the-art papers are also being

developed for Africa and Latin America. Each paper re-

views about 20 projects and analyses seven of them in

more depth. The research will culminate in early 2018 with

an international Policy Forum in Manila.

Demographic shifts in Asia and implications for education policy

A regional comparative policy research project is investigating the implications of profound demographic changes on national education policies and service provision. The study is sponsored by the Malaysian Government under a Funds-in-Trust arrangement with UNESCO. It involves in-depth country research in India, Malaysia, and the Republic of Korea. These three countries display different demographic profiles with implications for education policies preparing for tomorrow’s labour market and economic growth.

Three national partner institutions - the National University for Educational Planning and Administration in India, the Korean Education Development Institute, and the Ministry of Education of Malaysia’s Institut Aminuddin Baki – are preparing the country research with IIEP. A comparison of national experiences by IIEP will ultimately lead to lessons for education policy.

Teacher allocation workshop

The Pôle de Dakar organized a workshop in Nairobi in May

2017 to discuss teacher deployment in basic education and

promote best practices. A similar workshop was held in

Dakar in 2016 for francophone countries. Fifteen countries

were represented and participants created a network

to help African countries improve the effectiveness and

efficiency of teacher allocation.

Corrupt schools, corrupt universities: what can be done?

During the biennium, this important book authored by

Jacques Hallak and Muriel Poisson, and launched in Chinese

and Russian, brings to light the importance of combatting

corruption in education, as well as introducing key tools to

detect corruption and tackle malpractices.

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Rapidly expanding higher education puts quality assurance under the spotlight

Internal quality assurance ( I Q A ) sys t e m s have proliferated worldwide, becoming one of the most important catalysts for higher education reform. In 2017, we captured this worldw i d e p h e n o m e -non through an interna-tional survey, a series of case studies, and a global synthesis to bring to the forefront current know-how on building inno-

vative and effective IQA systems and processes. From China, Austria, Kenya, Germany, Bahrain, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Chile, eight universities share exclusive details on the evolution of their IQA systems, their impact, and the main lessons on how to use IQA to ensure acceptable standards of education, scholarship, and infra-structure are met and continually enhanced.

Six ways to ensure higher education leaves no one behind

Higher education is a cornerstone for sustainable development. This paper jointly authored with UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring Report in April 2017, showed that higher education in rapidly expanding systems is facing challenges relating to issues of access and equity in admission systems, fee levels and student financial assistance. Derived from research and country experiences, the paper suggests policy options and recommendations for making equitable higher education a reality.

School grants: what impact on access and quality?

School visits and interviews enable the collection of first-hand experiences of school grant policies in Madagascar. (IIEP-UNESCO)

School grants – funds that are transferred directly to schools from central government – have become a popular policy. In some cases the aim is to increase access to school, reduce bureaucracy, or improve equity, while in others the focus is on quality improvements, such as the purchase of new materials and the professional development of teachers. With support from GPE, IIEP carried out a comparative research project on how school grant policies are implemented and perceived by the school community in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, Madagascar, and Togo. The project builds on previous research in Eastern and Southern Africa, and East Asia and the Pacific.

Policy Forum in China

Xiamen University and the Chinese Higher Education

Evaluation Center (HEEC) helped to organize the 2016 IIEP

Policy Forum on 'Higher education quality and employability:

How can internal quality assurance contribute?'

Some 180 Chinese and international participants from 25

countries discussed ways to make IQA a means to enhance

quality, employability, and managerial effectiveness in

higher education institutions worldwide.

May 2017 policy seminar of the Asian Network of Training and Research Institutions in Educational Planning (ANTRIEP)

Findings from the study on demographic shifts in Asia

were featured in the May 2017 policy seminar of ANTRIEP,

organized with IIEP and the Ministry of Education of

Malaysia.

The event brought together 60 people from research and

training institutes and ministries of education of various

Asian countries.

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STUDIES FROM LATIN AMERICA

SMobile learning initiatives in Latin America

The Buenos Aires office conducted a comparative study on mobile learning initiatives implemented in four Latin American countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Uruguay.

SMarket or guarantee of rights: models in debate for education in Chile

This research, developed with UNICEF, analyses the future of education in Chile from a normative perspective. It discusses the right to education, implications for the state, and the need to identify barriers preventing the full exercise of this right.

SGovernance and financing of basic education systems in Latin America

This comparative analysis of the relationship between schooling and governance explores the ways in which it enables the creation and execution of primary education policies in the region, with particular attention to financing systems and public accountability.

COUNTRY STATUS REPORTS FROM AFRICA

What’s the state of education in Burkina Faso, Chad, and Côte d’Ivoire?

The IIEP Pôle de Dakar published three country status reports in 2016 and 2017. A compilation of the main indicators for analysis of the relationship between education and training and employment was also published this year.

Visit iiep.unesco.org for information on all our research projects.

Research results and strategies to improve the design

and implementation of school grant policies headlined

a 2016 Policy Seminar at IIEP in Paris.

Some 40 people participated including high-level

decision-makers from ministries of education and

finance from 10 countries, international organizations

and development partners, and national research teams

from the project.

Aina’s school, a film explaining the use of school grants

in the context of one family’s experience in Madagascar

was also shown. A series of eight short videos explore

the practical issues related to school grant policy

formulation and implementation, and provide strategic

options to ensure the success of these policies.

Watch the film here:

www.iiep.unesco.org/en/our-expertise/school-grants

Improve the design and implementation of school grant policies

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Sharing knowledge, enabling change

Event highlights IIEP Buenos Aires’ international Policy Forum on teacher education policies More than 4,500 participants – 70% of whom were women – took part in this major annual event in Latin America in November 2016. Topics covered included teacher education policies on the continent, professional development and career paths, and new research required for decision-making. The forum could be followed online, and reached participants from a range of countries in the region.

In October 2017, a Regional Education Policy Forum was held for policy-makers of the 19 Latin American countries, as well as other experts, representatives of teacher unions, civil society organizations, academics, and more. It examined inclusion and equity policies to meet the challenges of the Education 2030 agenda.

T he sharing of knowledge is key to the transformation of education systems. IIEP brings together a range

of stakeholders and develops and disseminates tools that make the latest information and data on educational planning easily available during workshops, policy seminars, strategic debates, and during major international conferences.

Over the biennium, we reached new audiences through increased use of live-streaming and online e-Forum discussions.

During a Strategic Debate in July 2017 at IIEP, Frank Adamson, Senior Policy and Research Analyst at the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (Scope), presents findings from six countries – Canada, Chile, Cuba, Finland, Sweden, and the United States – to illustrate how privatization and public investment in education systems influence education outcomes. (IIEP-UNESCO)

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Gender webinars

IIEP's Mioko Saito during one of the webinars with the former Director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report Aaron Benavot. (IIEP-UNESCO)

A series of webinars on promoting gender equality in education took place in 2016 with the participation of renowned international experts. Attracting over 500 participants, the three webinars were organized within the framework of the online course ‘Monitoring and Evaluating Gender Equality in Education’. They featured the former director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, Aaron Benavot, Karen Mundy from the Global Partnership for Education, and Nora Fyles, Head of the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) Secretariat.

Strategic debates explore equity in education and planning for the SDGs Leading experts headlined a series of debates in Paris that examined effective strategies to plan for the SDGs and how to enhance equity and equality of opportunity in education. In the first series of debates, a range of education actors came together to discuss how countries can best plan and implement the ambitious and comprehensive education vision reflected in Education 2030. In the second series of debates, rich discussions – followed by hundreds of people worldwide via webcast – pushed us to go beyond understanding the nature of the problem of inequities in education to explore what can be done, particularly through educational policy and planning.

IIEP ramps up visibility at CIES

The IIEP team at CIES 2017 in Georgia, Atlanta. (IIEP-UNESCO)

IIEP has made strong contributions to the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference over the past two years. Panels have covered crisis-sensitive planning, equity in education, open data and transparency, teacher careers, quality assurance in higher education, education financing, and the role of learning assessment data in policy-making.

The two big themes of today’s education goals are equity and learning – we need to continually think about whether our programmes and our interventions are advancing those goals.

-IIEP Director Suzanne Grant Lewis, opening ceremony of the 2017 CIES conference.

IIEP portals: a meeting place for knowledge sharing and best practices

IIEP maintains a range of multilingual online portals that respond to core areas of the sustainable development agenda, from improving learning outcomes to facing corruption in education. Over the past two years, we have strived to improve the user experience and leverage the ability of these online communities to foster dialogue on salient issues in educational planning and, ultimately, impact decision-making.

Our portals have over 2 million users globally

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The two big themes of today’s education goals are equity and learning – we need to continually think about whether our programmes and our interventions are advancing those goals.

-IIEP Director Suzanne Grant Lewis, opening ceremony of the 2017 CIES conference.

IIEP portals: a meeting place for knowledge sharing and best practices

IIEP maintains a range of multilingual online portals that respond to core areas of the sustainable development agenda, from improving learning outcomes to facing corruption in education. Over the past two years, we have strived to improve the user experience and leverage the ability of these online communities to foster dialogue on salient issues in educational planning and, ultimately, impact decision-making.

Our portals have over 2 million users globally

ETICO – Relaunched in 2017, this global hub for

transparency and integrity in education features some

600 resources, easier access to all of our research, over

1,000 press articles on corruption in education, a blog

and global agenda, and more.

IIEP Learning Portal – Now with a better user-

experience, this rich resource is a single entry point

to resources, blogs, e-Seminars, and ideas on planning

for quality education and improved learning outcomes

worldwide.

Education for resilience, safety and social cohesion –

This online resource database aims to strengthen

education systems to better prevent and withstand

shocks from disasters, insecurity, or conflicts.

HIV and Health Education Clearinghouse – Co-hosted

with UNESCO, this information platform aims to support

the development of effective HIV and health education

policies, programmes, and advocacy.

Pefop – This new portal of information and exchange

from Pôle de Dakar is designed for vocational training

actors in Africa.

SITEAL – A regional digital platform for expert debates

featuring and a wide range of content including

country profiles, policies, and graphics that address the

relationship between social dynamics and educational

policies in Latin America.

RedEtis – A regional participatory network that features

up-to-date resources, newsletters, and debate topics

on education, employment, and social inclusion in Latin

America.

Planipolis – Now embedded on the IIEP website and

with improved functions, this resource features official

education documents from nearly all countries around

the world.

Visit us online at iiep.unesco.org to access:

Join these communities and contribute today!

• Books, manuals, and policy briefs that can all

be downloaded at no charge,

• Portals that respond to core SDG areas,

• The IIEP Letter and PôleMag and updates and

news on all of our training offers and activities.

Students at the Mulwari Secondary School in Livingstone, Zambia, during a the mission to present the IIEP Learning Portal at second Learning Champions Forum

(part of the Learning Metrics Task Force) in February 2016. (IIEP-UNESCO)

ETHICS & ANTI-CORRUPTION

Learning

Building system resilience

HIV AND HEALTH EDUCATION

Vocational training

THE WORLD OF WORK

Social dynamics

Key education documents

IIEP in action • 2016 | 2017 21

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Customized capacity development

Support to national training centres

Sector analysis, policies, and plan formulation

Conflict and disaster risk reduction

Tools for evidence-based planning

Generating evidence to guide policy choices

CAMEROONREP. OF

THE CONGO

UNITED KINGDOM

COSTA RICA

PANAMA

EL SALVADOR

GUATEMALA

ECUADOR

PERU

CHILE

SOUTH AFRICA

COLOMBIA

MEXICO

CAPE VERDE

BOLIVIA

BRAZIL

URUGUAY

BENIN NIGERIA

GHANA

TOGO

CUBA

VENEZUELA

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS

NICARAGUA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ARGENTINA

PARAGUAY

BURKINA FASO

DEMOCRATIC REP. OF THE

CONGO

CÔTE D'IVOIRE

NIGER

GUINEAGUINEA-BISSAU

GAMBIA

MAURITANIA

MOROCCO

MALIHAITI

HONDURAS

Global snapshot of IIEP’s technical support and research

ZIMBABWE

AUSTRIA

GERMANY

CHAD

LEBANON

TURKEY

SOUTH SUDAN

JORDAN

SERBIA

SENEGAL

CAMEROONREP. OF

THE CONGO

SOUTH AFRICA

BENIN NIGERIA

TOGO

DEMOCRATIC REP. OF THE

CONGO

NIGER

AFGHANISTAN

BANGLADESH

COMOROS

UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

ZIMBABWE

ARMENIA

GEORGIA

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

PHILIPPINES

AUSTRIA

GERMANY

BAHRAIN

YEMENCHAD

INDIA

NEPAL

MYANMAR

THAILAND

LEBANON

TURKEY

CHINA

MONGOLIA

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

LESOTHO

BURUNDI

CAMBODIA

VIETNAM

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

INDONESIA

TIMOR-LESTE

VANUATU

ETHIOPIA

SOUTH SUDAN

MADAGASCAR

UGANDA

MALAWI

MALAYSIA

JORDAN

SAUDI ARABIA

KENYA

SERBIA

Work together with us

www.iiep.unesco.org