adcom, june 2012
education reform – progress update
education department
- Progress of reform to date
1.1.Overall progress
The Education Reform Strategy was developed between 2010 and 2011 as a response to the evaluation of the Education Programme by the Universalia external consulting firm and perceptions of decline in the quality of UNRWA education.It was officially launched in October 2011 across the five Fields on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day.
In its initial phase, the Education Reform Strategy focused on the development of key policies, frameworks and materials to facilitate transformational change. Progress has been made in this regard and the current focus of reform efforts is now on Field operational planning including costing,and Field-specific implementation.
1.2.Progress across the different Fields
1.2.1. Teachers
A draft Teachers’ Policy recognizes the central role of teachers in the provision of quality education. The policy builds on international research in education and on the evaluation conductedby UNRWA’s Education Programme,and addresses the following areas: teacher recruitment and training; professional development and support; diversified motivating career opportunities; professional accountability and quality assurance; and school empowerment.
For the policy to be financially sustainable, a Financial Simulation Exercise was developed to collect baseline data,discuss demographic projections, and develop Field-specific Financial Simulation Models. This work led to the development of an Agency-wide Financial Simulation Model (FSM) which considers trends over the last ten years and then projects education expenditures for the coming ten years. The FSM identifies a number of scenarios,from no change (but addressinginflation and other factors which will impact on the cost of the education programme), to a number of scenarios which reflect different policy choices with regard to the structure of the teaching cadre and redeployment of resourcessuch as changes in class size and number of non-teaching periods.
The Field Directors andan HQ team worked to ensure feasibility of the proposed resource redeployment. This involved adetailed study of class formation opportunities, i.e. with regard to the number of class sections within schools and compounds and changes in the number of non-teaching periods. Discussions included transitional planning issues of professional, administrative, logistical and financial phased implementation of the Teacher Policy. The UNRWA Education Department is now preparing a Transitional Action Planto be presented to management which will also include key policy questions that must be answered before implementation is to proceed.
1.2.2. Training and professional development of teaching staff
School Based Teacher Development
The Reform also emphasizes meaningful professional development. To this effect the School Based Teacher Development (SBTD) Transforming Classrooms Programme is moving to its latter stages of development. The programme uses a multi media open and distance learning approach to maximize impact on teachers’ practice. Discussions have taken place with UNICEF, the Queen Rania Foundation and the Jordan Education Initiative. Funding from Switzerland (SDC) towards the educationreform has been allocated for the development of multi-media materials and other aspects.A full costing of the implementation of this aspect of the reform is also underway.
At present six Modules with 24 Units are in the final stages of development, and two SBTD Modules were pre-tested in UNRWA’s five Fields. Six DVDs are being finalised to help the head teachers and education specialists facilitate the face-to-face sessions, along with support ‘scripts’. Similarly handbooks for both these cadres and the teachers themselves are in the final stages of development and a website will be developed in the coming months. A web drama is proposed for the second phase of implementation.
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adcom, june 2012
education reform – progress update
education department
SBTD implementationwill begin in the 2012-2013 school year with all Grade 1 to 6 teachers inJerusalem, East Damascus, Lebanon’s central area, North Amman, and a number of areas in Gaza participating in the six-month programme.
Leading for the Future: Head teacher training
Given the importance of strong school leadership the reform also focused on head teachers. The School Leadership Programme: Leading for the Future will form one part of a head teachers’ programme to strengthen all aspects of school management. The other part of the programme is a Human Resource ‘Installation Management’ course which focuses on day-to-day operational/logistical issues, whilst the Leading for the Future focuses on the professional role of the head teachers.
The main responsibility for the development of the Leading for the Future programme rests with Lebanon and West Bank Fields, with HQ funding two external consultants - a school leadership and a media expert – as well as providing off site support. Funds from SDC’s overall reform support ($2.2 million) have been allocated for the development of multi-media materials and other aspects.
Orientation for SBTD is planned from August to October 2012, and a programme launch will similarly take place on 5 October 2012in West Bank and Lebanon, with dates in other Fieldsto be determined.
1.2.3. Inclusive Education
A draft Inclusive Education (IE) Policy and Strategy have been developed in collaboration with all UNRWA Fields, UNRWA’s Programme Coordination and Support Unit, the PA, and UNESCO’s offices in Paris, Beirut, Amman and Ramallah. The policy articulates a holistic, cross cutting inclusive approach; this will ensure that the Agency has a responsive and supportive system in place so that all students’ learning, health and psycho-social needs are met. The draft policy and strategy are under review by Field and other Directors to assess the cost and feasibility of implementation.
Work has already begun on the development of special needs identification tools, drawing on the experience and practices of the Fields, as well as global practices, with a view to deploying these tools to the Fields in December 2012.
In close collaboration with the Health Department and in line with the Inclusive Education Policy, a Draft School Health Strategy was also developed. The School Health Strategy aims to strengthen the quality of the UNRWA School Health Programme, towards a healthy school environment. Some education technical instructions, including Access to TVET, School Health Programme, School Canteen, School Safety and Security measures have also been updated.
1.2.4. Curriculum Neutrality and Human Rights and Conflict Resolution and Tolerance (HRCRT) programme
HRCRT Programme
The Agency has adopted a HRCRT Policy and Programme. This builds on the HRCRT work of the past decade in the five Fields, particularly in Gaza. Technical support is being sourced from the Human Rights Education Association (HREA) in the USA. AHRCRT Policy Dissemination plan, an outline of a HRCRT Teacher Resource Kit, and a Framework for Learner Competencies have also been developed.Existing UNRWA and external teaching/learning materials are being analyzed in order to ‘map’ them onto the Learner Competency Framework and new materials will be developed and pre-tested in two Fields: Jordan and West Bank.As the Agency has now endorsed the UNRWA HRCRT Policy it can move forward with the Policy, Resource Kit, and Learner Competency Framework.Financial support is provided by the United Statesfor all these developments.
Curriculum Framework
The Curriculum Framework will support analysis by each Field of their existing textbooks and teaching and learning practices. The existing system of curriculum review (as per the Interim Curricular Policy) will also be strengthened, with feedback and accountability mechanisms. The Curriculum Framework draft will be finalized in May 2012 and together with a costing, will be submitted to Field and other Directors for
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adcom, june 2012
education reform – progress update
education department
implementation approval. Funds from SDC’s overall supportfor the reform have been allocated to the development of the framework.
1.2.5. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
The Education Department led an Agency-wide evaluation and review of the current TVET programmes (April to August 2011). The review focused on issues of efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, relevance and impact. The outcome is a draft UNRWA TVET Strategy which addresses six priority areas: access, governance, quality assurance, sustainability, training approaches, and PCG.
Each Field will lead on one of the six areas to ensure their full engagement and harnessing of their expertise. SDC has offered both technical and financial support for development and implementation of the Strategy through an Agency-wide SDC funded TVET Project. GIZ has offered technical support to review the Placement and Career Guidance system.
Emphasis continues to be given to improving access and relevance of TVET particularly for vulnerable groups and youths. One aspect of this is the implementation of a Competency Based Training (CBT) methodology which has now been extended from the initial implementation in the Damascus Training Centre (Syria) to Wadi Seer Training Centre (Jordan), Siblin Training Centre, Northern Training Centre (Lebanon) and Gaza Training Centre (Gaza). The ILO has offered support in further developing the CBT Framework for UNRWA.
1.2.6. Improvement of Education indicators
Programme indicators
UNRWA’s education-related core common indicatorswere revised to ensure their alignment with UNRWA’sstrategic objectives and outcomes for education and with international standards.This involved the development of new baselines, computation of trends, and establishment of targets for drop-out and survival, employment, and children with disabilities.
Reform indicators
AnEducation Reform Monitoring and Evaluation Framework was developed with the financial support and technical engagement of UNESCO. This focuses on the development and monitoring of reform outcomes indicators; these include a number of qualitative indicators which will be monitored through the application of ‘perceptional’ analysis tools to capture the impact of the reform on issues such as teacher motivation or TVET graduates’ employers’ satisfaction. The Ministry of Education of the Palestinian Authority(PA) and UNESCO were engaged in this process.
1.2.7. Data system improvement through an Agency-wide Educational Management Information System (EMIS)
To ensure education policy decisions are efficient, effective and equitable - within an evolving and resource constrained environment – they must be based on timely, systematic collection and analysis of data and good research.
The development of an Agency-wide EMIS ‘Visioning’ document was completed in 2011 by an UNRWA EMIS Task Force, chaired by PCSU, with all Fields actively engaged and with support from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UNESCO Beirut, Ministry of Education in Jordan, and the PA. Further progress was not possible due to internal and external constraints. Some resources have now been allocated from SDC’s financial support.A Pilot EMIS system should be in place by end of 2012.
1.2.8. Research
Key areas for quantitative and qualitative research have been identifiedwithin the framework of an Education Research Strategy - its development and implementation has been financially supported by Irish Aid since 2010. The Research Strategy is now finalized. The following three key focus research areas were identified involving three Fields: drop out, school leadership and classroom practices. For example, in order to better understand the qualitative reasons behind drop out trends and thus address the issue, the Gaza Field is leading on the focused drop out study with support from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Similarly a study of school leadership within UNRWA (led by the Lebanon Field Office) will provide a baseline for the Leading for the Future programme. A study of classroom practices – supported in the initial stages by NRC – will provide a baseline for SBTD specifically, but for the impact of the reform generally. Results for all three studies should be available by the end of 2012.
- Inter-linkages with other reforms
Education contributes to the goal of ensuring “a decent standard of living”through its TVET programme, to the goal of “human rights enjoyed to the fullest” through human rights education as well as work towards ensuring a violence-free educational environment, and to a ‘long and healthy life’ through its school health programme.
In addition to the above, specific linkages have been developed with the other Programmes in the framework of the reform:
-Adraft School Health Strategy has been developed together with the Health Department.
-Cross-cutting issues such asgender, protection and disability were addressed in the reform design and continue to be addressed at all stages of reform development, with the support of PCSU and Protection
-Through the anticipated development of Livelihood programmes for UNRWA Youth through TVET.
-With Human Resources on the Teacher Policy and Teacher Competency Framework
- Reform Logical Framework
The vision of UNRWA’s Education Reform Strategy is:
“An UNRWA education system which develops the full potential of Palestine refugees to enable them to be confident, innovative, questioning, thoughtful, tolerant and open minded, upholding human values and religious tolerance, proud of their Palestine identity and contributing positively to the development of their society and the global community”.
This involves changing classroom pedagogy - the way in which teachers interact with their students - and ensuring an enabling, coherent environment at all levels. There are four substantive target areas in this respect: Teachers, Inclusive Education, TVET and Curriculum and Student Assessment, and four support areas: Research and EMIS, Education Governance, Partnerships, ICTs and Communication and Strategic Planning and Projects. These eight areas are outputs of the Education Reform Logframe and each output has been further developed into specific logframes. The refined Core Common Indicators reflect these areas, with reform-specific indicators reflected in the 2012/13 FIPs/HIP. A comprehensive Education Reform Monitoring and Evaluation Framework has been developed, articulating key qualitative and quantitative indicators and baselines are either in place or being established.
- Efficiencies and effectiveness of reform
Efficiencies
The education reform strives to achieve increased programme efficiency. It aims at decreasing pupil drop-out and increasing survival rates. It is also expected that the education reform will lead to lesser repetition and remedial educationrates, which together with decreased drop-out, will lead to improved internal efficiency. An Agency-wide study of the reasons for drop-out has started in all Fields and its results (which should be available by end 2012) should support the Agency in providing a better targeted response to drop-out. It is also expected that the implementation of inclusive education will decrease the need for remedial education, as students’ learning needs are addressed within the framework of the classroom.
Given the resource constraints placed on the Agency, the education reform also places a particular emphasis on increasing resource efficiency, delivering better services with a similar level of financial resources. Thereform willbring a strategic coherence that will establish shared strategic goals and outcomes, harmonize both programmatic and project efforts across the five Fields, avoid duplication and reflect global and regional best practices, and lessons learned. Furthermore the reform provides a framework for the more effective redeployment of existing resources by maximizing comparative advantage and minimizing costs.
This focus on efficiency is reflected in the Education Reform Logframe indicators of drop-out, survival, internal efficiency, and unit costs in basic education. As a result of the work undertaken since 2011, the definition and calculation of drop-out rates have already been modified to reflect international standards (allowing better comparability with host governments) and new indicators have been introduced to ensure appropriate monitoring of progress on these indicators.
4.1.Effectiveness
The reform strives for greater effectiveness through an increased quality of education for each UNRWA student. This will be achieved through the more strategic deployment of current Field and HQ funding to cover the recurrent costs of any reform dimension.
The reform has led to the development of Agency-wide tools, policies and materials and these will facilitate the more effective use of resources. For example, currently the five Education Development Centres are responsible for curriculum enrichment and here the reform will provide a strategic tool – the Curriculum Framework - to support an already existing process.
Similarly teacher training is provided to teachers at Field level through various training initiatives and in this respect the reform outcome of strengthened research and data systems will facilitate more targeted training which addresses teachers’ needs. In addition the Teacher Policy will ensure a comprehensive and coherent system of accredited professional teacher training.
Inclusive education approaches will lead to more children succeeding in the normal school hours and the Identification Tools will facilitate effective identification of children with special needs to ensure they are appropriately supported from the earliest stage.
The Teacher Policy prioritises teachers over other education inputs with regard to education quality, and to this effect under consideration is whether the Policy can be implemented through the redeployment and optimisation of resources, namely by addressing class size and non-teaching periods (see details on the Teacher Policy Financial Simulation Model in 1.2.1 above).
- Costing of reform
Costing of the eight elements of the reform is currently under discussion. Some project funds have been secured for essential policy development as noted above. Costs of implementation of the HRCRT have also been secured through project funding. Thus fara total of US$ 3 million has been received from France, SDC,Irish Aid, UNESCO and BPRM. In-kind support through an NRC consultant, a Finnish JPO, and interns from Spain and Switzerland has also been received. Education Department staff and GF funding are also contributing to the reform. Further information will be provided on costing as many of the policies that have been developed are currently under review by the Directors responsible for implementation and budget management.