Large Scale Household Based, Citizen Led Assessments A Forum for Inclusion, Social Capital and...

Large Scale Household Based, Citizen Led

AssessmentsA Forum for Inclusion, Social Capital and Social

Accountability

BAELA RAZA JAMILHUMA ZIA

Participation at CIES Supported by: Open Society Foundation (OSF)

Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)10th to 15th March 2014

www.aserpakistan.org

Introduction

Challenges of Learning & Access greatest in Sub Saharan Africa & some E9 countries.

E9 countries account for over half of the world's population and 70% of the world's illiterate adults ~ India, Pakistan, Mexico, Nigeria, China, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia & Bangladesh.

Globally, 250 million or quarter

of a billion lack basic reading and writing skills.

The education Millennium Development Goal (in spite of progress) will not be met.


Some more stats…


The Need for

Large Scale

Citizen Led

Assessments

Education is an important engine for economic, societal and personal growth.

Governments have adhoc arrangements for primary & middle level assessments consistency & transparency is required.

Governments /providers/donors input driven not focused on whether children are ‘learning’

CSOs are coming together to strengthen learning & teaching based on evidence that is country wide & accessible to ALL.

Lively & growing education research community to interrogate learning outcomes & pedagogies that work.


Citizens Response To Learning Challenges

India 2005

Pakistan 2006-8

Uwezo2009

Mali2012

Senegal2012

Mexico2014

A South-South Initiative

Conceptualized as a Citizens’ Social MovementLeading from the Front with Bold & Distributed Leadership

Model


Building

capacity to conduct survey

Building capacity to disseminate

results

Improved Extra Ordinary People

Volunteers need to have at least 12 years of education

Call for citizens to come together!

Transforming ordinary into extra-ordinary people

BUILDING CAPABILITIES FOR ACTION

EACH COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN MODEL


The JUBA family spreading globally

South Asia

East Africa

Mexico

Nigeria Senegal

Mali

Nigeria is exploring options to join the JUBA family in 2014

•Kenya•Uganda•Tanzania

•India•Pakistan


International Large Scale Assessments in Education

School Based Assessments lead to exclusion – DO NOT account for absent students, never enrolled & dropped out children!!!

Assessment Institutes Scope Duration ScalePISA (Program for International Student Assessment)

15-year old students enrolled in schools at grade 7 or above

Every 3 years 74 Countries (2010)

PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study)

Students enrolled in schools at grade 4


TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study)

Students enrolled in schools at grades 4 and 8, and 11 or 12


EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment)

Students enrolled in schools at grades 1, 2, 3, or 4

Varies by Country 60 plus countries since 2006.

EGMA (Early Grade Mathematic Assessment)

Students enrolled in schools at grades 1, 2, 3, or 4

Varies by Country 22 countries since 2009.

SACMEQ (The Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality)

Students enrolled in schools at grade 6

1995, 2000-4, 2006-11, and 2012-14

16 countries


The NEED for Household Based Assessments

A Forum for Inclusion

• Household based learning assessment is inclusive - it ensures ALL children are included.

• ASER Pakistan 2013 in some provinces, child absenteeism may be as high as 35% (Sindh, Pakistan)

• In-school assessment is great when all children are in schools; in many countries this is not the case.


Mobilizing Citizens: Scale & Size

Countries Households Children Assessed (5-18

years)

Volunteers Mobilized

1. India 300,000 600,000 + 30,000 +

2. Pakistan 87,044 263,990 10,000 +

3. Kenya 90,820 153,900 9,360

4. Tanzania 55,191 104,568 7,560

5. Uganda 34,667 81,650 4,800

6. Mali (pilot) 75,000 23,149 375

7. Senegal (pilot)

5,000 15,000 216

Designed for 30-60 volunteers per district –Majority young people –engaged in a BIG cause!

• Provision of Dataset on:

• Learning Outcomes

• Access• School

Facilities

Objective

• Trainings• Field Survey• Data

Collection • Finalizing

Reports:• National• Provincial• District

• Policy Briefs• District

Report Cards

Evidence• Report

Launches• National,

Provincial, District

• Policy Dialogues• Regional /Local

• Village Gatherings

• CSO Coalition Meetings

• Media Training • Mass

Dissemination• Poster ( target/

actions based)

Advocacy

• Informs RTE • High Level

Endorsements• Provided Baseline

for provincial Sector Reforms/Plans

• Influenced political agenda/ campaigns

• Media Campaigns for transforming education

• Triggered Research

• Demand from research institutions

Impact

Civil Society and Social Capital Formation

IMPLEMENTATION CYCLE

The Rigor & Stages of Mobilization


Seeking Stakeholders Attention:Building Social Capital

• Politicians• Parliamentarians• Bureaucrats • Judiciary & Judicial

Academies • Academia / Think tanks

Decision Makers

• Children• Parents / Community• Teachers/ Associations• Youth• Media

Decision Makers


What is Social Capital?

Robert Putnam emphasized the relation between democracy and civil society.

“…social capital refers to connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. In that sense social capital is closely related to what some have called “civic virtue”

The importance of a strong and active civil society to the consolidation of democracy’.

(Putnam 2000: 19)


What is Social Accountability

United Nations Development Program (2010) defines social accountability as:

“A form of accountability which emerges from actions by citizens and civil society organization (CSOs) aimed at holding the state to account, as well as efforts by government and other actors (media, private sector, donors) to support these

actions.”


Civil Society Takes Action

Citizens mobilized through a unique and simple methodology to Gather large scale evidence – from households,

children and schools in the neighborhoods Analyze Publicize & Take Action

Citizens build social capital through informed voice!

Children’s Learning

School

Househol

d


CSOs Promoting Social AccountabilityThrough Rigorous Annual Actions

Participation of citizens and civil society crucial for improving sustained access to quality education.

Social accountability of the JUBA kind operationalizes and strengthen relationships between citizens (the users of education services), policy-makers and service providers.

Social accountability backed by evidence on learning leads to improved information for action about citizens’ rights , responsibility. transparency, governance

JUBA works for creating a public good and public service in the public domain to provide information for actions on Right to Education (RTE)


JUBA Family Creating Social Capital for Social Accountability

Survey Design

ToT at National &

Sub-national levels

Survey & Assessmen

t

Dissemination

Community Gathering

Engaging Parliamentarians

Youth Groups – Ambassadors for

Learning

Consultations with Education &

Literacy Dept.

Research Groups, Think Tanks,

Academia

MEDIA

Creating Social Capital

Lead

ing

to S

ocia

l A

ccou

nta

bil

ity


“Creation of social capital begins with a shared goal of improving the learning levels of children

and holding all the stakeholders of education accountable.”

Collecting evidence of learning levels of children

Communicating findings

Mobilizing resources for improved learning

Community mobilization for social accountability


Collecting

evidence of

learning levels

of childre

n

•Seek evidence-based engagement to transform conditions of exclusion and learning challenges at the household, community, school, and college level.

Communicatin

g findings

•Communities across the country who commit to rethinking their conditions, values and structures for change.

Mobilizing

resources for

improved

learning

•Collaborating with partners across networks (national, regional & global) to influence

•Progress through synergistic collaboration & actions

Community

mobilization for

social accountability

•Engages inspiring leaders as communicators of ideas, learning solutions, change, practice and accountability.


Learning for All in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Education is Learning For capabilities and entitlements

Learning as a Core Education

Goal

Twin crises of learning & OOSC has enormous costs.

Challenge to draw attention to education/learning as capabilities and entitlements for health, economic growth, happiness, safer, stable societies- and well being in the 21st century.


Evidence Based Citizen Led Assessments for Action, Research & Policy Influence

Large scale annual citizen led nationwide citizens’ audit of learning generate an enormous energy and synergy.

As an evaluation of citizens, parents & government performance.

Bring educational issues to the forefront by involving all stakeholders from local to global.

Provide large scale data sets for research and policy communities.

Influence actions – village - district – state national and global agendas.


JUBA : a passport to jobs! Challenges & Next Steps

Most projects in reading/learning in their official JDs ask for “ASER experience” !

Rigor of processes, tools and reporting. Formidable scale - from a citizens’ call for

action to formal procurement of partnerships

Documentation to capture the ‘unintended impact’ the value addition beyond the plans.

Second generation tools focus from lower primary to upper and post primary

We are in this TOGETHER too!!


THANK YOU…!

Large Scale Household Based, Citizen Led Assessments A Forum for Inclusion, Social Capital and...

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