UNITY PROJECT MID - TERM EVALUATION

1. UNITY PROJECT MID - TERM EVALUATION Presented by:DAVE EVANS ROBINAH KYEYUNE (DR) DEBORAH KASENTE (DR) DEBORAH NAKYEJWE GEOFFREY OPIRA NYANZI HASSAN .S.

2. Purpose of Evaluation • Assess programmatic effectiveness of UNITY program • Garner lessons learned for future programming • What worked/did not work • Assess project design & implementation strengths & weaknesses • Methods: • Document review • Observation checklists at schools • Interviews with knowledgeable officials • In-depth interview with key informants • Focus Group Discussions • Anonymous Questionnaires

3. Unity Program • Overall Objective :To improve quality of education • Five components: • Objective 1:Improved professional development of teachers & administrators at primary level, both pre-and in-service (LOE 45%) • Objective 2:Expanded implementation of PIASCY (LOE 30%) • Objective 3:Increased parental & community participation in education (LOE 20%) • Objective 4:Implementation of Educational Policy Agenda (LOE 5%) • Objective 5: Grants to NGOs & individual schools (SMC) in areas of PIASCY, literacy, quality improvement, improved school-community relations. Expected outputs:7 million school pupils,14,000 primary teachers,50,000 in-service teachers,15,000 primary school administrators & DEOs

4. Objective One: Revitalized TDMS Objective achieved: 980 PTC & CCT tutors trained in C-TEP Findings All praised content & impact of C-TEP Critical of organization and sequencing of training, workload burden, time between sessions, application of adult education principles Issues remaining include:lack of transport for most tutors, high teacher/tutor ratio, grading C-TEP papers & granting certificates, acceptance & meaning of certificates in workplace Some programs only bold promises

5. Recommendations : Review the proposed process for evaluating tutors but vest Kyambogo University's Department of Teachers Education with authority to determine who fails or passes the C-TEP course & receives the certificate Work with the MOES to determine the salary & promotion implications of passing C-TEP Revisit the structure and delivery mechanism of the C-TEP course; Work with Kyambogo University to identify candidates & possible funding for C-TEP II course. Develop & implement measures to reform cascade approach to training; Drop programs that appear to be nothing more than bold promises (regional centres centres of excellence)

6. Improve instructional methods & materials to teachers and schools Achievements in improvement of methods and provision of materials: Training for P1 & P2 teachers for implementing the Thematic Curriculum – CA, LL. Some CCTs reaching teachers with mentoring support, inspired by UNITY training in pedagogical leadership. Development & distribution of new or older materials: TG for the Thematic Curriculum; “REPLICA materials” to enhance psycho-social support, SNE, ECD, leadership & governance; Straight Talk literature to enhance GC, and UNITY’s HIV/AIDS readers.

7. Achievements in teaching methods: A few teachers using multiple teaching methods & implementing active learning techniques. Some classrooms have cluster seating arrangement, & a few have learning corners. Some classrooms have wall displays of appropriate NTB learning materials – charts, flash cards – supplied by MOES, UNICEF. Teachers in the North and East mostly investing energy in managing large (90 – 120) crowded classes of children in obvious need who sit on the floor.

8. Observed gaps in instruction: 1. Cascade model of training not reaching teachers effectively enough to cause significant change in the classroom. 2. Teachers’ depend heavily on the moderate lecture mode, using repetition & question-answer techniques. 3. Teachers tied to TG for TC and mostly not using even the materials in classroom displays during lessons. In some cases materials are tucked away in cupboards. 4. Even where readers (supplied by UNICEF) are available, reading is not in practice in spite of its core place in the learner-centred skills-based curriculum. Teachers claim readers are not enough for the classes.

9. Recommendations for further improvement of instruction: Provide more training & support supervision for teachers to enable them apply & evaluate learner-centred approaches in the classroom. Integrate issues of use & management of materials in UNITY training to ensure that available materials are in the hands of teachers & learners. Integrate reading instruction in UNITY training for teachers to ensure that reading materials are gainfully used to develop the desired literacy & other skills. Implement whole school approach to training of teachers to build teams of competent professionals.

10. Observed Achievements in supporting Thematic Curriculum: Training teachers, head teachers, CCTs & Pre-service tutors in numbers exceeding those earlier planned. Distribution of TC guidelines to schools. Teachers displaying materials to the level of the learners. Teachers present, ready to teach and with schemes of work & lesson plans. All teachers with copies of the curriculum, the teachers’ guides & charts that are in line with the curriculum. Teaching in the language of instruction required by the curriculum.

11. Challenges to Implementation of Thematic Curriculum (TC): Most of the challenges known widely by officers responsible in MOES & UNITY Teachers misinterpret content or over simplify & lose meaning. Participatory learning not maximally utilized. Teaching learning process dominated by question & answer. No learning corners seen even where there was enough space & groups not used. Teachers hardly relate new content to the learners’ daily experiences. Charts displayed mostly do not have engaging activities. Continuous Assessment not well understood or appropriately implemented. P.2 teachers do not have charts to use alongside the curriculum. Teachers do not have handbook in the local language to use alongside the TC

12. Key recommendations on Thematic curriculum: Recognize that school-based problems are not going away soon & develop methodologies to solve them. Put more effort on reading instruction & make it central to TC Train a critical mass of teachers per project school & provide re-medial training. Re-evaluate continuous assessment.

13. Expanded REPLICA Objective partially met: Extend to more primary schools; print and distribute REPLICA materials; strengthen Centers of excellence; pilot-formal education accelerated learning. Findings Difficult to evaluate….not much on the ground Most claim program should continue but has management problems Pilot good, roll-out problematic Recommendations: Since it appears that spent much of its efforts at the district and sub-county levels, not much is visible at the school level, at least in term of community mobilisation.Although there appears to be need for expanding the program from 1,500 schools to 4,000 schools in all 40 PRDP districts, it appears that REPLICA has much work left undone. Any expansion of the program should be carefully considered and done in a phase, manageable roll-out .

14. Objective Two: Expanding implementation of PIASCY Achievements: Everyone embracing PIASCY as a must: recognizing the dangers of HIV/AIDS & Presidential agenda. Schools are an appropriate platform for PIASCY implementation - these are the “youth”. PIASCY handbooks building teachers’ confidence because of authority & accuracy of information. Talking compounds constantly communicate prevention messages. Schools reporting behaviour change resulting in fewer early pregnancies, increased retention of girls.

15. Reported gaps in PIASCY: No supportive school-community partnerships - parents not yet talking to their children about HIV/AIDS and sexuality; not protecting them against hostile (especially urban) environments and not modeling safe behaviour. Information provided only on prevention – assumed absence of HIV/AIDS in schools. Some teachers lack confidence to address HIV/AIDS because they were not trained earlier.

16. Recommendations for expansion of PIASCY: Improve community participation to support HIV/AIDS interventions & care for orphans. Monitor progress of mitigation in schools to provide documentation that aids dissemination of best practice. Step up support to (i) provide information on HIV/AIDS management for infected teachers, pupils & parents, (ii) include all teachers as implementers. 4. Move to the next step in the UNITY TA – PPET – but implement cautiously to address gaps.

17. Objective Three: Increasing parental & community participation in education Achievements by SMC and PTA in supporting school activities: Budgeting for the school. Mobilizing funds & material support from parents to facilitate school programs. Sensitizing other parents about pupil learning e.g. provision of scholastic materials & mid-day meal at school. Monitoring school activities.

18. Challenges : SMCs not always clear on their roles Political interference has derailed the committees’ (SMC and PTA) efforts to get parents contribute towards pupils’ welfare at school. Failure by the government to send UPE funds in time. Majority of parents are poor & this affects their contribution towards school activities. Little knowledge about interventions in schools

19. Recommendation for maximum involvement of the community: Create interest of parents in the learning of their children. Need for better articulation of parents’ contribution towards school activities presented in Education Act. Sensitize SMCs and District Education Committees on their roles in school & interventions Advocate for less political interference in the implementation of UPE Promote visits between schools with good community participation & without.

20. Positives with district and school management: District & school managers with appropriate capacity and interested in improving the quality of education. District officials & head teachers very articulate in describing short & long term needs & priorities for their areas. Some school heads displayed good pedagogical & administrative leadership District and School management:

21. Challenges with District and School Management: There is no unanimity about district or school priorities. Lack of time-phased strategic plans. Small & late disbursement of UPE funds to schools Contradictory instructions to schools from PTCs & District officials. Recommendations on District and School Management: An improved communication strategy between UNITY and District Education officials Training for education managers in developing of realistic strategic plans, use of EMIS & making TDMS work. A concerted effort to pay more attention to developing reading skills among pupils

22. Other Relevant Findings Poor learning environment/pupil health: Findings : Overcrowding, few desks, building adequate but well-worn No materials No pupil work & little active-learning Recommendations: Encourage parental and community participation; UNITY,MOES and/or USAID should consider addressing the health issues of pupils in primary schools, even in a limited way, as well as mounting a “healthy schools” program.

23. Road Maps: Findings : Flexibility a virtue but at some cost in planning /cooperation Better road maps, better product Recommendation Without losing its flexibility and responsiveness,UNITY should develop a road map of future directions that spells out the roles & responsibilities of all key players

24. Expansion and Replication: 1.Partly due to flexibility in UNITY’s character & perhaps for political expediency, replication has been too rapid & consequently too shallow. 2. Spreading the resources across too many areas before UNITY was truly ready has sacrificed quality especially in the much needed school level change. 3. UNITY has worked too much from a service delivery approach. Recommendation: With USAID’s limited education budget & MOES’s numerous needs, UNITY should shift from a service delivery to a limited objectives approach focusing on school level improvement. UNITY and MOES should undertake to: reform the cascade system of TDMS; facilitate transportation for CCT’s in selected districts (link to QEI); intervene to improve flows of funds to schools; streamline human resource issues; strengthen school leadership and governance & link employment to teacher performance.

25. Summary Findings: Anonymous Questionnaires: Majority of tutors who attended UNITY workshop found them very effective 67% of the tutors found C-TEP course to be modestly effective in up-grading skills of teachers and 61% often apply the new skills in PTC classroom. Most tutors found HIV/AIDS readers/materials provided by UNITY to be effective in mitigating HIV/AIDS Tutors in Northern and Eastern Uganda found REPLICA program to be modestly effective in enabling teachers provide education needs for children. Most tutors found the thematic curriculum reform effective in improving pupils learning achievement. Most tutors found local language as medium of instruction & continuous assessment to be the most useful components of the thematic curriculum on improving quality learning. Majority of tutors suggested provision of transport means to CCTs & community mobilization as ways of improving the UNITY program.

26. Lessons Learned: • Limit overall objectives • Focus, Focus, Focus • Start small & build on success, slowly • Limited school-level change • Teacher training & materials • Service delivery or developing innovative solutions

27. Conclusions: UNITY has made some remarkable progress in under two years, including training of tutors & revitalization of TDMS, establishing framework for long-term change, materials development, PIASCY, policy initiatives, especially at regional, district & sub-county levels In second half of program UNITY needs to focus on limited number of objectives aimed at school & pupil-level improvement like, making cascade system of teacher training work; putting materials into the hands of teachers, developing different models to assist teachers implement thematic curriculum, increasing participation of parents & communities, education policy that support the above. UNITY should consider working intensively in a few districts in an effort to make an impact.

28. The End Thank you