IMPROVINGIMPROVING THETHE QUQUAALITYLITY OFOF SECONDSECONDAARYRY EDUCEDUCAATION:TION:

A SCAN OF POLICIES AND STAKEHOLDER PRIORITIES IN UGANDA, TANZANIA, MALAWI & KENYA

Eliya Zulu Jackline Nyerere Martin Atela Violet Murunga Grace Kumchulesi Nissily Mushani

MARCHMARCH 20172017 COMPLETED FOR THE PARTNERSHIP TO STRENGTHEN INNOVATION AND PRACTICE IN SECONDARY EDUCATION TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms ...... iii FORWARD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... v INTRODUCTION ...... 1 STUDY FINDINGS ...... 5 UGANDA ...... 5 1. Country Context ...... 5 2. Policy and Programme Priorities for Improving the Quality of Secondary education ...... 8 3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education ...... 9 i. Funding Prioritization ...... 9 ii. Public-Private Partnerships ...... 9 iii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation ...... 10 iv. Operationalization of the New Secondary Education Curriculum ...... 11 v. Supervision of Secondary School Curriculum ...... 12 vi. Inequalities in Secondary Education ...... 13 vii. Oversight for Non-Public Players in Secondary Education ...... 13 4. Conclusion ...... 14 TANZANIA ...... 14 1. Country Context ...... 14 2. Policy and Programme Priorities for Improving the Quality of Secondary education ...... 16 3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education ...... 20 i. Funding Prioritization ...... 20 ii. Oversight for Non-Public Players in Secondary Education ...... 21 iii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation ...... 21 iv. Review of Secondary School Curriculum ...... 22 4. Conclusion ...... 22 MALAWI ...... 22 1. Country Context ...... 22 2. Policy framework ...... 25 3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education ...... 27 i. Funding Prioritization ...... 27 ii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation ...... 27

iii. Policy Framework and Development Processes ...... 28 iv. Inequalities in Secondary Education ...... 28 4. Conclusion ...... 29 KENYA ...... 29 1. Country Context ...... 29 2. Policy Framework ...... 32 3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education ...... 34 i. Infrastructure and Learning Environment ...... 34 ii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation ...... 35 iii. Curriculum Reforms ...... 36 iv. Innovations and ICT in Secondary Education ...... 36 v. Inequalities in Secondary Education ...... 36 4. Conclusion ...... 37 AREAS for INTERVENTION AREAS COMMON IN THE FOUR COUNTRIES ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. CONCLUSION ...... 39 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 40 REFERENCES ...... 40 APPENDICES ...... 48

ii Acronyms

AFIDEP African Institute for Development Policy EMIS Education Management Information System ESP Economic Stimulus Package GDP Gross Domestic Product ICT Information and Communication Technology KESSP Kenya Education Sector Support Programme MoEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology MTP Medium Term Plan NESP National Education Sector Plan UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization BRN Big Results Now initiative CSEE Certificate of Secondary Education Examination ESDP Education Sector Development Programme FBE Free Basic Education FPE Free Primary Education GPE Global Partnership for Education IDA International Development Association IMF International Monetary Fund MoEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology MoEVT Ministry of Education and Vocational Training NER Net Enrolment Rate NGO Non-governmental organization NSGRP National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty SEDP Secondary Education Development Programme SWAP Sector-Wide Approach Programme UNDP United Nations Development Programme URP United Republic of Tanzania MOES Ministry of Education and Sports PEAS Promoting Equality in African Schools FAWEU Forum for African Women Educationalists Uganda JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency DFID Department for International Development UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund USE Universal Secondary Education CSE Comprehensive Sexuality Education PPP Public Private Partnership CCTV Closed-circuit television UNATU Uganda National Teachers' Union UNEB Uganda National Education Board SESEMAT Secondary Science and Mathematics Program

iii FORWARD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE) is a funder collaborative that seeks to increase access to secondary education and improve learning outcomes for marginalized populations. To fulfill this goal, the partnership supports the development and testing of innovative models to address barriers to participation and achievement in secondary education, facilitates the scale-up of effective interventions through systematic change in its target countries, and promotes efforts to expand the evidence base. The MasterCard Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Intel Foundation, Echidna Giving, Dubai Cares, and an anonymous jointly participate in PSIPSE.

This report is a synthesis of field scans completed in four-countries in order to characterize the policy and programmatic priorities for improving the quality of public, government-aided, and low-cost private secondary education in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. The scans were carried out by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) under the oversight of Hajra Zahid, Barry Burciul, and Kimberley Kerr of The MasterCard Foundation.

AFIDEP and PSIPSE are grateful to all participants in the study who gave their precious time and shared their thoughtful views and responses. We are also grateful to all the stakeholders who attended and offered valuable input during the validation meetings that we conducted in Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi. We thank Milena Novy-Marx for her work in editing this document.

We extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our country consultants Simon Ngalomba of University of Dar es Salaam and Jordan Byekwaso of Makerere University.

Cover Photography: Intersect for Mastercard Foundation

iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose In 2016, the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), based in Nairobi, completed scans of education policy priorities among a range of stakeholders in Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Kenya. Commissioned by the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE), the objectives of these scans were first to examine how local research capacity and knowledge on promoting education quality and learning outcomes is produced and utilised by different actors to inform education policy, practice, and interventions in the study countries. Second, the scans sought to examine how interventions can be strengthened and scaled to create significant and equitable improvements in access to quality secondary education. This report synthesizes evidence gained from reviews of policy documents and interviews with over 70 stakeholders across the four countries. The recommendations offered at the end of this report focus on effective policy implementation, investment in secondary education, teacher professional development, curriculum reforms, education governance and accountability, and the capacity to use evidence in decision-making and policy development.

Methodology This report utilized a mixed methods approach, combining a literature review, review of the policy environment and programmes, and in-depth interviews with 74 education officials, teachers, representatives of NGOs, donors, and other stakeholders across the four countries to capture stakeholder experiences, perspectives, and challenges. The study also sought to understand the implementation of the various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of secondary education and learning outcomes in the focus countries.

Improvements and Gaps in Secondary Education In the past decade, the four countries considered here have made significant efforts to expand access to education, for example by introducing free primary education and reducing fees paid by secondary school students. These efforts have resulted in increased enrolments, especially at the primary school level, and to a lesser extent, at the secondary level as well. However, efforts to improve the quality of education have not been as successful. Quality education, according to UNESCO, is determined by “how much and how well children learn and the extent to which their education translates into a range of personal, social and developmental benefits, or learning outcomes” (UNESCO, 2005, p. 4).

Secondary education in the four countries faces many similar challenges, including inadequate resources and poor quality of learning. Each of the four countries has prioritized education in their constitutions, economic blue prints, as well as in their specific education and relevant non- education documents. However, a gap exists between policy articulation and implementation, stemming largely from inadequate budgetary allocations; the inability to translate policies into practical initiatives; and outdated curricula and delivery approaches. Other challenges include: 1) poor working conditions for teachers and school managers; 2) inadequate teacher training

v especially on learner-centered pedagogies and practices; 3) poor training in school leadership and management; and 4) low remuneration for teachers and school administrators. These issues, combined with a high teaching load, demotivate teachers and negatively affect the quality of teaching and learning.

Three of the four countries that participated in the study – Kenya, Uganda and Malawi --are on the path to improvement in part through relevant reforms to their curricula. The proposed competence-based curricula in these countries, if well designed and implemented, would see a shift from the current knowledge-based curriculum to a learner-centered curriculum that takes into account conditions in the labour market. Key areas to consider include improving leadership and governance to effectively supervise implementation of the new curriculum, developing teacher professional capacity in these new areas and pedagogies, equipping schools with adequate infrastructure, and providing schools adequate teaching/learning materials.

In Tanzania, though a transition to a competence-based curriculum at the secondary level is not yet envisioned, significant progress has been made to expand access to secondary education. After its presidential elections, in 2015 Tanzania expanded Free Basic Education to include junior secondary school, following the example of the other countries considered here. A window of opportunity exists to work with the reform-minded government to improve the quality of secondary school and to avoid some of the pitfalls that can result from a rapid expansion of access without consideration for maintaining and improving learning outcomes.

Common Areas in Need of Intervention

This study identified seven areas that are in urgent need of reform in order to realize the common goal of providing equitable access to quality, relevant secondary education across the four countries .

1. Making the Investment Case for Secondary Education Countries in the region are not adequately investing in secondary education. While in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda government allocations to the education sector have increased in recent years, they have declined in Malawi, where reliance on international development assistance in the sector is high. Secondary education still receives a relatively small share of the education budget compared to primary and tertiary education in each of the countries. Quality is adversely affected and implementation of policies is hampered by these low levels of investment. Technical assistance is needed to mobilize stakeholders and to make an investment case to increase prioritization of and funding to education to fill the major implementation resource gap, especially in a country such as Malawi. Such advocacy should underscore the broader socioeconomic economic benefits of spending on secondary education, and should include high level advocacy with the political leadership and ministries of finance and development planning, in order to increase financial resources to the sector.

2. Governance and Accountability

vi Our research indicates that school managers are not adequately prepared to take on the responsibilities of financial management among other duties expected of them for quality implementation of curriculum reforms. Technical support for leaders at schools and in district education offices would help foster prudent use of available resources to enhance quality provision of secondary education in the region. This should be supported by training to inculcate a culture of good governance and accountability in the education sector in order to ensure that resources are channeled to the right activities. Additionally, parents and community members should be informed of the value of secondary education for improving their children’s future success in work and life, and on how to better hold local and national officials and school administrators accountable for the quality of the education their children receive.

3. Public – Private Partnerships The public private partnerships model used in Uganda, in which the government helps support low-cost private schools, has great potential to improve access to secondary education. There is need for research and technical assistance, however, on how to strengthen the PPP regulatory framework so as to improve the quality of education in the region.

4. Curriculum Reforms Efforts to reform curricula to make them competence based rather than knowledge based are intended to help address quality and relevance challenges evident in Kenya, Uganda and to some extent in Malawi. Yet these reforms are yet to be fully implemented. Tanzania has not yet undertaken such a reform of its curriculum. Given that there are major policy and programme implementation gaps in the countries we examined, technical assistance will be key in developing detailed implementation plans and raising resources to ensure that the proposed new curricula mark a new, quality and relevance focused era for the education sectors in these countries. There is a need also to support similar curriculum reform efforts in Tanzania in order to address the quality and relevance challenges facing the country.

5. Coordination of Stakeholder Efforts In each of the countries considered here, the private sector and NGOs are key stakeholders in the education sector. We identified a gap, however, in terms of coordination of efforts to positively impact learning outcomes. Research and technical assistance on models for improving regulation, coordination and oversight of NGOs and private sector actors in education, especially in resource poor settings, are needed. Such coordination and regulation would help ensure that relevant efforts within these countries are geared toward the common goal of improving the quality of education and are in line with government policies and priorities.

6. Teacher Professional Development and Motivation Another challenge present in each of the countries relates to an inadequate teaching workforce. Assistance should be provided to review and revise pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes, as well as teacher motivation and career growth opportunities. There is an urgent need to map on-going interventions to improve the capacity and motivation of teachers and to come up with a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the capacity of Teacher Training Institutions. This should include training of in-service teachers in learner-centered approaches so

vii as to improve learning outcomes. In recognition of the lack of adequate resources to effectively meet the needs of teachers in these countries, technical assistance is also needed to develop non-monetary models for motivating teachers, particularly those posted to rural and hardship areas.

7. Scaling Effective Interventions This study also identified interventions aimed at increasing access to secondary education by disadvantaged groups, including girls and those with special needs. Some interventions have worked well on a small scale, and could offer learnings and/or be scaled up by governments and other stakeholders. Technical assistance will be critical in synthesizing, streamlining, and putting into practice impactful interventions for promoting participation and performance of girls in school. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for technical assistance on how to effectively integrate children with special needs in schools by developing the required infrastructure, training teachers, and providing needed learning materials and resources.

Recommendations

Our analysis of the policy environment and priorities of stakeholders across the four countries reveals a number of areas that should be addressed in order to support improvements in secondary education. Each of these represent cross-cutting issues that PSIPSE and other external partners, as well as stakeholders in the region, can tackle in order to improve equitable access to quality, relevant secondary education, especially for the most marginalized.

1. Enhancing public prioritization and funding of quality secondary education: Governments should place a greater priority on spending for secondary education. Engaging policy think tanks and other non-governmental organizations to synthesize evidence and advocate for increased investment to improve the quality of secondary education could be an effective means for moving secondary education up on policymakers’ agendas. Such evidence could also be used by private sector actors, employers, and citizens to make the case for prioritizing spending on secondary education. Such efforts should involve cultivating strong education champions within and outside government to advocate for increased financial and technical resources to the education sector, and in particular to secondary education, which often receives less attention.

2. Innovative programs for training education managers and leaders at the school level: Programs to train school managers can start as small scale projects, targeting marginalised and poorly performing schools. If designed effectively, such efforts can generate robust evidence on programs that can be scaled. Any reforms for improving learning should be systemic in scope, yet limited enough to enable effective measurement, tracking, and links to learning improvements (Crouch and DeStefano, 2015). Such programs could provide lessons on what works in education leadership professional development in order to equip school leaders with the skills needed to effectively supervise curriculum implementation and to be accountable for management of school resources. We found that such interventions are

viii currently missing from the list of interventions being implemented to improve access to quality secondary education.

3. Comprehensive reform and enhancement of the teaching workforce: Evidence is needed on reforms that can enhance teacher training and translate this training into improved teaching and learning outcomes in class. Programmes could be implemented, for instance, to improve the quality of training within selected teacher training colleges, beginning with strengthening the capacity of these institutions. Such programmes should also work with teacher training colleges to implement improved teacher training programs and to follow learners within the classroom environment.

4. Review and operationalization of quality-oriented secondary school curricula: Many challenges related to improved learning outcomes result from outdated curricula that are no longer relevant to societal and labor market needs. Reforms to secondary education curricula are underway in Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi, and must include a thorough a review of curricula. The focus should be on building evidence on the critical enablers or game changers that would close the implementation gaps often experienced after new programmes/curricula are rolled out.

5. Integration of ICT in teaching and learning: Another critical innovation and area in which technical assistance is required is in helping governments to understand which of the many ICT systems and applications available would be most practical, sustainable, and impactful in helping improve the quality of teaching and learning in secondary education in the region.

6. High-level advocacy to bring together all stakeholders in the provision of secondary education: Advocacy is needed to enhance coordination, regulation, and oversight of public and non-public players in education to take collective responsibility for provision of quality education. Some scholars warn that having multiple stakeholders with vested interests, as is the case within the education system, presents significant impediments for implementing successful systemic reforms to improve learning (Westbrook et al., 2013). International and continental frameworks for education, including Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education, and the African Union’s continental strategy for education 2025 (CESA 2025), provide a basis for such coordination.

ix INTRODUCTION

Quality Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Quality education refers to two principles: learners' cognitive development; and promotion of values and attitudes of responsible citizenship and nurturing creative and emotional development (UNESCO 2014). Quality determines how much and how well children learn and the extent to which their education translates into a range of personal, social and developmental benefits, or learning outcomes (Ibid).

Education systems across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have made tremendous progress in increasing the numbers of children enrolled in primary schools since the launch of the Education for All global initiative. In 2012, the net enrolment rate in primary education in SSA was 79%, up from 59% in 1999 (UNESCO: EFA, 2015). But ambitious growth in enrolment alone is not an end in itself. Substantial challenges still face most school systems in East and Southern Africa and across SSA. For education to be of real value to children and the wider society, school systems need to focus on improving the quality of education and ensuring that all children achieve actual and measurable learning outcomes (World Bank, 2011).

Internal constraints such as high school dropout rates and repetition of grades continue to blight most education systems in the SSA region. In 2010, SSA was home to 31 million children who were out-of-school, accounting for more than half of the global total of 61 million out-of-school children (UNESCO 2013). The region has the highest primary school dropout rate at 42%, meaning 2 in 5 children enrolled in school do not reach the final primary school grade. SSA also has the highest share of children repeating grades globally. In 2011, nearly 12 million children (37% of the global total) repeated grades, a significant increase from the 9.3 million who repeated grades in 1999 (UNESCO, 2013). Recent studies have linked class repetition to learners’ subsequent poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, and dropping out of school altogether (Hungi and Thuku, 2010; UNESCO, 2010). Apart from these broader and more straightforward quantitative indicators, countries in SSA are also facing more complex challenges around the quality of education and poor learning outcomes for most children, especially in the basic skills of literacy and numeracy (UWEZO, 2012).

Both the Jomtien and the Dakar Frameworks of Action on Education for All emphasize the goal of ‘quality education’ and commit all education stakeholders to ensure that “recognised and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all” (WCEFA, 1990; 2000). Over the last two decades, however, education policymakers and practitioners across SSA have largely focused on the objective and quantitative indicators of schooling – such as school enrolment, age, and years of schooling completed- at the expense of more fundamental considerations regarding quality standards (UNESCO, 2005). However, there is now a growing realisation that higher enrolment figures and the number of years that children spend in school do not in themselves necessarily or directly translate into actual learning outcomes for many children across developing countries (World Bank, 2011; UNESCO, 2013, UWEZO, 2012). UNESCO’s EFA Global Monitoring Report for 2005 (UNESCO, 2005) offered a global appeal and detailed articulation of the question of quality

1 standards in education, demonstrating the re-emergence of the quality debate after more than two decades of inattention and neglect.

The ‘Learning Outcomes’ Agenda In its current Education Strategy 2020 - titled ‘Learning for All’ rather than ‘Education for All’ -, the World Bank emphasizes the fundamental importance of measurable learning outcomes and achievement for all children. The Bank warns that ‘for too many students, more schooling has not resulted in greater learning’ (World Bank, 2011). The Strategy states that ‘learning for all’ means ensuring that all students, not just the most privileged or gifted, acquire the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed in work and life. A recent EFA Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO, 2013) has also drawn attention to what it terms ‘the learning crises’ or “schooling without learning” across developing countries.

According to UNESCO, the ‘learning crisis’ of our time is concerned with the fact that significant gains in enrolment are not translating into actual desired learning outcomes for millions of school children, particularly in developing regions. The report estimates that 130 million children worldwide are attending school but lack even the most basic numeracy and literacy skills. The World Bank emphasizes that “growth, development, and poverty reduction depend on the knowledge and skills that people acquire, not the number of years that they sit in a classroom” (World Bank, 2011). These and other reports are a testament to the relatively recent and gradual paradigm shift in the global education policy arena from a focus on quantitative indicators towards a more coherent concern with student achievement, learning outcomes, and quality of education (UWEZO, 2012).

The renewed global focus on education quality is spreading rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, and significant effort is being put on improving learning outcomes at primary school levels. For instance, the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium on Monitoring Educational Quality Eastern and Southern Africa (SACMEQ), a regional inter-ministerial consortium supported by UNESCO, aims at conducting research and strengthening local capacity for the measurement and monitoring of quality standards and learning achievement in primary education, especially in numeracy and literacy.

Other funding agencies have also commissioned several recent empirical research programs with the aim of understanding the quality of education in SSA. Between 2005 and 2010, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) funded the EDQUAL program, a North-South collaborative research consortium that focused on understanding the implementation and strengthening of quality education in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ghana (Ankomah et al., 2005; Tikly, 2010). Similarly, much focus to date by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and development partners has been at the primary level. Some of the organizations that have been involved in implementing initiatives aimed at improving learning outcomes at this level of education include: the Aga Khan Foundation, USAID, and DFID, which have supported, for example, the Primary Mathematics and Reading (PRIMR) initiatives.

Context and Political Economy

2 The SSA region has seen a remarkable rise in primary and secondary school enrolment over the past decade (UNESCO 2011). More children are now reaching the last grade of primary school with the aspiration of going onto secondary education. However, contextual conditions such as the political economy and economic hardship have affected policy formulation and implementation, production and distribution of resources, pedagogical and school management practices, as well as the effectiveness and outcomes of a wide range of educational inputs (Kingdon et al., 2013; Duflo et al., 2013).

The importance of context in shaping education and learning outcomes is increasingly being recognized by governments in the region. For instance, the Government of Kenya developed a revised Policy Framework for Nomadic Education in Kenya capturing the contextual complexity, fluidity, and fragility of remote nomadic environments and communities (GOK, 2015a). The policy also captures the multiple challenges and obstacles that can hinder or diminish the effective implementation of most educational initiatives. Moreover, it advocates for “innovative and flexible interventions and policies that are sensitive to local ecological and livelihood systems in the nomadic regions.” Uganda, on the other hand, has developed a policy on ‘integrating formal and non-formal basic education.’ This policy aims to ensure that disadvantaged children of selected communities have access to non-formal education programmes geared to their needs, and thereafter transition to the public education system. Additionally, the four countries considered here, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi, have committed to ensuring full compliance with international legal frameworks aimed at protecting and safeguarding the welfare and interests of vulnerable and marginalised communities.

Initiatives aimed at expanding access are relatively easier to implement and politically more desirable as they often provide tangible benefits and distribute resources to most stakeholders (Grindle 2004). In contrast, initiatives aimed at enhancing quality of education must tackle accountability and cost-effectiveness and therefore tend to meet substantial resistance since these measures are more likely to threaten the interests and powers of many of the key stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, and government representatives.

The World Bank observes that the link between education inputs and their outcomes is often a ‘black-box’ for many policymakers and stakeholders; yet what is inside this box has a great deal of influence on what students learn in classrooms (World Bank, 2011). The World Bank’s new Education Strategy 2020 emphasizes the importance of building and using a vibrant knowledge base to guide and strengthen the choice, design, targeting, and evaluation of educational programs and policies aimed at enhancing high quality learning for all children, particularly those in challenging environments (World Bank, 2011). The Bank warns that “there is far too little actionable, detailed knowledge about education policies and institutions available to policymakers and other education stakeholders” (World Bank, 2011). In recent years, a range of stakeholders in developing countries have expressed interest in research evidence to support policy development and the design of effective pedagogical practices that promote student learning. For instance, two nationwide studies from East Africa (UWEZO and SACMEQ) emphasize the importance of research evidence in securing and enhancing learning outcomes. Both studies

3 observe that the growing body of rigorous research evidence on teaching and learning is neither widely disseminated nor utilised to improve learning outcomes and inform policymaking.

Need for Systemic Reforms Several authors have argued that efforts aimed at improving learning outcomes should focus broadly on systemic reforms rather than on relatively limited initiatives that are largely pre- occupied with the proximate determinants of learning within a narrow conceptual framework (Pritchett 2004; 2013). Such reforms should be systemic in scope but also simultaneously limited enough to enable effective measurement, tracking, and direct linking to actual learning improvements (Crouch and DeStefano 2015). However, the presence of multiple stakeholders and vested interests within the education system can present significant complications and impediments for implementing successful systemic reforms to improve learning (Westbrook et al., 2013; Kingdon et al., 2013). Another major challenge is that education systems in developing countries are lagging in learning achievement –such that significant resources are required to realise acceptable levels of learning outcomes. Yet this is no reason for lack of action.

This scenario raises two fundamental questions for education stakeholders in SSA and other developing countries. First, are there any initiatives or policies that have the highest likelihood of significantly improving the quality of learning outcomes at system-wide scale and within reasonable cost? The second question is concerned with what ‘systemic’ reform really means in different contexts and how it could be organised and cost-effectively put into action to improve the quality of learning outcomes for all children, including those in challenging contexts (Pritchett, 2004; Crouch and DeStefano, 2015).

Implementing successful educational initiatives and reforms requires a clear and coherent theory of change linking the initiative to the intended improvement in learning outcomes. It demands that education providers “specify a complete, coherent, causal chain from the action to the desired outcomes” (Pritchett, 2004, P.19). Pritchett (2004, P.21) notes, “as with any other actors, the actions, efficiency and efficacy of public sector officials…and producers in the public sector …will depend at least in part on the incentives they face.” Recent studies have called for a shift in attention from specific initiatives or policy actions towards a broader focus on system-level structures of accountability, performance, and incentives that can ensure the success of particular initiatives, or which can support the emergence of effective initiatives and policy actions.

Rationale for Field Scan Within the context of this renewed global focus on education quality that is in turn spreading rapidly across SSA, we undertook this field scan to analyse the national priorities and initiatives in place to improve the quality of secondary education and learning outcomes in the four countries. This study investigates system-wide structures and actions of multiple stakeholders embedded within the education system toward achieving significant improvements in learning outcomes. The study further aims to examine how local research capacity and knowledge on promoting education quality and learning outcomes is produced and utilised by different actors to inform education policy, practice, and initiatives in the study countries. It also assesses how

4 these can be strengthened and up-scaled to create significant improvements in learning outcomes for all children in secondary schools.

Methodology The study applies a mixed methods approach utilizing both primary (qualitative and quantitative) and secondary data. Specifically, data examination and evidence gathering processes included:

1. Document Review: Relevant research and policy documents were reviewed to understand the provision of secondary education in the four study countries. These included scientific research and policies guiding provision of secondary education, as well as national policy priorities and initiatives. 2. Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews were held with 74 key stakeholders to gain in-depth knowledge on secondary education provision and the policy environment and practice in each of the four countries. The stakeholders interviewed include policy makers, funders, implementers, representatives of the private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), as well as Community Service Organizations (CSOs). 3. Literature Review: We reviewed existing published research and other literature addressing broad issues around demand for and provision of secondary education, as well as quality and equity dimensions in the four countries. 4. Political Economy Analysis: we conducted a macro-level review of national, regional and international policy documents, programs, as well as institutional arrangements that shape the delivery and strengthening of quality, equitable secondary education in the four countries.

STUDY FINDINGS

In this section, we present a description of each of the countries’ broad education policy frameworks. We identify the main quality concerns and quality improvement priorities, and then zero in on opportunities for enhancing quality at the secondary school level.

UGANDA 1. Country Context

Uganda’s Education System (7-4-2-4) The Ugandan education system follows a 7 – 4 – 2 – 4 • 7 years primary structure: seven years of primary education, followed • 4 years junior secondary by four years of lower secondary or “Ordinary” level, followed by two years of upper secondary or • 2 years advanced secondary “Advanced” level, and finally four years of tertiary • 4 years university education. A parallel technical and vocational track includes a three-year technical program that follows immediately after primary education, and/or three- or four-year post-secondary technical programs. From 1994, Uganda has operated a free primary education policy. In 2007, Uganda introduced free secondary education, popularly referred to as Universal Secondary Education (USE). This policy benefits the four-year junior

5 secondary school students in public schools and also some students in private low-cost secondary schools. Those enrolled in high-cost secondary schools do not benefit from the tuition waiver.

In 2012, total enrolment in secondary schools in Uganda was 1,247,437 (656,636 in public and 590,801 in private schools) up by 46% from 853,249 (466,148 in public and 387,101 in private schools) in 2007. More than half the students, or 751,867 (461,960 in public and 289,907 in private schools) were benefiting from Uganda’s free education (USE) policy. The total number of schools participating in USE was 1,910 (1,024 public and 895 private) (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2012).

Funding Uganda has a devolved governance structure, which came into place in 1997 and gave districts both political authority and power to manage financial resources at the local level, including for education. As in most countries, Uganda’s national government is the main funder of secondary education. In the fiscal year 2015/16, the government allocated 11% of the total budget to education. Also as in most countries, a large portion of government funding is allocated to salaries, leaving little for infrastructure development, school maintenance and learning materials (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2008). The budget for the secondary education sub-sector was projected to increase from 190 billion Uganda shillings to 534 Billion Uganda shillings or 37 Million US dollars between fiscal years 2008/09 and 2015/16 (ibid).

A number of development partners provide Major Education Donors in Uganda: financial and technical support for the • The World Bank implementation of secondary education • African Development Bank programmes in Uganda (see Text Box). Some • Japan International Cooperation donors provide direct budget support (often Agency (JICA) requiring the government to match their • Department for International funds) or project support through NGOs. In Development (DFID) addition, the private sector plays a key role in • Forum for African Women provision of education. Educationalists (FAWE) • Government of South Korea • Irish Aid f l

6 Access As a result of liberalization of the education sector in 1994, private secondary schools outnumber government schools by 3 to 1 (there are 1,890 private secondary schools and 1,060 public ones) (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2014). About half of Ugandan Enrolment Ratios private schools benefit from the government’s ‘free’ (2013): secondary education policy of 2007. However, private • Primary – 96% schools generally account for a smaller proportion of • Secondary - 24% student enrollment (less than 50%) and their presence in • Transition rate from rural areas is limited (Ministry of Education and Sports, primary to secondary - 2008). Many NGOs support education reforms at the grass 58% level, including by promoting girls’ education.

Like most African countries, access to primary education has improved considerably in Uganda, with the net enrolment rate in primary education rising from of 57% in 1996 to 85% in 1997 and to 96% by 2013 (Moyi, 2013; Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2014). However, the transition rate from primary to secondary education remains low. Only 58% of primary school children transitioned to secondary school and only 24% of the secondary school-age population were enrolled in school in 2013 (almost the same as in 2002 - 23%) (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Thus, a substantial proportion of children dropout of school before completing primary and few proceed to secondary school.

Quality Standards Apart from poor enrolment in secondary schools, widespread concerns exist regarding the quality of secondary education in Uganda. Our research suggests that the quality of education in Uganda is thought to be declining over time. Poor quality secondary education is often cited as the main cause of the mismatch between the skills that are needed in the labor market and the skills acquired by secondary school graduates. Addressing this skill mismatch is one of the key education reform priorities in Uganda’s development framework, which is known as Vision 2040 (National Planning Authority, 2016; National Planning Authority, 2014).

The increase in secondary school enrolment since the introduction of the free secondary school policy in 2007 has also been cited as a key determinant of the recent plunge in education quality, as the additional number of students exerted enormous pressure on already stretched learning resources and teachers. Asankha and Yamano (2011) report that this policy increased secondary school enrollment of poor girls by Quality challenges: about 49%. The effect on boys was • teacher absenteeism, and poor pedagogy marginal. Poor quality education is • inadequate financial, infrastructure, also linked to a wide range of issues teaching/learning resources, including institutional and • lack of accountability management challenges such as • inadequate regulation of private education high teacher absenteeism, lack of financial resources, a lack of accountability and incentives for performance; lack of school facilities and other learning resources; and inappropriate and outdated teaching approaches (Hunt, 2008).

7

2. Policy and Programme Priorities for Improving Quality of Secondary education

Uganda’s policy framework is supportive of improving equitable Major Policy and Programme Initiatives: access to quality secondary • Vision 2040 education. Beginning from the 1995 • 1995 Constitution constitution, education is affirmed • Universal Secondary Education (USE) as a right for all Ugandans. Vision • Public-Private Partnership policy (PPP) 2040 articulates the government’s • Gender Equity, Special Needs, HIV/AIDS, & ICT aspiration to develop a globally competitive human resource pool with skill-sets that are relevant to market demands and that will propel the country to middle income status. Uganda has undergone several reforms to improve access and quality of education at all levels, including the aforementioned Universal Secondary Education (USE) policy of 2007, which was championed by Museveni in 2005 during his presidential campaign.

Stakeholders noted USE as a key reform for ensuring that every child has access to secondary education. This policy in turn was spurred by the need to absorb large numbers of primary school graduates resulting from the 1994 Universal Primary Education programme, most of whom were unable to afford secondary education. To realize USE, the government committed to subsidizing costs at secondary school level by paying school fees, providing textbooks and other instructional materials for both students and teachers, and meeting the costs of co-curricular activities, school administration and maintenance at low-cost public and private schools.

Ugandan Educational Policies to Address Access and Quality With the recognition that achieving equitable access and quality requires going beyond lower school fees and an increase in manpower, infrastructure and teaching and learning materials - the main thrust of USE - the government introduced a number of policies to enhance inclusiveness and relevance. This was in part aimed to meet science and information technology needs of a middle-income economy, a status to which Uganda aspires. Specifically, the policies focus on ensuring that boys and girls have equal access to education (2010 Gender in education policy); there is special attention to addressing the barriers to girls’ access to education (2013 National Strategy for Girls Education); children with special needs can learn alongside other children (2010 Special needs and inclusive education policy); disadvantaged children including those in conflict areas have access to education; consideration of community practice in education (e.g. pastoral and farming communities); and accommodating teachers and children living with HIV (Education Sector HIV and AIDS workplace Policy (undated)).

The government has also prioritized science and technology education to accelerate socio- economic development and to align the country to global trends by introducing the 2006 Science Education Policy, which made science subjects compulsory, and the 2012 ICT in Education Sector Policy. Under these policies, the government is supposed to provide science laboratories,

8 academic libraries, and ICT laboratories in all secondary schools to improve the quality of learning.

With the exception of the ICT policy, most of the country’s policies and initiatives are aimed at increasing access and inclusiveness rather than the quality of secondary education. Although policies in each of these areas are in place, implementation is often lacking or inconsistent, due to a variety of factors described below.

3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education

i. Prioritizing the Funding of Secondary Education Many stakeholders in Uganda note that the main constraint faced by the education sector is funding. Most stated that the government allocates a large share of funding to education relative to other social sectors, but that the amount remains insufficient and has remained at the same level over the past 10 years despite an increase in the secondary school-age population. Furthermore, most of the budget supports salaries. As a result, the Ministry of Education is unable to fully fund its programmatic activities and thus implements activities using a phased approach and is over-reliant on development partners. Consequently, key systems issues such as regulation, coordination and oversight of the provision of secondary education and teacher training, retraining and motivation are grossly under-resourced and inadequately implemented. A government official noted that if governance and accountability practices in government could be enhanced, the available resources would be utilized better and the country would achieve more. A representative of an NGO noted that the limited funding to MOES could be better prioritized, citing the enormous amounts that have gone into reviewing the lower secondary school curriculum that could have been more beneficially spent to retrain teachers. ii. Public-Private Partnerships in Secondary Education Following the introduction of Universal Secondary Education (USE) in 2007, it became apparent to the government that forging public-private partnerships with private sector providers would accelerate the impact of the policy given the government’s limited resource base. Hence, the government introduced the Public Private Partnership (PPP) as a viable option to reduce costs needed to construct schools. Private schools would also benefit because they would receive funds from the government. Private schools that partnered with government are referred to as ‘USE PPP’ schools.

The government provides three forms of support to these schools, including: capitation grants to public and private schools participating in USE; hiring and paying teachers (government schools); development grants for construction of schools in rural and remote areas that either have no secondary schools, have few secondary schools or need to expand existing secondary schools; and instructional and learning materials. Schools participating in USE are typically low-cost government and private schools.

9 USE and PPP have increased access to secondary education in Uganda, but annual national assessments conducted by the Uganda National Education Board (UNEB) since 2007 reveal a concomitant decline in the quality of education as measured by test scores. Various factors are implicated including a rise in class size and student teacher ratios, and inadequate teaching and learning materials.

In addition, schools participating in USE have historically struggled with maintaining good quality education. Therefore, quality indicators in these schools worsened with the introduction of USE. In addition, policy makers interviewed acknowledged that PPP was hurriedly implemented without thoughtful consideration of the ‘terms of reference’ to be adhered to by participating schools. Furthermore, it was noted that the capitation funds provided to USE PPP schools were not sufficient to operate a school without charging fees. To cut costs, USE PPP schools tend to either hire teachers on a part-time basis (often already employed government teachers), hire poorly qualified teachers or pay teachers poorly. The situation is worse in rural areas where there are fewer teachers and inadequate infrastructure, equipment, and teaching materials.

High-level government officials noted that the government plans to recruit 20,000 teachers over the next three years to meet increasing demand. It also plans to build more than 450 schools, at 50-100 schools per year, to meet the demand for secondary education as well as ensure that each sub-county has a school that is a center of excellence.

The World Bank and African Development Bank are providing significant support to the Ugandan government for secondary school infrastructure development. Other key players include the South Korean government, which is supporting ICT development; Irish Aid, which is supporting infrastructure development in the Karamoja region; and the Belgian government, which is supporting teacher training. Uganda’s government is working with DFID and PEAS (an NGO that is operating 28 USE PPP schools in remote areas of Uganda) to design a robust PPP regulatory framework using evidence from the PEAS model. Many of the efforts we examined to improve teaching focus on hiring more teachers. Less emphasis is placed on improving training of teachers, a critical ingredient for improving the quality of secondary education. iii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation The government of Uganda is unable to hire all the teachers required for secondary education because of a combination of resource constraints and a short teaching supply. Little to no in- service teacher training exists. Importantly, teacher training Institutions are failing to provide student centered pedagogical training for teachers. In addition, teachers are under-motivated due to their challenging working conditions and poor remuneration. To increase their earnings, teachers often take up two to three other forms of employment, including teaching ‘There is a general lack of respect for the positions at other schools. Deployment is teaching profession in Uganda and those who also a challenge given that most teachers became teachers are generally those who fail to are reluctant to move to rural areas and get into other more lucrative careers.’ these areas tend to have few and

10 unmotivated teachers. These challenges are exacerbated by some teachers moving out of the profession, particularly after obtaining a higher qualification.

During interviews, respondents noted an emphasis by government on science and mathematics due to the persistent poor performance in these subjects and the importance attached to science for the achievement of the country’s Vision 2040. Since 2005, the government of Uganda, in collaboration with Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has been implementing the Secondary Science and Mathematics (SESEMAT) program aimed at improving student performance in science and mathematics subjects in secondary schools.

The Ugandan government has taken the SESEMAT programme to scale. Schools are required to pay the government an annual SESEMAT fee to facilitate training of their teachers. One respondent felt that the programme’s impact has been limited given persistent poor student performance in the sciences and suggested a need to investigate this so as to improve the programme.

A major contributing factor to poor performance in science subjects has been the severe shortage of science teachers relative to teachers of other subjects. In an effort to motivate more teachers to specialize in science, the government increased science teachers’ salaries in 2011, but this has not helped to fully satisfy the unmet demand for such teachers. It was noted that with assistance from the government of South Korea, Uganda is considering integrating a curriculum focused on improving attitudes about science among pupils at all levels of the education system.

In addition, the government has provided most public schools with computers and is training teachers in line with the policy to integrate ICT into education, again, in order to accelerate progress towards achievement of Vision 2040. However, it was noted that to a large extent the computers are hardly used. Many schools, particularly those in rural areas, do not have electricity and laboratories for the computers. In addition, not all teachers have undergone training to integrate ICT in their instruction. The government is collaborating with STiR Education, an NGO, to implement a DFID-funded programme that engages the community to improve teacher skills and motivation and student learning outcomes. The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) are also testing a professional development programme for teachers.

iv. Operationalizing the New Secondary Education Curriculum In 2011, the National Curriculum Development Center initiated a review of the lower secondary education curriculum, which was finalized in 2014, but is yet to be rolled out. The curriculum review process was noted to have been inclusive in terms of stakeholder engagement. It was acknowledged, however, that the processes would have benefited from deeper consultations with people from the grassroots particularly teachers and parents. The old curriculum, which had not been updated for over 50 years, is viewed as outdated and out of touch with the needs of the country given its focus on preparing young people for high and medium-skill jobs. There is

11 consensus that the context has changed and the job market now requires workers who are hands on, critical, and innovative thinkers if Uganda’s economy is to be globally competitive.

Accordingly, the new curriculum emphasizes the acquisition of 21st century skills, including communication, critical thinking and collaboration. In addition, it proposes continuous assessments unlike the current curriculum, which focuses on results on final examinations. Several respondents, particularly teachers, raised issues with some aspects of the curriculum. For instance, a range of science subjects have been collapsed into one subject, presenting difficulties for implementation. The government plans to roll out the new curriculum in 2017 with support from the World Bank. One Bank represented noted that it is expected that more stakeholders will be involved during the rollout stage.

v. Supervision of the Secondary School Curriculum Each of Uganda’s four geographical regions has been allocated 13 inspectors and centre coordinating tutors, each with a cluster of schools in which to mentor teachers. Inspectors are equipped with two vehicles and related resources to facilitate quarterly inspections of some 3,000 secondary schools countrywide. Given the sheer workload relative to the staffing level and equipment provided, it is not surprising that inadequate supportive supervision emerged as a key challenge for improving the quality of secondary education, particularly in rural settings.

Stakeholders also mentioned the lack of supervision by school administration and management boards in some schools, a challenge that affects supportive supervision because in such instances there are no records for the inspectors to refer to. In addition, the roles of MOES and district education officers in relation to supportive supervision of secondary schools are unclear. It was noted that secondary education has not yet been fully decentralized and therefore ‘districts are not answerable to MOES’ and Memorandum of Understanding Agreements are often used to facilitate work between the two levels. However, one inspector noted that district education officers are required to conduct supportive supervision of secondary schools but they do not do so because they either do not understand or believe this is their role. The government is well aware of these challenges. Advocacy groups are making ongoing calls for the Department of Education Standards to become an independent agency in order to enhance its effectiveness and to address these issues.

Efforts to improve school performance should also examine emerging methodologies such as the Value Added approach, a method of measuring school performance that has been piloted in Uganda by Ark, a UK-based consultancy firm. It measures the extent to which a student has improved from a baseline score, as opposed to assessing performance based on a single final examination result. Internationally, Value Added performance measures are increasingly regarded as a fairer and more effective way to measure the quality of education in schools. The results of the first assessment conducted in 2015 in a nationally representative sample of 335 schools indicated that this methodology shows promise.

12 vi. Inequalities in Secondary Education

Gender Progress is ongoing to improve access of girls to education, but efforts have not gone to scale. Stigma associated with issues of adolescent sexuality and teenage pregnancy remains a major barrier to enabling girls who dropout due to pregnancy to re-enroll in schools after giving birth. Uganda lacks a return to school policy for girls who drop-out of school because of pregnancy. FAWEU provides valuable technical assistance in the development and implementation of gender responsive and sexual and reproductive health policies and programmes in Uganda. Sexual violence in and around schools is another barrier to girls accessing education and learning in schools. Pade Girls academy, funded by PSIPSE, was highlighted as a notable programme in providing access to quality education for girls who have suffered various forms of violence.

Other barriers include gender discrimination, the extent to which girls’ education is valued, and the cost of secondary education. To improve girls’ progression in education, the government has lowered the cut-off point on exams for transition of girls from primary to secondary education and secondary to tertiary education. In addition, following the completion of a successful initiative funded by FAWE Uganda (FAWEU), which entailed distributing menstruation pads to schools, the government issued a circular in 2015 asking school administrators to allocate resources to sustain the programme. However, schools have been slow to implement the policy.

implementation of initiatives by the government and non-government organizations to improve girls’ education is constrained by limited funding and a general ‘system-wide lack of capacity to integrate these issues into planning and programme design and implementation.’

Students with Disabilities In the case of children with special needs, stigma forces some families to hide their children in the homes instead of taking them into the public. Students with disabilities rarely receive the special support they need to access education and to learn effectively. Efforts to train teachers to support and teach children with special needs are in place, but interviewees noted that many participants leave the teaching profession to work in the private sector.

vii. Oversight for Non-Public Players in Secondary Education One of the key sources of funding to support schools’ operations is parents and the community. Communities and parents can provide valuable oversight and ensure accountability of the school system if they are well organized and enabled to demonstrate strong ownership of the school system. However, it was noted that parents have largely interpreted the government’s initiative to provide ‘free secondary education’ to mean that the government is responsible for every aspect of children’s schooling, including provision of meals and other materials that would facilitate learning, including basics such as pencils and notebooks. Therefore, it has been difficult for USE school administrators to mobilize support from parents and the community. A public protest by parents related to this issue occurred during the period of data collection and was commonly cited. Respondents also drew on local evidence showing that schools where there is

13 strong community participation perform considerably better than schools where this support is weak or nonexistent.

4. Conclusion Following the introduction of USE in 2007, the government of Uganda has paid greater attention to increasing access to secondary education than improving its quality. The government has partnered with the private sector to construct schools in rural and remote areas, hire additional teachers, and provide some instructional and learning materials including science laboratories and ICT laboratories and equipment. UNEB’s regular assessments, which revealed a decline in the quality of secondary education, have informed the country’s shift to emphasize the quality of secondary education as measured by learning outcomes. The government has initiated or scaled-up programmes aimed at reversing the trend in declining quality of secondary education including: revising the lower secondary education curriculum; institutionalizing SESEMAT to improve instruction and learning outcomes in math and science; strengthening the PPP framework to create low-cost private schools supported by government; improving assessment of school performance and quality of education; improving pedagogy; and fostering improved teacher attitudes and community participation in education.

TANZANIA 1. Country Context

Education in Tanzania is organized into the primary level Tanzania’s Education (comprising a 7-year elementary program for 6 to 12 year- System (7-4-2-3) olds), 6-year secondary level (comprising 4-year junior • 7 years primary secondary for 13-16 year-olds) and 2-year senior secondary • 4 years junior (for 17-18 year-olds)), and 3-year university education (for 19- secondary 21 year-olds) or a variation of 1-3 years in vocational and • 3 years advanced technical colleges (for 17-21 year-olds).

The new political dispensation in Tanzania in 2015, following the election of President John Magufuli, has seen some new developments in the education sector, with the expansion of free education to include junior secondary school (i.e., the 2015 Free Basic Education or FBE policy). The total number of junior secondary schools, both public and private, stood at 4,576 (3,528 public and 1,048 private) in 2013, an increase from 1,291 (828 public and 463 private) a decade earlier in 2004 (URT, 2014). Private schools formed approximately 30% of the total junior secondary schools and enrolled 277,845 (19%) of the 1,450,689 total secondary students.

The political will and commitment demonstrated to implement the Free Basic Education Policy and to thus address the challenges facing secondary education indicates that there may be a window of opportunity to partner with the government to design innovative programmes to tackle challenges to quality secondary education in Tanzania.

14 Funding

Although the government remains the main funder and provider of education in the country, the private sector and other non- Tanzania’s education governmental actors have been increasing their roles over time. budget accounts for Education spending accounts for 22% of the national budget. In the 22% of the total 2016/2017 fiscal year, a total of TSh 4.77 trillion (USD2.14 billion) national budget. or 22.1% of the total government budget (excluding public debt service), was allocated to the education sector. This funding covers free basic education and operating costs of schools, including capitation, food, purchase of books, and examination expenses (Ministry of Finance, 2016). A large share of this allocation (TShs.3.113.25 billion or USD.1.39 billion) was devoted to FBE activities -- which include both primary and secondary education. TShs.43.75 billion were allocated for school quality assurance, which includes rehabilitation of Teachers’ Colleges, strengthening the inspectorate department and establishing a Teachers Service Commission.

While the amount allocated to education in Tanzania is not sufficient to cover the needs of the sector, its high share of the total national budget indicates the importance the government places on the provision of education.

Major Donors to Tanzanian Education: In addition to government funding, various • The World Bank development partners provide financial and • USAID technical support to the education sector (see Text box). • UNESCO

• CAMFED Access

Through a number of policies and programmes, Tanzania has made some progress in improving access to and quality of education at all three levels (i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary). Particularly good progress has been achieved in increasing the number of children enrolled in primary schools following the introduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2001. The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) for primary schools increased from 59% in 2000 to 92% in 2012 (URT, 2015). This Enrolment Ratios (2012): increased enrolment, however, has not translated to • Primary – 92% equitable enrolment for all, and the quality of primary • Secondary – 36.6% education has dwindled because the government did • Transition Rate from not match the increase in students with a Primary to Secondary - 59% commensurate increase in human and technical resources (including learning materials) in primary schools. Transition from primary to secondary school has risen significantly from 21% in 2000 to 59% in 2012, but is still quite low. Improvements in transitions from primary to secondary school have translated to an increase in secondary school net enrollment rates from 6.3% to 34.3% over the same period (URT, 2012).

15 Great disparity exists in enrollment between children from low socio-economic backgrounds and those from high socio-economic backgrounds in Tanzania. For example, whereas 40% of students from high socio-economic backgrounds were out of school in 2011, 70% of those from poor families were out of school in the same year (World Bank, 2014). This disparity is also seen among male and female students whereby some 61% of female youth of secondary school age were out of school compared to 51% of male youth of the same age in 2011. Interestingly, gender inequity in secondary education differs from that of primary education where approximately 19% of boys of primary school age were out of school compared to 15% of girls of the same age in 2011. The level of access also differs by region with more (59%) out of school youth being in rural areas compared to urban areas (47%) (World Bank, 2014).

Quality Standards Besides low and inequitable access to secondary education, Tanzania is facing serious challenges relating to the quality of education, as seen in the poor learning outcomes for most children, especially in the core basic Quality challenges in Tanzanian Secondary Education: skills of literacy and • Inappropriate curriculum numeracy (UWEZO, 2012). • Insufficient and poorly motivated teachers There is a general • inadequate financial, infrastructure, teaching and learning understanding that the resources, quality of secondary • Inadequate regulation of non-government stakeholders education has been deteriorating over the years. This is due to a range of factors including an inappropriate curriculum, inadequate numbers of teachers, a lack of motivation among teachers, and insufficient teaching and learning materials. Consequently, secondary education is not playing its expected role as the critical link in the production of quality human capital required to drive the country’s socio-economic development.

2. Policy and Programme Priorities for Improving the Quality of Secondary Education Tanzania’s constitution requires the country to provide citizens with free basic education. Education is also Major Policy & Programme Initiatives in Tanzania: well anchored in • Education &Training Policy 1995, 2015 the country’s • Secondary Education Development Policy (SEDP) I&II (2004-2014) development • Education Sector Development Programme (2008-2017) blue print, Vision • Vision 2025 2030, which • Big Results Now Initiative (2015) envisions “a well • Free Basic Education Policy 2015 educated and learning society”(URT, 2000) and commits to ‘brace itself to attain creativity, innovativeness and a high level of quality education in order to respond to development challenges and effectively compete regionally and internationally’( URT, 2000).

16 Secondary education is considered a critical link in the production of the quality human capital required to drive socio-economic development. However, the government did not prioritize secondary education until the 1980s, when such education was part of its policy to build rural economies and prevent inequality (Wedgwood 2005). Serious efforts to expand secondary education began in the early 1980s upon realization that primary school graduates needed further education to attain employment. The government of Tanzania’s responses and priorities to tackle access and quality challenges have been reflected in various education policies and strategies, starting with the Education and Training Policy of 1995, revised in 2015. Various strategies and programmes have been designed to operationalize the 1995 Education policy. These include the 2000 Secondary Education Master Plan, the 2004-2009 Secondary Education Development Programme (SEDP I), and the 2010-2014 Secondary Education Development Programme (SEDP II).

Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP) First developed in 1997 and revised in 2001, ESDP is the education Sector-Wide Approach Programme (SWAP) for the education component of Vision 2025. ESDP defines quality education as an integrated and outcomes-oriented system seeking to facilitate acquisition of critical attributes that translate into measured capabilities of graduates at different levels. Below we highlight the key policies and programmes that have shaped efforts to improve the quality of secondary education in Tanzania and challenges that the programmes have faced. The current Education Sector Development Programme covering 2008-2017 is the result of a comprehensive revision necessitated by various policy changes in the national and regional development environment. This was a comprehensive programme aimed to transform the education sector into an efficient, effective, outcome and output based system.

Secondary Education Development Programmes The government designed SEDP I to accommodate increased enrolment in secondary school following Tanzania’s introduction of Free Primary Education in 2001. The priority interventions for the plan included improvement of infrastructure, provision of teaching and learning materials, improvement of the examination structure, and expansion of training for diploma and degree teachers. Beyond increasing enrolment in secondary schools, the plan aimed to improve learning outcomes by raising the pass rate in Form Four examinations from 36% in 2004 to 70% in 2009. The plan helped improve in-service training for science and mathematics teachers and increased construction of additional classrooms. However, pass rates deteriorated from 33.49% in 2005 to 24.83% in 2008, with that of girls being lower than boys (18.82% for girls and 29.58% for boys) in the year 2009. This decline in pass rates may have resulted in part from the rapid increases in enrolment in secondary education during those years as a result of free primary education, which created a larger number of students completing primary school.

SEPD I introduced a decentralization system of governance of education by empowering communities and educational institutions to manage and administer education service delivery including supervision of curriculum implementation. This change, which took effect in the year 2008, now leaves the central government to focus on policy development and oversight, funding

17 the education system, and promoting consistency in the provision of education across the country.

SEDP II, on the other hand, sought to address key education quality bottlenecks that were not highlighted or dealt with by SEDP I. SEDP II specifically aimed to increase the proportion of Tanzanian youth completing secondary education with acceptable learning outcomes. It defined quality secondary education as development and promotion of independent learning, critical thinking, and analytical skills. The five main pillars of SEDP II were: improvement of quality and relevance of education; enhancement of access and equity; improvement of the teaching force and teaching process; greater management efficiency and good governance among head teachers; and institutionalization of cross-cutting issues. The key activities aimed at improving the quality of learning included the restoration of the textbook culture and wide exposure to reading different kinds of materials; improving the teaching and learning environment; improving science teaching at all levels; and introducing Information Communication Technology as a tool for teaching and learning.

Expansion of school infrastructure became the cornerstone of the SEDP II programme, which called upon local governments to work with communities to ensure that there is a secondary school in each ward (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training 2010). Between 2005 and 2015, the number of secondary schools increased dramatically from 531 to 4,573 with a corresponding increase in the secondary school enrolment from 524,325 students in 2005 to 1,804,506 in 2015 (Hakielimu, 2015).

Despite these impressive accomplishments, the pass rate continued to deteriorate. In 2009, 27.5% of students taking the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) did not fulfil the conditions for award of division I-IV certificates, and the failure rate steadily increased to 60.5% in 2012. Study respondents attributed this trend to inadequate teachers and a heavy workload, low motivation among teachers, and insufficient teaching and learning materials. Evidently, despite highlighting the need to improve the quality of secondary education, SEDP II did not prioritise interventions that could improve the quality and relevance of education. Additionally, the government’s fixation on the pass rate as a measure of quality education was also a limiting factor to designing comprehensive interventions that would improve non-cognitive skills of children.

Big Results Now Initiative Around the time that the SEDP II was coming to an end, Tanzania was concerned with the slow pace of progress towards the achievement of Vision 2025 goals. With the assistance of one of the Vision’s benchmark countries, Malaysia, the country launched the multi-sectoral Big Results Now (BRN) initiative to accelerate progress in addressing six priority areas of the Tanzanian economy, including education. The education component of BRN included the following innovations: a school incentive scheme and school improvement toolkit; national reading, writing and arithmetic assessments, teacher training, a student-teacher enrichment programme; basic facilities construction, capitation grants, and teacher motivation efforts (United Republic of Tanzania, 2014). These were meant to improve the quality of basic education through

18 improvement of pass rates in four selected subjects in secondary schools: English, Kiswahili, Mathematics and Biology (United Republic of Tanzania, 2014). The programme paid particular attention to improving reading, writing, and arithmetic (3Rs), and placed particular emphasis on process issues such as formulating budget frameworks, producing reports and setting up other management processes.

2015 Free Basic Education (FBE) Policy For the first time in Tanzania’s history, improving access, quality, and relevance of education became a central campaign issue in the 2015 presidential elections. In November 2015, barely a month after being sworn in as president, Magufuli’s new government released a circular to realize its campaign promise to make lower secondary education free in all public schools. This circular directed that education in all public schools from pre-primary to lower level secondary school would be available to students at no cost. The circular operationalized the 2015 Education and Training Policy, which is now popularly known as Free Basic Education (FBE), which extends the coverage of basic education beyond primary school to the secondary school level. The policy exempts all children from most school fees such as tuition and examination fees. However, key indirect costs for items such as school uniforms, daily upkeep, and learning materials have remained. These extra costs are still a major factor limiting access to secondary education for children from the poorest households.

The Free Basic Education circular also required all schools to admit students with special needs as part of implementing the Persons with Disabilities Act (2010), which dictates that children with disabilities should be provided with appropriate disability-related support services and necessary learning services from qualified teachers. Tanzania has very few schools focused on meeting the needs of children with disabilities. Integrating them in standard schools is not practical as most schools do not have the required equipment and teachers to address the needs of children with disabilities.

Teachers who were interviewed in our study reported that increased enrolments resulting from Free Basic Education had exerted tremendous pressure on existing facilities. Consequently, classes are congested and teaching materials inadequate. Communities were being mobilized to buy desks for secondary schools to alleviate the congestion problem. Teachers, however, felt that the focus should also be on building more classrooms and not simply buying desks, a sentiment captured in the quote below:

“…. the desk contribution campaign is a good idea and seems as a promising path towards responding to the rapid increase of student enrollment in schools. However, availability of desks creates additional challenges, especially in availability of space in the classrooms to accommodate those desks.” –Secondary School Teacher, Tanzania

Most people whom we interviewed felt that in order for Free Basic Education to be effective in improving the quality of education, expansion of school infrastructure, more teacher training, recruitment of more teachers, and provision of teaching and learning materials would be required.

19

Tanzania’s policy framework for improving the quality of secondary education typifies the dilemma that many countries with low school enrolment rates face in balancing the need to improve access and quality at the early stages of education reform. The immediate effect of the fee-waiver policies used to improve enrolment in primary and secondary school is an upsurge in enrolment rates. This success, however, becomes an immediate trigger for declining quality of learning, as such policies are declared without commensurate provision of resources to expand the capacity of the school system to sustain the current levels of quality, let alone improve them. Tanzania currently stands at this very crossroad: the worryingly low level of secondary school enrolment warranted drastic action that may in turn impair the quality of learning for many decades to come if the country does not take similar drastic action to ensure that learning outcomes are also improved.

Private Sector Provision of Secondary Education Private secondary schools in Tanzania constitute 16% of the country’s total number of secondary schools (URT, 2014). All private schools are governed by a non-political association, the Tanzania Association of Managers & Owners of Non- Government Schools and Colleges (TAMONGSCO), whereas public schools are regulated under the President's Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG). The existence of these two governance structures provides an untapped opportunity to share experiences between private and public schools, and to harmonize the quality of secondary education provision. The country is, however, yet to implement the Education Act of 1978 clause, which provides for the establishment of a National Education Advisory Council (NEAC) in which all stakeholders including TAMONGSCO are formally recognized and through which issues such as quality and school management can be addressed.

Overall, 97% of the best performing schools in the national examinations are private schools. TAMONGSCO, the association of private schools, has rich experience and lessons that they can share with the government to improve learning outcomes in public schools. What is lacking is a platform through which TAMONGSO can share these experiences. An interview with the chairman of TAMONGSCO indicates that the body is ready and willing to contribute to improvement in the quality of learning in public schools; they in turn are seeking full implementation of the Education Act of 1978 and a consequent policy enforcement process to fully recognize TAMONGSCO as a key player in the Tanzania education arena.

3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education in Tanzania

i. Prioritizing the Funding of Secondary Education As in most countries, government is the main funder of the education sector in Tanzania. Although government budget allocations to education are among the highest of any sector, at some 22% of the total national budget in the 2016/17 fiscal year, funding for the provision of secondary education has remained inadequate. Lack of sufficient resources is widely cited as the most critical factor undermining efforts to improve the quality of secondary education.

20 Resources are required to improve the quality of secondary education, to build more schools and classrooms to reduce student-teacher ratios, and to enhance teacher-learner interaction. A need also exists to ensure availability of adequate learning materials, including laboratories for technical subjects and associated supplies. The poor state of the secondary education system, and the importance of this level of education for socioeconomic transformation, warrants significant financial investment that can only be achieved with a high degree of political will “We are aware that funding is not and commitment to decisively transform the adequate, but we see this as a normal sector. problem when a new programme starts. We are committed to seeing that we seal the Tanzania allocated additional funds following gaps gradually even if it means working the introduction of the 2015 Free Basic harder to raise additional funds.” Education policy but these funds are not -MOEST Official, Tanzania proportional to the huge increase in enrolment in junior secondary schools. Furthermore, many respondents observed that the funds do not allow for flexibility in expenditure or re-allocation.

ii. Coordination of Non-Public Players in Secondary Education Besides the government, other players in the education sector at the national and subnational (district and school) levels include development partners, NGOs, and civil society organizations that provide support to segments of the population including girls and students with special needs. However, no proper coordination mechanism exists for bringing these multiple actors together to understand their contributions and to avoid duplication. One MOEST official reports:

“We are aware that there are many organizations working on education in Tanzania but unfortunately we don’t know all of them and what they do. It would be better if we got to know them say through an office that coordinates them…”

Many respondents also observe a lack of effective coordination, regulation, and oversight of the vibrant private education sector in Tanzania. Respondents noted the need to improve coordination and oversight for non-public sector actors in education. Yet in order to increase budgetary allocations to education, stakeholders require an evidence base that can be used for high-level advocacy with political leadership and ministries of finance and development planning.

iii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation Many respondents attributed the poor quality of education and poor performance by students in secondary schools to the many inadequacies of the teaching workforce. A comprehensive programme focused on understanding these challenges and defining and implementing innovations aimed at strengthening the workforce is urgently needed. Such an innovation should include cost-effective strategies for improving the capacities of teacher trainers and teacher training institutions to equip the next generation of teachers with the skills to employ learner- centered pedagogies. This should include coordination and harmonization of curriculum and

21 quality standards for teacher training institutions. Additionally, many teachers already in service need to be retrained and encouraged to adopt new pedagogical approaches. Finally, numerous other teacher motivation issues need to be addressed, including remuneration, in-service training and career development, supervision and oversight, and workload management.

iv. Review of Secondary School Curriculum Tanzania’s secondary school curriculum has evolved over the years to align to the changing needs of the country. However, the persistent poor performance of secondary school points to an urgent need to review the curriculum and teaching and learning materials in order to identify and address gaps that may be contributing to poor performance. Relative to the other three countries considered in this report, we observe less reference to curriculum reform to shift from exam- oriented to skill and competency oriented curricula in Tanzania. This may be due to the low pass- rates in exams and a tendency by government and other stakeholders to view addressing performance in examinations as tantamount to improving the quality of education. A programme that seeks to support the government to review and revise the curriculum to improve the quality of education and acquisition of competencies and skills (beyond passing rates and focusing on a small number of subjects) is needed.

4. Conclusion

Tanzania’s government has developed several policies and programmes that have focused on expanding access to secondary education as well as addressing the quality of the education provided. Notably, however, these policies and programmes have placed much greater emphasis on access than on the quality of secondary education over the years. Although access remains a challenge, particularly for low-income and marginalized populations, noticeable improvement has been achieved in this area. The quality of learning outcomes remains a major challenge for Tanzania at both the primary and secondary levels. Many decision makers and stakeholders, however, continue to associate quality education with high examination pass rates in defined subject areas. A significant shift in mind-set will be needed to align Tanzanian policymakers and other stakeholders with the principles of genuine “learning for all.”

MALAWI 1. Country Context

Malawi’s formal education system follows the 8-4-4 Malawi’s Education System (8-4-4) structure. This constitutes eight years of primary • 8 years primary education (Standards 1 to 8), four years of secondary • 4 years secondary education (Forms 1 to 4) and four years of university • 4 years university education. Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE) are administered at the end of primary education, and are required for students to qualify for entry into secondary school. In secondary schools, students sit for the Malawi School

22 Certificate of Education Examination (MSCE) in Form 4, which determines eligibility for entry into tertiary education. According to the School Age Policy of Malawi, the official secondary school age group is defined as ages 14 to 17. However, there is a great degree of age mixing due to high repetition rates in primary school, limited space in secondary schools, and slow transitions to secondary education.

2015 statistics indicate that there are 1,464 junior secondary schools in Malawi with a total enrolment of 358,033 (Government of Malawi, 2015). Out of these, 360 (25%) are private schools enrolling 71,879, or 20% of students in 2015.

Funding Malawi’s budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Education - which Malawi’s education is regarded as key to poverty reduction -- was slashed to 13% of budget accounts for the total national budget in the 2016/2017 fiscal year, down from just 13% of the total 18% in 2014/2015. Even then, the Ministry still received the national budget. second largest allocation after the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. Malawi spends a large share (25%) of this education budget on tertiary education, yet only one percent of its student population is enrolled in this level of education. The country’s unit cost of USD 807 for higher education is the second highest in the region (World Bank, 2009), whereas the non-salary annual spending per secondary school student is a paltry USD 27 (Hall and Mambo, 2015).

Major Donors to Education in Malawi: Malawi is considered an aid dependent • World Bank country with 60 to 80% of its development • Japan International Cooperation financed by external sources (World Bank, Agency (JICA) 2013). In recent years, cooperating • European Union partners have increased their support to the education sector through the • UNICEF Education Sector Wide Approach (ESWA). • UK Department for International The government has also sought and Development (DFID) encouraged partnerships with other • Forum for African Women education providers, most notably NGOs Educationalists Malawi (FAWEMA) and religious organizations. Among the • Campaign for Female Education organizations involved are Japan’s (CAMFED) International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

and the European Union, which have been upgrading infrastructure in a number of secondary schools in the country. Other organizations include the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), World Bank, IDA, UNICEF, DFID, FAWEMA, and CAMFED. The majority of these organizations, besides JICA, have concentrated their efforts on improving gender equity in education, an elusive goal despite concerted efforts dating to 1993 when the country enacted a re-admission policy for girls affected by early pregnancy.

Access

23 Malawi’s education system is characterised by poor access, Enrolment Ratios (2014): poor quality and low mobility. The introduction of free Primary – 94% primary education in Malawi in 1994 resulted in a large Secondary - 16% increase in primary school enrolment and increased Transition rate - 36% demand for places in secondary education. Enrolment in secondary schools, however, has remained worryingly low largely because the government has not invested in a commensurate expansion of secondary school facilities. In 2014, the net enrolment ratio in primary school was a laudable 94%, while enrolment in secondary education remained very low at 16%, and the transition rate to secondary school was only 36% (EMIS Analysis, 2015).

Other challenges in secondary school participation include gender inequality in favor of boys, remote locations of schools for many communities, low income of parents and/or guardians resulting in barriers to access, and physical disability of students. Some 27% of school age youth (age 14 to 17 years) in Malawi are out of school. This percentage, however, obscures inequalities that exist among various subgroups of the population. For instance, 16% of students from high socio-economic backgrounds were out of school in Malawi in 2010 while 38 % of those from poor backgrounds were out of school in the same year, according to the World Bank country profile of 2014. Gender inequality in access is also of concern, with 32% of female youth of secondary school age being out of school compared to 23% of male youth as of 2010. Regional inequalities are also noted with 28% of youth in rural areas being out of school compared to 23% of youth in urban areas (World Bank, 2014).

Quality Standards The quality of secondary education in Malawi is affected by challenges relating to the provision of secondary education including inadequate funding, understaffing, lack of teaching materials and resources like laboratories, inadequate classroom capacity, lack of relevant and responsive curricula, and poor management of resources. Complementary schemes, which have been introduced to increase access to secondary education, have not been fully developed. Some examples are the Open Distance Learning program, and use of double-shifts in schools to allow for greater enrolment in the primary and secondary system. Additionally, performance on exams is poor and dropout rates are high. In 2014, of 346,604 enrolled secondary students, 16,744 were repeaters and 17,608 were dropouts (EMIS, 2015).

In 1998, Malawi established community day secondary schools (CDSSs) to enable those who do not qualify for standard secondary schools or who dropped out to continue their secondary education. Community Day Secondary Schools use the same infrastructure and teachers as the normal secondary schools, yet they are taught after other students are out. Most of the CDSSs operate in primary school premises and tend to be characterized by poor learning conditions.

24

Challenges to Quality Education in Malawi: Addressing the low levels of • Understaffing secondary school participation and • Inadequate financial, infrastructure, teaching and poor quality are highlighted as key learning resources issues for Malawi in order to • Lack of accountability produce the human capital needed • Poor resource management to drive achievement of the • Overreliance on donor funding country’s socio-economic • Irrelevant curricula transformation agenda as laid out in Vision 2020, the country’s national development strategy for becoming a technology-driven, middle-income economy.

2. Policy Framework

Although the Government of Malawi has expressed keen interest in promoting education, it was not until 2013 that the country adopted a new Education Act. Prior to that time, the education system was governed by the 1962 Education Act, which was developed before the country became independent in 1964. The process of developing and approving the new act in parliament took over 10 years, and was only concluded after intense pressure from civil society organizations and development partners. The new Bill injected important changes that would improve the education system, including entrenching the 1994 free education policy in law, and making primary education compulsory.

Additionally, the education sector in Malawi lacked a national education strategy until 2014 when the National Education Policy (NEP) was drafted. Education priorities have been defined largely through education sector plans which include the first Education Plan (1973 – 1980), the Secondary Education Sector Development Plan (1985 – 1995), the Policy Investment Framework (2000), and the long term National Education Sector Plan (NESP) (2008-2017), which is implemented through the five-year National Education Sector Implementation Plans (2009- 2013), (2013-2017).

Malawi’s 1994 Constitution (Section 25) provides the broad legal framework for education in the country by stating that all persons are entitled to education (Republic of Malawi, 2010). Malawi’s development strategies also highlight the importance of education in the country’s development efforts. Vision 2020 (Government of Malawi, 2000) and the medium-term development strategies, the first and second Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS I and MGDS II), identify education as one of the priority development pillars for achieving socio-economic transformation (Government of Malawi, 2011). The MGDS II specifically defines quality education from the perspective of equipping secondary school students with an enriched academic basis for gainful employment in the informal, private and public sectors. The MGDS II also notes that the government aims to improve access, equality, relevance, governance and management of the country’s education system.

25 Malawi’s current Major Policy and Programme Initiatives: priorities for • 1994 Constitution education are • Secondary Education Sector Development Plan (1985 – 1995) primarily guided by • Policy Investment Framework (2000) the National • National Education Sector Plan (2008-2017) Education Sector • National Education Sector Implementation Plans (2009-2017) Plans. According to • Vision 2020 the most recent NESP, the broad policy objective for education in Malawi is to develop an efficient and high quality system of education. The NESP outlines a number of indicators of success in this area. These include increasing secondary enrolment and gender equity until girls constitute 50% of students enrolled; improving pass rates on the national entrance exam for tertiary education (MSCE) from 38.6% in 2006 to at least 65% by 2017; increasing the teacher-student ratio in Community Day Secondary Schools from 1:104 to 1:60; and reducing overhead costs in secondary education through increased enrolment and reduced boarding subsidies. The National Education Sector Plan does not place great emphasis on competency and skills development.

Malawi’s 2014 National Education Policy addresses quality education issues more comprehensively, as it envisions catalyzing socio-economic development, industrial growth and empowering the poor, weak ,and voiceless (Government of Malawi, 2015). The policy’s mission is to provide quality and relevant education to Malawians to enable them to acquire relevant knowledge, skills, expertise, and competencies to perform effectively as citizens, members of the workforce, and as leaders of Malawi. It is not clear when the new policies will be completed and implemented.

Malawi also has a number of strategies and policies that deal with specific components of education as defined in the National Education Sector Plan, focusing mostly on ensuring an equitable and inclusive education system for boys and girls. These include the National Girls Education Strategy (2014), the National Girls Education Communication Strategy (2014), the National Inclusive Education Strategy (2016-2020), the Equalization Policy (2006), the Re- admission Policy (1993), the Child Protection Policy (2012-2016), the Selection Policy, and the Special Needs Education Policy (2007). Implementation of these policies, as in other countries considered here, is a major challenge.

Additionally, gaps exist in the policies that call for reforms to address the quality of education. For example, the policies do not adequately address improvement of teachers’ deployment and retention in rural areas, nor do they focus on school governance and management. We observed a general consensus that implementation of these policies has been generally weak, and that the main challenges have revolved around lack of financial resources to provide the required school infrastructure, learning materials and equipment, training and hiring of teachers, and technical expertise to effectively plan and monitor progress in implementation.

26 Malawi’s policy framework has thus not been as emphatic in defining priorities for improving the quality of secondary education as one would expect given the prominence given to the role of education in the country’s development. Development of legislative and policy frameworks has also been very slow even though aspects of the quality of secondary education have been included in some initiatives and strategies.

Most recent education policies and strategies in Malawi have been sector-wide, with none focusing specifically on the quality of secondary education. An exception is the 2015 National Education Standards for Primary and Secondary Education, which specifies minimum levels of provision, practice or outcomes expected in every school in the country (Government of Malawi, 2015). Inputs for achieving this policy concern the availability of teaching and learning materials, adequately qualified teachers, and infrastructure, while outputs include learners’ education performance and students’ behaviour.

3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education in Malawi

i. Prioritizing Funding of Secondary Education Funding was cited by most respondents as one of the major challenges to achieving quality education in Malawi. We found this despite the fact that the education sector received the second highest allocation of any sector within Malawi’s national budget, representing 13% of the total budget in the 2016-17 fiscal year. This amount is expected to cover development projects, rehabilitation of school infrastructure, as well as construction and maintenance of Teacher Training Colleges. The demands of achieving expansion in and quality of education leaves the sector seriously under-funded, which in turn is reflected in poor implementation of programmes and activities.

ii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation Teacher training and deployment have remained a challenge that has compromised the provision of quality education in Malawi. Teachers are significantly demotivated due to low pay and poor working conditions. Teacher-student ratios stand at 1:70, with mathematics and science subjects being the most affected. Additionally, the quality of teaching and learning is degraded by the high number of untrained secondary school teachers, who make up 42.5% of the total number of teachers at the secondary school level. We found no evidence of decisive efforts by the government itself to solve this problem holistically. One effort, however, is the Strengthening of Mathematics and Science in Secondary Education (SMASSE) Project, which is spearheaded by Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The aim of SMASSE is to improve the curriculum of In-Service Training of Serving Teachers (INSET) in mathematics and science to strengthen the quality of these subjects secondary schools.

In 2013 to 2014, Malawi’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) approved a new secondary school curriculum, which emphasizes science subjects and highlights other topics such as citizenship, environmental management, and entrepreneurial skills. Malawi developed

27 the In-Service Training of Serving Teachers (INSET) curriculum to upgrade and strengthen teacher competence by addressing areas of attitude, teaching methodology, mastery of content, developing teaching and learning materials, and administration and management. Teachers undergoing this in-service training are equipped with the necessary skills to develop teaching and learning materials from their environment, use limited resources efficiently and effectively, and plan work to ensure effective teaching and learning of mathematics and sciences. Part of the programme’s aim is to reduce student to science teacher ratios from 63 in 2012 to 56 by 2015. However, despite these efforts, the student teacher ratio in science courses increased to 1:65 in 2015. A majority of participants in the study noted that this trend is mainly due to the high attrition of science teachers in secondary schools as well as growth in the number of science learners. Clearly, more needs to be done to train and recruit additional mathematics and science teachers and to extend reforms beyond these subjects to the entire school curriculum.

iii. Policy Framework and Development Processes Many of those interviewed expressed concerns that government consultations with stakeholders during the formulation of policies are inadequate and that the extent of involvement varies across stakeholders. Our research revealed that key stakeholders affected by the policies such as students, teachers, education managers and parents have only been passive recipients of pre- packaged solutions proposed to them. As a result, the relevance and effectiveness of the policies is put in doubt, making it difficult to achieve stakeholder buy-in for effective implementation (Kadzamira & Rose, 2001). One interviewee captured this sentiment in the remark below:

“Mostly the stakeholder consultative process is top down. They would rather have the bottom up approach but there are resource constraints regarding the extent of the consultations.” - Official, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

We also found gaps in the use of evidence to inform policies. Slow policy formulation processes or weak capacity to implement policies are other factors constraining provision of high quality education.

iv. Inequalities in Secondary Education in Malawi Over the past couple of decades, Malawi has developed a number of initiatives and strategies to address gender inequities and to offer learning opportunities to children with special needs. These include the 1993 Re-Admission Policy to enable girls who withdraw from school due to pregnancy to be re-enrolled. The government developed the policy with technical support from Canada’s International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi (FAWEMA). The Girls Attainment of Basic Literacy and Education (GABLE) programme, initiated in 1991, also prioritized girls’ education, but gender inequity at all levels of Malawi’s education system continues to be a great challenge. The GABLE programme, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed to improve access and performance of girls in primary schools. The follow-up “Keeping Girls in School” programme

28 (2012-2018), is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and involves several other development partners. The programme is supporting marginalized girls with either cash transfers or bursaries, improving sanitation and hygiene awareness in secondary schools, encouraging more rural women to go into teaching, building governance structures and teacher capacity to support girls in school, and working with parents and the community to bring about behaviour change in favour of girls’ education (Government of Malawi, 2015). Partners are implementing these interventions to tackle the multiple barriers that Malawian girls face in accessing and staying in school.

Despite such efforts, girls continue to face disproportionate disadvantage when it comes to schooling. Much progress has been made in closing the gender gap in primary school, but gaps persist at both the secondary and tertiary levels. Malawi has one of the highest levels of teenage pregnancy and early marriage in East and Southern Africa. Early marriages and teenage pregnancies contribute to the country’s high levels of school dropout, at 7.8% (Population Council, Undated). Teen pregnancy and early marriage are also, however, a result of high school drop-out rates, as girls who drop out of school have no viable livelihood opportunities and often resort to, or are forced into, getting married. Given the persistence of girls’ disadvantage in access to and retention in education, an opportunity exists to design and implement comprehensive, evidence informed responses to address this issue, focused on both school environment as well as household and community factors.

4. Conclusion The Government of Malawi recognizes that education for all is critical for socioeconomic transformation. Although the government has made progress in implementing some of its many education policies, notably increasing enrolment in primary schools, the low levels of enrolment in secondary schools is a major concern. Malawi also faces serious challenges relating to quality of education. In general, the country is experiencing a large implementation gap, which many stakeholders attribute to a lack of financial resources and technical expertise to help the country move from policy to action. This funding challenge is complicated by overdependence on donor funding, making it difficult for the county to effectively chart its own agenda. In addition, interviewees expressed concern regarding a lack of stakeholder involvement in policy formulation and inadequate use of evidence in policy design. Where effective policies do exist and are supported by the requisite budgetary investment, Malawi also suffers from slow policy operationalization.

KENYA

1. Country Context

29 In Kenya, education is a basic right outlined in the Kenya’s Education System (8-4-4) Constitution under the Bill of Rights (Republic of Kenya • 8 years primary 2010). Basic education is guaranteed for all children • 4 years secondary and the state is obliged to make its provision possible • 4 years university progressively. Basic education covers primary and secondary education (Government of Kenya 2013). Other levels of education and training such as technical and vocational education are also recognized in government policy documents as crucial to transforming the country (Government of Kenya 2007).

As in Malawi, Kenya’s education system consists of 8 years of primary school, 4 years of secondary school and 4 years of university education (8–4–4), with leaners expected to proceed to the next level upon successful completion of preceding levels. The government adopted this system based on a recommendation made by the Mackay report of 1983, which was commissioned by President arap Moi in an effort to review the country’s education system and establish a second national university (which later became Kenyatta University). Previously, the country had a 7-4-2-3 structure of education (i.e., 7 years of primary education, 4 years of secondary education, 2 years of senior secondary education, and 3 years of university education). The 8-4-4 system excludes early childhood development education and does not specify a standardized duration for mid-level training. Secondary school is designated for youth age 14 to 17 and above, with no upper age limit. The majority of secondary schools are public, though private schools also serve a significant proportion of the population.

Secondary education has seen rapid expansion since 2011. The number of public secondary schools in Kenya increased by 64% from 5,311 to 8,297 between 2011 and 2015. The number of private schools rose from 946 to 1,143 (83%) over the same period (Republic of Kenya, 2016). Also from 2011 to 2015, secondary school enrolments increased from 1.8 million (GER 47.8%, NER 32%) to 2.6 million, with gross enrollment rates rising from 48% to 63%.

Funding In recent decades, the government, development partners and Kenya’s education other stakeholders have invested heavily in improving both budget accounts for access to and the quality of education in Kenya. The 21% of the total government has steadily increased its expenditure on education national budget. (devoting 21% of its recurrent budget to the education sector in fiscal year 2012/2013). The government allocated 26%, or Kes. 32 billion (USD 309 million) to secondary education out of the total Kes.124.2 billion education budget in fiscal year 2016/2017. This allocation to secondary education was more than double that to primary education (Kes14 billion). The highest allocation (Kes.41.7 billion) went to university education and the remainder to other activities, including school feeding programmes, school laptops and student loans for higher education.

30 Donor funding for education in Kenya is Major Donors to Education in Kenya concentrated in primary and post-secondary • World Bank education. Funding for basic education in • African Development Bank Kenya, as in many other developing • Japan International Cooperation countries, has declined in recent years Agency (JICA) (UNESCO, 2015). UNESCO reports that more • European Union funds were expected to be channeled to • UK Department for International secondary and post-secondary education as Development (DFID) the scope of the international education • Global Fund for Children agenda expands beyond 2015, but actual statistics demonstrate that these funds are mostly being channeled to post-secondary education.

The World Bank, for instance, decreased support to basic education, including secondary education, from 63 per cent in 2005 to 43 per cent of its education spending in 2013. European Union institutions, which gave 50 per cent of their total aid to Kenya to basic education between 2002 and 2004, were only giving 40 percent of their aid to education as of 2015. Countries such as France, Germany, and Japan, on the other hand, continue to provide most of their aid to post-secondary education, largely to support students coming from developing countries. Only the United Kingdom has increased funding to Kenya’s secondary education sector, from 14 to 22 per cent of its overall education aid, during the period from 2000 to 2011 (UNESCO, 2015).

UNESCO identifies Kenya among the countries receiving relatively low levels of donor education funding (USD 10 (Kes 1,000) per child in aid). It advises governments in developing countries to devote more resources to education in order to secure future development of their nations (UNESCO, 2015).

Access The implementation of free secondary education in Kenya in 2008, as in other countries considered here, led to an upsurge Enrolment Ratios (2013): in enrolment in secondary school. The number of secondary Primary – 84% students enrolled rose from 860,000 in 2007 to 1.4 million in Secondary - 56% 2008, and the net enrolment ratio increased from 24.2% in Transition rate - 84% 2007 to 28.9% in 2008 and to 56.0% by 2013. Although transition rates from primary to secondary school have also increased from 47% in 2008 to 74% in 2010, and to 84% in 2014, some populations, such as those in rural and marginalized communities, remain left behind. The remote and marginalized regions of Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Pokot, Isiolo Garissa, Mandera, Tana River and Wajir recorded transition rates of just over half that, around 45%, in 2014 (MOEST, 2013).

Quality Standards The large increase in the number of students at both the primary and secondary levels has put pressure on both school infrastructure and resources. As in Tanzania, Malawi, and Uganda,

31 greater enrolments have also compromised quality standards, as they were not accompanied by commensurate increases in financial resources and related learning materials and resources.

Particular quality issues raised in Challenges to Quality Secondary Education in Kenya: connection with the current 8-4-4 • Irrelevant curriculum system of education in Kenya • Inadequate financial, infrastructure, teaching and include the poor quality of teachers learning resources at the primary and secondary levels, overcrowding in schools, (one cause of high student-teacher ratios), inadequate infrastructure and learning materials, and a theory- focused curriculum that fails to prepare learners for the labor market. These challenges are more acute in secondary schools, where a shortage of teachers, learning materials and equipment undermines effective delivery of resource-intensive subjects such as the sciences, language arts, and practical subjects.

Kenya’s zeal to turn around its economy and achieve the status of an upper middle income country by 2030 has generated considerable momentum to reform the country’s education system and to orient it more towards skill development rather than learning aimed at passing national examinations. The country is currently in the process of reviewing and reforming the 8- 4-4 system to develop a new education system and curriculum. These reforms are intended to address outstanding concerns regarding access (predominately equitable access for marginalized groups), quality, and relevance of the educational system for developing the human capital needed to steer the country’s socioeconomic development.

2. Policy Framework

Major Policy and Programme Initiatives in Kenya:

• Vision 2030

• 2010 Constitution

• Medium Term Plans (MTP) I and II (2008-2012)

• Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP, 2005-2010) • National Education Sector Plan (NESP, 2014) • Free Primary and Secondary Education Policies

Kenya’s education policies emphasize the need for quality education. In its vision and mission, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology focuses on an individual’s personal development, through quality education, to enable them to be productive and responsible citizens contributing to Kenya’s sustainable development. Kenya’s Sessional Paper No. 14 of 2012 defines quality education as the degree to which education can be said to be of a high standard, satisfies basic learning needs and enriches the lives of learners and their overall experience of learning. Similarly, Kenya’s Vision 2030, the country’s national development blueprint, places great emphasis on the link between the quality of education at all levels of learning and the needs

32 of the labor market. It emphasizes the need to create entrepreneurial skills and strong public and private sector partnerships.

The critical issues identified in both the literature and interviews with key informants include how to enhance the quality of teachers to go hand-in-hand with investments being made in other areas of secondary education, tackling the challenge of drop-outs, and addressing inequality in access. A pertinent issue in tackling the quality of teacher training is developing a critical mass of teacher trainers who can drive reforms in teacher education and pedagogy. The stakeholders in the education sector whom we interviewed agreed that Kenya has laid out a firm policy framework; what is missing is bringing the policy options to bear through appropriate investments and implementation. Some stakeholders believe that in order to achieve this, the country needs strong education champions who can take bold decisions and lead the reform agenda. Identifying and supporting such champions or programs could provide much-needed impetus to enhance the quality of secondary education in Kenya.

Kenya has carried out a number of reforms to improve the quality of secondary education. The most recent initiatives are the Medium-Term Plans (MTP) I and II. The First Medium Term Plan (MTP I) 2008-2012, aimed at improving quality by increasing the number of teachers, retraining teachers, introducing and expanding e-learning, supporting science education, and reviewing the curriculum. During this period, the government employed additional secondary teachers, offered in-service training for science teachers, extended science equipment to schools, and constructed or rehabilitated laboratories. It also supplied computers to 1,950 secondary schools to promote e-learning. Moreover, the secondary education curriculum was reviewed to embrace new labour market demands characterised in particular by technology. MTP I was implemented under the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP), a ten-year program supported by an $80 million, 40-year loan from the World Bank.

Following a review of the MTP I, the government has developed and is currently implementing MTP II, 2013 – 2018, whose core priorities are: i) curriculum reform to align the current programme to the Constitution and Vision 2030; ii) data management through the development of an efficient Education Management Information System (EMIS); iii) integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT); iv) and institutional reorganization to equip school leadership with critical management skills such as resource management, strategic planning and service delivery. A significant approach in MTP II is the plan to build the capacity of the teaching workforce to deliver quality education through teacher training reforms, recruitment, and management. MTP II is part of the larger National Education Sector Plan (NESP, 2014), which reaffirmed the vision of KESSP by placing strong emphasis on improvement in the quality of education (MoEST, 2015). The National Education Sector Plan of 2014 aims to enhance learner outcomes by addressing issues related to quality such as curriculum reforms, enhancing early grade literacy and numeracy, the use of assessments, and enhancing teachers’ pedagogical skills (Ibid). These policies are anchored in the 2013 Kenya Basic Education Act, enacted to operationalize the provisions for education in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution.

Private and Non-Governmental Support for Education

33 The government’s efforts to provide education in Kenya are supplemented by non-governmental actors and private providers. Private provision efforts are, however, more pronounced at the primary and tertiary levels of education. At the secondary level, complementary efforts are few and are mostly concentrated in the capital city and in remote, marginalized areas. Government- run secondary schools select those who perform well for admission, pushing the very poor performers to low-cost private schools. Whereas high cost private schools of choice do exist, the majority of private secondary schools admit students from poor backgrounds who do not have the high grades demanded for admission to public schools. The quality of learning in non-state secondary schools thus varies significantly and there is need for support and regulation to improve quality for the poor and marginalized who attend these low-cost private secondary schools.

As noted above, Kenya’s Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology has taken the education reform agenda to the next level with the government’s commitment to overhaul the 8-4-4 education system and replace it with one that would develop quality human capital to steer the country’s socioeconomic transformation agenda as defined in Vision 2030. As part of this process, the Ministry launched the 2015 National Curriculum Policy, which was developed through a consultative process. The policy provides a framework to guide curriculum review and reform that will optimize opportunities for learners to realize their full potential. The specific objective of the policy is to ensure that the country develops a “relevant, competency-based curriculum which will ensure that all learners acquire competencies and qualifications capable of promoting national values, inspiring individual innovation and life-long learning” (Republic of Kenya, 2015).

3. Challenges in Implementation of Quality Secondary Education

i. Infrastructure and Learning Environment A number of programs have supported schools’ infrastructure improvements, including provision of school laboratory and equipment, ICT content, infrastructure and Internet connectivity, and improving the text book to pupil ratio through increased text book grants to schools. Since 2008, the government has been able to procure, with support from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, StatEduc2 software to strengthen data management at school headquarters and districts. Under the ESP initiative, the government also provided a total of 1,500 secondary schools with computers against a target of 1,050 secondary schools and also achieved the Medium-Term Plan target of equipping 360 secondary schools with computer laboratories.

Although significant efforts are being made in ICT reforms and infrastructure development, including establishment of model science schools, it is unclear how the implementation will proceed beyond the 1,500 schools currently being supported, and how the gaps between learners in these schools and those not receiving support can be bridged (Republic of Kenya 2013). Ample room exists for technical assistance on how to bring innovative learning resources and infrastructure to the vast majority of people who live in areas where such resources are non- existent.

34 Many decision makers expressed the understanding that providing all the required school infrastructure and learning materials will require a “Marshall Plan” of sorts that necessitates strong education champions and high-level political leadership. Technical assistance and evidence to help advocate for prioritization of education in development planning would be very valuable in closing the significant financial and technical resource gaps faced by the education sector.

ii. Teacher Capacity Development and Motivation Some effort has been made to improve teacher training and overall capacity. The approach has included training of teachers, capacity building of school managers and school management boards, and recruitment of more teachers to improve the teacher to student ratio. One goal is to attain the required national standard of a 1:40 teacher to student ratio (Republic of Kenya 2013). The government was able to employ 18,020 teachers by 2012. However, there is a need to focus on innovations that improve the development of teachers and trainers of teachers to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in delivering meaningful learning.

The quality of teacher professional development remains a critical area for intense intervention and innovation since education reforms are not likely to achieve the required outcomes if teachers are not able adopt learner-centered pedagogies. This challenge is related to teacher perception and understanding of their capacity development needs. A national survey reported that most teachers have a false high opinion of their own skills, thus reducing demand for capacity development programmes (MoEST, 2008). Nonetheless, some teachers noted that they lacked skills in dealing with special-needs learners, in assessing children, communicating with parents, managing large classes, and multi-grade situations (a common class environment in most Kenyan schools).

The quality of teaching staff and their delivery approaches emerged in both the literature and stakeholder interviews as critical if Kenya is to improve the quality of secondary education. While information collected from our interviews shows that there are some efforts at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and at the Teachers Service Commission to develop and empower a cadre of teacher trainers, little has been agreed on and consensus is lacking on how to go about this. Some stakeholders call for capacity building for college tutors to mentor teachers to enhance their competencies in overall pedagogy. However, a critical mass of these tutors would need to be trained. Any programme would also need to address the challenge of attitudes and low morale among teachers. Studies have revealed that capacity building efforts among teachers fail because many teachers in general have a high opinion of their own skills (REFXX).

Another key factor behind lackluster performance by teachers is low motivation as a result of poor remuneration and working conditions. Kenya has a very strong teachers’ union that is in constant confrontation with the government regarding improvement of teacher welfare and remuneration. In response, the government is pushing for teachers to subscribe to performance- based contracts, an effort that is supported by parents who want to see teachers being held accountable for their performance. However, no common agreement exists on how such

35 performance-based contracts would be structured and enforced, especially given that the education system is increasingly shifting from looking at performance merely from the perspective of exam pass rates to how educations systems help develop students into whole human beings. This is an area where technical assistance would be valuable to help improve the quality of secondary education in Kenya.

iii. Curriculum Reforms Kenya’s education reform process is ongoing and aims to overhaul the current system to align it with the national development blueprint (Vision 2030), the 2010 Constitution, and international trends focusing on quality education, learning outcomes, and competency based curricula. The curriculum reform process includes streamlining secondary curricula to ensure consistency, continuity, and relevance for local and national labor markets, a focus on national assessments of learning achievement, as well as continuous teacher capacity development. Discussions regarding these reforms have been consultative and transparent, though some stakeholders feel the multiplicity of actors in the Kenya education sector and the multiple lines of accountability that come with such a broad array of actors will inevitably delay the process.

Innovation and ICT in Secondary Education Most stakeholders agree that the education policy environment is robust, and that the big question is ‘how to operationalize these policies.’ Some literature suggests ‘re-organizing the classroom,’ for instance, through the use of computer-aided instruction and support (Wango 2011, MoEST 2012, Baird, McIntosh and Ozler, 2010), an area in which the government is already investing by creating computer laboratories in selected schools. There is need for implementation science to test innovative approaches to teacher capacity building in the use of such technologies for teaching. Such programs would need to address questions around how best to task-shift among teachers to achieve efficiency and quality; how best to combine technology to delivery learning in resource poor settings, and how to overcome the challenge of inequity.

iv. Inequalities in Secondary Education A key area where little progress has been achieved is in narrowing the gap in equality among schools and across regions in the county. Inequalities are reflected in performance on national examinations, where the marginalised consistently post poor results compared to high-income populations. Inequality is also evident in the case of higher drop-out and repetition rates among poor students from rural areas, the poor in urban slums, and marginalized groups (Lucas and Mbiti, 2011).

Another critical equity issue concerns how to assist the lowest income students, many of whom come from families that are too poor to take advantage of the many education incentives such as tuition free secondary education. These students cannot afford other costs associated with secondary school, such as school uniforms, meals, transport, and activity fees that are expected of them. Studies elsewhere and in Kenyan primary education have shown that providing financial

36 incentives to students based on their academic performance such as merit scholarship can boost quality (Angrist and Lavy, 2009) especially from the lens of performance on examinations.

In poor and marginalized settings such as among the urban poor, hard-to-reach populations and rural-poor, incentives such as conditional cash transfers (and unconditional cash transfers) and vouchers have been shown to be effective at improving school enrolment, attendance and academic performance (Baird, McIntosh and Ozler, 2010) and in addressing gender disparities by reducing pregnancy and marriage among girls (Glennerster et al 2011). However, most of these studies have been small scale and do not provide sufficient data or context to inform scale-up. There is a need for studies that address the question of applicability of such schemes. What interventions or incentives work best in what conditions? How do urban settings differ from rural poor settings when it comes to schemes targeting quality enhancement?

4. Conclusion Our findings suggest that Kenya has a strong policy and legal framework to guide both reforms and programs aimed at enhancing quality in secondary schools. Indeed, substantial investment is already being channeled to the education sector relative to that in other SSA countries. However, there is a weak national understanding and consensus on how to go about certain changes within the education system, such as curriculum reforms or ‘the how’ of implementing policies aimed at improving the quality of secondary education.

COMMON AREAS for INTERVENTION IN THE FOUR COUNTRIES

This study identified seven areas that are in urgent need of reform in order to realize the common goal of providing equitable access to quality, relevant secondary education in the four countries.

1. Making the Investment Case for Secondary Education Countries in the region are not adequately investing in secondary education. While in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda government allocations to the education sector have increased in recent years, they have declined in Malawi, where reliance on international development assistance in the sector is also high. Secondary education also receives a smaller share of the education budget relative to primary and tertiary education. Quality is adversely affected and implementation of policies is hampered by these low levels of investment in secondary education. Technical assistance is needed to mobilize stakeholders and to make an investment case to increase prioritization of and funding to education to fill the major implementation resource gap, especially in a country such as Malawi. Such advocacy should underscore the broader socioeconomic economic benefits of spending on secondary education, and should include high level advocacy with the country’s political leadership as well as with ministries of finance and development planning.

2. Governance and Accountability

37 This study has established that there is inadequate training and preparation of school managers to take on the responsibilities of financial management among other duties expected of them for quality implementation of curriculum reforms. Technical support for leaders at schools and in district education offices would help foster prudent use of available resources to enhance quality provision of secondary education in the region. This should be supported by training to inculcate a culture of good governance and accountability in the education sector in order to ensure that resources are channeled to the right activities. Additionally, parents and community members should be informed of the value of secondary education for improving their children’s future success in work and life, and on how to become involved to hold local and national officials and school administrators accountable for the quality of the education their children receive.

3. Public – Private Partnerships The public private partnerships model used in Uganda, in which government provides support to low-cost private schools, has great potential to improve access to secondary education. There is need for research and technical assistance, however, on how to strengthen the PPP regulatory framework so as to improve the quality of education in the region.

4. Curriculum Reforms Efforts to reform curricula to make them competence based rather than knowledge based are intended to help address quality and relevance challenges evident in Kenya, Uganda and to some extent in Malawi. Yet these reforms are yet to be fully implemented. Tanzania has not yet undertaken a reform of its curriculum to this end. Given that there are major policy and programme implementation gaps in the countries we examined, technical assistance will be key in developing detailed implementation plans and raising resources to ensure that the proposed new curricula mark a new, action-oriented and relevance-focused era for the education sectors in these countries. Support should be provided to Tanzania to design and undertake similar curriculum reform efforts in order to improve the quality and relevance of secondary education there.

5. Coordination of Stakeholder Efforts In each of the countries considered here, the private sector and NGOs are key stakeholders in the education sector. We identified a gap, however, in terms of coordination of efforts to adequately impact learning outcomes. There is a need for research and technical assistance on models for improving regulation, coordination and oversight of NGOs and private sector actors in education, especially in resource poor settings. Such coordination and regulation would help ensure that relevant efforts within these countries are geared toward the common goal of improving the quality of education and are in line with government policies and priorities.

6. Teacher Professional Development and Motivation Another challenge present in each of the countries considered relates to an inadequate teaching workforce. Assistance required would involve a review and revision of pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes, as well as teacher motivation and career growth opportunities. There is an urgent need to map on-going interventions to improve the capacity and motivation of teachers and to come up with a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the capacity of Teacher

38 Training Institutions. This should include training of in-service teachers in learner-centered approaches so as to improve learning outcomes. In recognition of the lack of adequate resources to effectively meet the needs of teachers in these countries, technical assistance is also needed to develop non-monetary models for motivating teachers, particularly those posted to rural and hardship areas.

7. Scaling Effective Interventions This study also identified successful interventions aimed at increasing access to secondary education by disadvantaged groups, including girls and those with special needs. Some interventions have worked well on a small scale, and could be scaled up or learned from by governments and other stakeholders. Technical assistance will be critical in synthesizing, streamlining, and putting into practice impactful interventions for promoting participation and performance of girls in school. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for technical assistance on how to effectively integrate children with special needs in schools by developing the required infrastructure, training teachers, and providing much needed learning materials and resources.

CONCLUSION

Governments and other stakeholders in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi are implementing a wide range of programmes to improve the quality of secondary education. There are positive signs and emerging opportunities for well-defined innovations and technical assistance to help these countries decisively address bottlenecks to the quality of education. The Free Basic Education directives, which removed fees for the provision of secondary education in these countries, have expanded access to secondary education to more children. Policies in place emphasize the need to improve the quality of education, providing an opportunity for evidence informed advocacy to justify an increase in budgetary allocations to education to be listened to and acted upon. As noted during the scan, more financial and technical resources are needed to address many of the infrastructural and teacher motivation issues in these countries.

The move toward curricular reviews in countries such as Kenya also present an opportunity to influence relevant skills development by equipping teachers with modern, learner-centered pedagogies, and to develop capacity for education leaders and managers to supervise implementation of curricular reforms. Capacity development to improve accountability and better resource management by education leaders will also be key in ensuring lasting improvement in the quality of secondary education.

A number of development partners and NGOs are actively involved in improving the quality of education in the four countries and are collaborating with governments at various levels, both national and sub-national. Several interventions by NGOs to improve education within the countries show promise for scale-up. No structured platform and process, however, exists for reviewing key lessons from these programmes and identifying those that can be expanded.

39 Another challenge is that some of these efforts are not well coordinated and thus reduce the impact of the interventions. The state of evidence on “what works” and “how it works” is generally weak and the role of local educational institutions in generating evidence for the reform agenda is also limited.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations

Our analysis of the policy environment and priorities of stakeholders across the four countries reveals a number of areas that should be addressed in order to support improvements in secondary education. Each of these represent cross-cutting issues that PSIPSE and other external partners, as well as stakeholders in the region, can tackle in order to improve equitable access to quality, relevant secondary education, especially for the most marginalized.

1. Enhancing public prioritization and funding of quality secondary education: Governments should place a greater priority on spending for secondary education. Engaging policy think tanks and other non-governmental organizations to synthesize evidence and advocate for increased investment to improve the quality of secondary education could be an effective means for moving secondary education up on policymakers’ agendas. Such evidence could also be used by private sector actors, employers, and citizens to make the case for prioritizing spending on secondary education. Such efforts should involve cultivating strong education champions within and out of government to advocate for increased financial and technical resources to the education sector, and in particular to secondary education, which often receives less attention.

2. Innovative programs for training education managers and leaders at the school level: Programs to train school managers can start as small scale projects, targeting marginalised and poorly performing schools. If designed effectively, such efforts can generate robust evidence on programs that can be scaled. Any reforms for improving learning should be systemic in scope, yet limited enough to enable effective measurement, tracking, and links to learning improvements (Crouch and DeStefano, 2015). Such programs could provide lessons on what works in education leadership professional development in order to equip school leaders with the skills needed to effectively supervise curriculum implementation and to be accountable for management of school resources. We found that such interventions are currently missing from the list of interventions being implemented to improve access to quality secondary education.

3. Comprehensive reform and enhancement of the teaching workforce: Evidence is needed on reforms that can enhance teacher training and translate this training into improved teaching and learning outcomes in class. Programmes could be implemented, for instance, to improve the quality of training within selected teacher training colleges, beginning with strengthening the capacity of these institutions. Such programmes should also work with

40 teacher training colleges to implement improved teacher training programs and to follow learners within the classroom environment.

4. Review and operationalization of quality-oriented secondary school curricula: Many challenges related to improved learning outcomes result from outdated curricula that are no longer relevant to societal and labor market needs. Reforms to secondary education curricula are underway in Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi, and must include a thorough a review of curricula. The focus should be on building evidence on the critical enablers or game changers that would close the implementation gaps often experienced after new programmes/curricula are rolled out.

5. Integration of ICT in teaching and learning: Another critical innovation and area in which technical assistance is required is in helping governments to understand which of the many ICT systems and applications available would be most practical, sustainable, and impactful in helping improve the quality of teaching and learning in secondary education in the region.

6. High-level advocacy to bring together all stakeholders in the provision of secondary education: Advocacy is needed to enhance coordination, regulation, and oversight of public and non-public players in education to take collective responsibility for provision of quality education. Some scholars warn that having multiple stakeholders with vested interests, as is the case within the education system, presents significant impediments for implementing successful systemic reforms to improve learning (Westbrook et al., 2013). International and continental frameworks for education, including Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education, and the African Union’s continental strategy for education 2025, provide a basis for such coordination.

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47 APPENDIX

Policymakers and Stakeholders Interviewed in Uganda # Position Institution

1 Teacher Crested Secondary School

2 Commissioner Education Services Education Service Commission

3 Ag Principal Education Officer Ministry of Education and Sports

4 Ag Assistant Commissioner Secondary Education Ministry of Education and Sports

5 Vice Principle Crested Secondary School

6 Deputy Head Teacher Mackay Memorial College

7 St. Andrew Kaggwa Gombe High Shchool - Vice Principle (Administration) Kawaala

8 Teacher Mackay Memorial College

9 Ag Commissioner Government Schools - Secondary Ministry of Education and Sports

10 Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Assistant Commissioner Development

11 Executive Director Education NGO Forum

12 Partnership Coordinators (3) Compassion International Uganda

13 Executive Director FAWE

14 Commissioner - Education Ministry of Education and Sports

15 Chief Technical Officer PEAS

16 Commissioner of Private Schools & Institutions Ministry of Education and Sports

17 Senior Education Specialist World Bank

18 Program Manager - Scholarship BRAC

19 Project Formulation Advisor Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

20 Head Teacher Mpigi Modern SS

21 Teacher Mpigi Modern SS

48 22 Deputy Head Teacher Mpigi Light College

23 Teacher Mpigi Light College

24 Senior Inspector Mpigi

25 Senior Inspector Mpigi

Policymakers and Stakeholders Interviewed in Tanzania # Position Organization 1 Acting Director – Secondary Education MoEST 2 Acting Commissioner for Education MoEST 3 Development Partners Coordination MoEST Unit 4 Coordinator, & Program Manager Tanzania Education Network (TENMET)

5 Policy Analyst Policy Forum 6 Policy Analyst Haki Elimu 7 Program Manager, Education CAMFED 8 Education Officer MoEST 9 Assistant Director Policy, Planning Dept., MoEST 10 National Program Officer UNESCO 11 Development Program Specialist USAID 12 Managing Director TAMONGSCO

13 Teachers Service Department (TSD) Kibaha TSD, Kibaha Officer 14 Head Teacher Mivinjeni Secondary School, Temeke 15 Deputy Head Teacher Salma Kikwete Secondary School, Kinondoni 16 School Inspector/Quality Assurance Kibaha Municipal Education Office, Kibaha Officer 17 2 Education Officers Kibaha Municipal Education Office, Kibaha 18 School Inspector/ Quality Assurance Kinondoni Municipal (Schools Inspection Dept.), Kinondoni 19 Head Teacher Mwambisi Forest Sec. School, Kibaha 20 Head Teacher Bundikani Sec. School, Kibaha 21 2 Teachers Mwambisi Forest Sec. School, Kibaha 22 2 Teachers Mivinjeni Sec. School, Temeke 23 2 Teachers Salma Kikwete Sec. School, Kinondoni 24 Teacher Bundikani Sec. School, Kibaha 25 Teacher Simbani Sec. School, Kibaha1 26 TSD Officer Dar es Salaam

49 27 School Inspector/Quality Assurance Kinondoni Officer

Policymakers and Stakeholders Interviewed in Malawi # Position Institution 1 Director , Secondary Education MOEST

2 Head, Planning and Policy Unit MOEST

3 Director, Development Planning Department of Economic Planning and Development

4 Deputy Director and Director Office of the Vice President , Public Sector Reforms Management

5 Regional Education Officer MOEST, Regional Education Office, Central Region

6 Senior Inspector of Schools Central Western Division

7 Principal of Inspector of Schools and MOEST Colleges

8 Secretary General Teachers Union of Malawi

9 Education officer, social services and EU infrastructure

10 Programmes Director , education JICA

11 Director Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC)

12 M and E officer FAWEMA

13 Head Mistress Nkwichi Secondary School

14 Head Master Dzenza Secondary School

15 Head Mistress Lilongwe Girls

16 Teacher Nkwichi Secondary School

17 Teacher Dzenza Secondary School

18 Teacher Lilongwe Girls

50

Policymakers and Stakeholders Interviewed in Kenya

# Position Institution

1 Secondary School Quality Assurance MOE Officer

2 Programme Officer, Curriculum MOE Development & Monitoring

3 Kenya’s Representative to UNESCO/ UNESCO Country Office Country CEO

4 Education Programme Country World Vision Director

51