Capacity development for education programme: country examples
Madagascar
In Madagascar, CapED’s work since 2011 initiated and significantly contributed to the transformation of Madagascar’s TVET system, with the landmark achievement being the country’s first-ever National Employment and TVET Policy. The Policy’s implementation contributed to TVET becoming more widely respected in society and among political decision-makers, an increase in decent job opportunities by reinforcing demand-driven TVET and the reformed governance of the sub-sector. Today, the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training has undergone a restructuring and has stronger organizational capacities.
In addition, since 2011, the CapED Programme has observed the enrolment of learners in TVET rise 48% from 2012 to 2020. This has translated into significantly more students being officially certified in TVET. Another major change is that Madagascar’s allocated national budget to TVET has multiplied by four between 2010 and 2019. Notably, during this period, the budget allocated to TVET saw a larger increase than the relative increase to the education sector, illustrating the extent to which the sub-sector is being prioritized.
Lao DPR
In Lao PDR, UNESCO’s 2021 external evaluation reveals that CapED’s support on teacher education has led to significant changes. A key outcome is the country’s first-ever bachelor’s degree for early childhood teacher education leading to increased qualifications and recognition of early childhood education teachers. This has contributed to the fact that more children under five are attending early childhood education, with 49.2% enrolled in 2020, up from 17.9% in 2009.
In addition, increased national commitment has been observed to address key teacher-related issues, such as recruitment, continuous professional development and working conditions. The ongoing development of the first-ever comprehensive National Teacher Policy as well as its implementation plan has led to strengthened national capacities in policy development. UNESCO’s advocacy for the policy has also contributed to additional commitment from development partners, increased national awareness of teacher-related issues and enhanced coordination among Ministry departments. For more information, please visit CapED Lao PDR’s website.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In DRC, since 2010, alongside IIEP and UIS, CapED has helped build a modern, decentralized Educational Management Information System (EMIS) transforming the way DRC produces and uses education data. Today, DRC has statistical yearbooks covering every province, which for the first time consider all sub-sectors, shedding light on areas historically overlooked in comprehensive, evidence-based planning processes. Data coverage jumped from 79% in 2011 to 95% in 2019, filling important gaps for policymaking and offering a granular overview of the situation on the ground. There has been growing Government commitment, spending, and ownership in data collection through an investment in stronger human resources and the creation of dedicated provincial teams to manage EMIS operations, with a near eight-fold increase in staff. While encouraging, sustainability remains an issue as the EMIS is highly dependent on external financing.
