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Aid effectiveness and education

Local solutions to global challenges: towards effective partnership in basic education

Impacts of external support to basic education

Authors: T. Freeman; S. Dohoo Faure
Publisher: Country Analytic Work , 2003

Full text of document

This report presents the results of the Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education in Developing Countries (Joint Evaluation) commissioned in February 2002 by a consortium of 13 support agencies with the participation of four developing countries.

It argues that the commitment to partnership as a road to the effective provision and use of external support to basic education is evident in the efforts of both external agencies and national and local partners over the period from 1990 to 2002. What is most lacking, however, is a willingness and determination to improve basic education through locally developed solutions, which are most relevant to the particular contexts of partner countries and which are built from the "ground up" rather than through the application of blueprints and templates developed at a global level.

The major conclusions of the evaluation are:

  • there has been a strong tendency for external agencies to place increasing emphasis on the use of external support for accelerating progress in basic education. However, there is a need to place greater emphasis on the relevance of external support to local needs and capacities
  • the movement to programme support and sector-wide approaches (SWAps) is one of the most significant trends in the provision and use of external support to basic education. In a real sense, the shift to programme support is an indication of the commitment of external agencies to strengthen partnership. However, this form of support does not necessarily improve partnerships if implemented as a blueprint
  • the movement to supporting basic education through SWAps and other forms of programme support needs to be accompanied by an understanding of the positive role of project assistance, especially in supporting innovations and in providing targeted support to marginalised groups
  • the movement to programme approaches in supporting basic education has not always been accompanied by a reduction in the administrative burden for host governments
  • although there is agreement on the broad range of components included in basic education, the focus of most activities of both external agencies and national partners has been placed on formal primary schooling with negative effects on other areas of basic education. There are also serious persistent problems in improving the quality of basic education
  • there has been a sustained agreement within the international community, including external agencies and national partners, on the priority of basic education, but funding levels from the external agencies have not kept pace with expectations or implied commitments.

[adapted from author]