Aide Memoire for the 20th Education & Sports Sector Review (ESSR)

Abstract

1.0 Introduction 1. This Aide Memoire is for the 10th Annual Education and Sports Sector Review (ESSR) but the 20th in a series of sector reviews conducted under the Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) since 1999. The theme of the 20th Annual Review ESSR was "Improving Teacher's Effectiveness for Enhanced Learning Outcomes". 2. The 20th ESSR process used both field visits and a national workshop. The field visits were conducted for seven (07) days (i.e. 11th - 17th August 2013) and targeted 125 institutions drawn from twenty two (22) districts(i.e. 5 primary schools per district and a total of 15 PTC's) in August 2013 (annex 1 provides a summary of schools and institutions visited during the field visits). The purpose of the field visits was to confirm progress reflected in the ESSAPR and to facilitate the participation of district stakeholders in the ESSR process. 3. The National Workshop was conducted in October for two (02) days (i.e. 1st - 2nd October 2013) at Hotel Africana. It attracted a total of 350 participants drawn from Line Ministries, District Local Governments, Education Development Partners, public universities, affiliate organisations under MOES and the civil society. There was also a ten (10) person delegation from Somaliland who came to observe the annual sector review process (see annex 2). The national workshop used a combination of expert paper presentations, plenary question and answer sessions. A total of four (04) expert papers were presented and discussed by the review (see annex 3). 4. The purpose of the sector review was to appraise sector performance for the period 1st July 2012 to 30th June 2013 and to make policy recommendations to improve sector performance during FY 2013/14 and beyond. 5. Specifically the ESSR; (a) Assessed progress in achieving the broad strategic objectives of the sector during FY 2012/13 as contained in Education and Sports Sector Annual Performance Report (ESSAPR); (b) Confirmed the performance of the sector in achieving the critical and process undertakings as contained in the Joint Position paper (JPP); (c) Discussed critical policy issues/concerns arising from the recent study report findings (particularly the Teacher Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa - TISSA report 2013) and expert papers presented to the plenary and agreed on credible mitigating measures for improving the delivery of education and sports services. These issues included:- (i) Improvement of teacher competencies through support for teacher training; (ii) Provision of instructional materials; (iii) Teacher motivation; and, (iv)Improvement of school management.