ECOPER conducts review of Afghanistan literacy project evaluation

The services of ECOPER were called upon to review an evaluation report on the UNESCO project ‘Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan (ELA)’, which had previously been presented by another evaluation team. It was requested that ECOPER consultants rewrite the existing report in order to improve its structure and coherence. The review was conducted in September …

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Improving capacity of teacher training institutes

ECOPER has collaborated with Ockham IPS to evaluate Phase II of the UNESCO– CFIT project ‘Improving Quality Teacher Education in a selected number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa’. The evaluation involved an online survey and a large number of interviews conducted with stakeholders. ECOPER conducted field missions to two project countries, Congo and Togo, in order to collect a data and gain a better understanding of the intervention and its results.

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TVET for Syrian refugees and Jordanian vulnerable youth

The provision of good quality TVET is an important tool for enhancing the career prospects of young people. The UNESCO project ‘Provision of TVET Opportunities for Syrian and Vulnerable Jordanian Youth in Jordan’ aimed to provide support in accessing TVET and ECOPER evaluators have submitted their report on the external evaluation and tracer study related to the project. The evaluation aimed to assess Phase II of the project, while the tracer study aimed to assess the impact of the project’s first phase, by surveying former students on their current occupations and impressions of the education programme.

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Protecting cultural heritage and diversity

ECOPER has conducted the external evaluation of the UNESCO project ‘Protecting Cultural Heritage and Diversity in Complex Emergencies for Stability and Peace.’ The project aimed to reduce the vulnerability of populations whose culture and heritage is targeted or affected in complex emergency situations, with interventions in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. During the evaluation ECOPER conducted interviews with stakeholders in beneficiary countries. The core ECOPER team was supported by an archaeologist with experience in evaluating damage to archaeological sites and a regional expert in development project management and evaluation.

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Education for sustainable development

Education is an essential component in implementing the sustainable development agenda. Reflecting this, UNESCO launched the project ‘Today for Tomorrow: Coordinating and Implementing the Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)’ in February 2016. ECOPER has collaborated with Ockham IPS to conduct the project’s final evaluation. The evaluation featured stakeholder interviews and an online survey, with a field mission to Cost Rica being undertaken by ECOPER.

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Increasing teacher participation in education reform

Recent research by international organisations has found that teachers do not sufficiently participate in key discussions on educational reform in developing countries, therefore depriving the process of teachers’ input and undermining teachers’ sense of ownership and commitment. The UNESCO project ‘Improving Teacher Support and Participation in Local Education Groups (LEGs)’ sought to address this deficit. Having run since 2015, ECOPER and Ockham IPS evaluators have recently completed an evaluation of the intervention. A mixed method approach was used for the evaluation, involving interviews with stakeholders at international and national levels, an online survey and field missions to Ivory Coast, Nepal, and Uganda, which provided a deeper understanding of how the project had operated at a country level.

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Support for TVET in the Southern African Development Community

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) can empower individuals and contribute to economic growth. UNESCO’s Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) project aimed to support TVET in five African countries and this month the project’s evaluation report was published following a collaboration between ECOPER and Ockham IPS. The evaluation involved ECOPER carrying out field missions in two countries: The Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia.

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Supporting literacy in West Africa

Despite rising school enrolment rates in Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal, research into primary school reading literacy have revealed poor results. With the aim of addressing this, UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education (IBE) launched the project ‘The results of learning to read in the first years of primary school: integration of the curriculum, teaching, learning aids and assessment’ in November 2013. ECOPER has recently presented its evaluation report of the project. The evaluation applied a mixed methodology, taking in surveys, interviews and focus groups with project stakeholders, and field missions to the three beneficiary countries.

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UNESCO Associated Schools

ECOPER has collaborated with Ockham IPS in the evaluation of UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project (ASP) Network. The evaluation involved a document review, a series of interviews and focus groups and an online survey, and involved six in-country field missions, including one conducted in Haiti by ECOPER consultant Aitor Pérez. The ASP Network supports UNESCO in …

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