DQAF mission Zambia 2009

Latest revision as of 13:14, 15 October 2012

Background

1. The assessment took place during November 2008 and August 2009 over 7 working days.
2. NESIS met with:
   • Ministry of Education (MoE)
   • Directorate of Open and Distance Education/Human Resources Directorate/EMIS
   • IT, TVET, Secondary, ECCED, National Examinations Council
   • 4 provinces: Lusaka, Central, Copperbelt, Northern
   • Central Statistical Office
3. Report shared with Zambia in September 2009.
4. Final version will incorporate feedback.

Positives

1. Excel, PDF and metadata associated with official publications are accessible on-line.
2. Districts Master list of institutions classifies all registered schools including private and community schools.
3. Availability of technical guidelines to assist users to complete questionnaires.
4. Questionnaire methodologies / coverage strongly correspond to international practices.
5. Legal framework for statistics collection in place.
6. Very high levels of professional integrity within EMIS (central).
7. Data accessible on CD and in paper reports (e.g. education statistical bulletins).
8. Consultation with key stakeholders concerning questionnaire reviews.

Areas to strengthen

1. District data validation is not systematic.
2. Weak quality assurance systems to address quality issues.
3. Weak collaboration between TVET and other line ministries to determine TVET data quality.
4. Limited ability to access data on-line.
5. Weak coverage of pre-primary and private university colleges.
6. High response burden imposed by bulky questionnaire instrument.
7. Requested data are sometimes not analyzed and accessible on-line (e.g., teaching hours).
8. Limited recruitment of professional staff at district levels.

Recommendations

1. Provide resources for engaging school inspectors and school administrators in data production process.
2. Greater information sharing within ministry directorates and with the CSO to validate statistics prior to publication (e.g., Net Enrolment Ratio).
3. Revise questionnaire instrument to reduce response burden.
4. Undertake information sessions with data collectors to ensure comprehension of concepts & definitions in annual school questionnaire.
5. Strengthen EMIS to define quality standards.
6. Undertake regular training of EMIS staff at national and district levels.
7. Review staffing levels at the district levels.
8. Constitute a quality assurance group.
9. Adopt TVET and Secondary education sector data verification support processes as a best practice.
10. Encourage linkage between EMIS and National Examination Council to analyze quality of education.
11. Decentralize data entry to district level.
12. Data quality would be improved through greater collaboration between DPI and other ministries.
13. Encourage use of alternative data sources to validate education data (e.g., teacher qualifications).
14. Data quality checks should be incorporated into data capturing tool.
15. Following Lusaka province, other provinces should publish comprehensive education statistics.
16. Reconcile data from different sources prior to publication.
17. Greater consultation on questionnaire instrument would enhance collaboration with the districts.

References

1. ↑ A Synthesis of Seven Country Assessments March 2010 - UNESCO SADC

See also

• Zambia country page