End-Review of Norway’s Support to UNICEF’s Education Programme in Madagascar (2005-2007) and Appraisal of UNICEF’s Proposal for a New Education Programme 2008 – 2011

The Project

The main objective of this education programme and partnership between Norway and UNICEF Madagascar (2005-2007) is to support the improvement of access to quality education for all children in Madagascar. Different actors, in addition to UNICEF Madagascar are partners in the cooperation, i.e. MENRS (ministry of education) and a civil society organisation (CSO). The programme has a total budget of 36 mill. NOK. The activities encompassed in the programme include financial and technical support to MENRS in the following areas: Curriculum Development; School materials; Training of trainers and teachers; Monitoring; Parent - School Contracts (Contrat Programme Réussite Scolaire - CPRS); Evaluation of: learning achievements, communication strategy, results-oriented planning, improving the school environment, technical and logistical support.

Interesting Findings

• The effectiveness of the overall programme (2005-2007) is not easy to assess, especially because of the lack of specific objectives in the 2004 project document. However the general impression of the results attained is positive, despite some shortfalls due to the organisation process within MENRS.
• The most impressive results have been reached through CBA (Competency Based Approach) education and CPRS (Contrat Programme de Réussite Scolaire).
• MENRS showed courage to enter into a complex curriculum reform with the support of a team of international specialists. The development of the new curricula, materials, the training of teachers and the distribution of the pedagogical materials was successful, barring some shortcomings in relation to distribution of materials.
• In relation to the follow up of the Mid-Term Review recommendations four out of five recommendations have been integrated in the new programme proposal, indicating the appropriateness but also the willingness of UNICEF Madagascar to integrate proposed topics into the new programme proposal.
• Regarding the question of added value of UNICEF Madagascar in the education sector, the report states that UNICEF Madagascar has been described as innovative and creative, efficient, credible, and being children's rights advocate. According to the team it is clear that in Madagascar organisations like UNICEF have an important role to play and given the positive feedback of all respondents and the achieved results, the choice of the Norwegian Embassy to channel funds via UNICEF Madagascar is justified. The appraisal team, however, has formulated some recommendations for improvement in relation to the new proposal.