GeSCI Programme Management: Monthly Progress Report
Programme:
Program Manager:
Month/ Year:
Africa Regional Programme
Patti Swarts
January 2009
1. Plan for this month
Please describe the activities for this month as captured in the Annual Work Plan.
a) Activities from Annual Work Plan for this month
- Involve research communities as well as donors in AKE activities to facilitate policy dialogues
(Act. 1.3)
- Establish collaborative links and joint activities with ADEA Working Groups and other regional
organisations working in ICT and Education matters (Act. 2.1)
- Develop tools and methodology for systematic country diagnosis and situational analysis to be
used for country selection (Act. 3.1)
- Develop capacity audit tool (Act. 5.2 EW WP)
- Support Namibian MoE in review of Tech/Na! Plan and development of deployment strategy
(Act. 3.4)
- Assist Kenya e-Learning Centre to conclude strategic planning process (Act. 3.8)
- Establish relationship with Kenyan MoE to strengthen ICT4E policy and planning (Act. 3.9)
- Build regional e-Learning capacities through the development of the TCO tool for costing elearning content (Act. 3.10)
- Support to MoESS and GES (Ghana) on establishing linkages for review of assessment for
practical subjects (including ICT)
b) Activities carried forward from previous month(s)
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Establish collaborative links and joint activities with ADEA WGs and other regional
organisations
Assist KeLC with Strategic Planning process
Develop TCO tool for costing e-learning content
Continued support to Ghana MoESS and GES
2. Summary of progress made
Please indicate besides each activity what the status of the activity is.
Status can be: A) Completed; B) Not completed/On-going or C) Delayed Postponed
-
Involve research communities as well as donors in AKE activities to facilitate policy dialogues
(Act. 1.3) B (on-going) with research communities
Establish collaborative links and joint activities with ADEA Working Groups and other regional
organisations working in ICT and Education matters (Act. 2.1) B - ongoing
Develop tools and methodology for systematic country diagnosis and situational analysis to be
used for country selection (Act. 3.1) B – completion end February
Develop capacity audit tool (Act. 5.2 EW WP) B – completion in February
Support Namibian MoE in review of Tech/Na! Plan and development of deployment strategy
(Act. 3.4) B- ongoing until April
Assist Kenya e-Learning Centre to conclude strategic planning process (Act. 3.8) B- ongoing
until April
Establish relationship with Kenyan MoE to strengthen ICT4E policy and planning (Act. 3.9) Bongoing
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GeSCI Programme Management: Monthly Progress Report
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Build regional e-Learning capacities through the development of the TCO tool for costing elearning content (Act. 3.10) B- ongoing
Support to MoESS and GES (Ghana) on establishing linkages for review of assessment for
practical subjects (including ICT) B - ongoing
3. Outputs/ Outcomes
For each activity, please describe in more detail the progress made, an estimate how much of the
activity has been done and describe the achievements/deliverables
Involvement of research communities:
Meeting with ERNWACA 21 January: proposal for joint funding to identify the pedagogical skills of
teachers for ICT integration and how that could be improved. GeSCI (through the Ghana CPF and
analyst) participating in and contributing to the monthly research seminars.
Links with ADEA and other regional organisations:
Meeting with ADEA WGHE and AAU, 20 January. Agreement to establish more formal collaboration
through letter of intent and to introduce each other to the respective networks, share information on
identified issues, share tools and solutions and to invite each other to relevant events, e.g. to invite GeSCI
to the AAU General Conference and the AAU to the AKE events. They expressed interest on
collaborating with GeSCI on the “State of ICT4E in SSA” publication.
An early scan on possible networks and partnerships was initiated with a few of these being visited and
sent emails. Partners who have been approached include CEMASTEA and SMASSE which is a SSA
regional network for in-servicing of teachers headquartered in Nairobi. Valuable information and project
plans for ICT integration were provided and these will helps in mapping out the specific areas of need in
e-content development.
Tools and methodology for country selection
The first draft (steps) in the country selection tool have been outlined and distributed to various team
members. This was after discussions with the Regional Manager. Feedback is yet to be received.
Capacity audit tool
Two versions of this were developed in this month and shared with team members. Feedback on the tool
will inform the next level of development. It is also hoped that the tool can be adapted for use in Namibia
during the visit in mid-February.
Review of Tech/Na!
Preparatory activities and meetings with Namibian MoE. ToRs developed, dates confirmed and
programme for ICT Specialist and Regional Specialist visit agreed. Awaiting confirmation of venue for
workshop and feedback on invitation letter.
KeLC Strategic Plan
Meetings were held with the KeLC coordinator and it was agreed that there is a need to review the
strategic plan which was developed 1 year ago.
Terms of Reference on how to undertake this are under development and it is envisaged that the
evaluation of the strategic plan can be carried out in the first quarter of 2009.
Relationship with Kenya MoE
Initial meetings have been held with the MoE (Kenya). The meetings were with the ICT in Education
Officer and the Director for Policy and Planning. The goal of the meetings was to establish possible areas
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GeSCI Programme Management: Monthly Progress Report
of collaboration with the said ministry and especially those that have issues that have not been addressed
by any other donor organization or partner. Areas that have been identified at the preliminary stage are as
follows:
 Monitoring & Evaluation of EMIS implementation
 Analysis of the various deployment organizations that have been providing ICT equipment to school
 Planning for ICT integration (A project between VVOB and MoE for which other partners are being
sought)
 Analysis of e-readiness assessment in secondary/primary sections whose data was collected but has
since not been analyzed
 Inclusion in the Ministerial ICT committee as a strategic advisor.
TCO tool for costing e-learning content
A more refined prototype was developed during this period and sent to the Top Floor Studio in
Dublin for branding.
Support to MoESS/GES (Ghana) on assessment of practical subjects
A workshop bringing together CRDD, TED, WEAC, Secondary and Basic Education was facilitated by
GeSCI on 22 January at the MoESS, Ghana. The objectives were to:
- identify issues and challenges related to practical assessments
- discuss and share approaches and solutions to assessment challenges
- provide an opportunity for partners to collaboratively work towards solutions
- start identification of good practice for strategy and building infrastructure to support effective
assessment practices
- discuss appropriate next steps including ways in which assessment results could be used to
improve educational programmes.
Three critical issues for the assessment of practical subjects were identified:
1) What must students be able to demonstrate (in terms of the levels of learning)?
2) What will facilitate that they will be able to demonstrate that?
3) In which ways can students best demonstrate achievement as identified?
The outcomes of the workshop were:
- a better understanding of the issues and challenges related to assessment from various
organisational perspectives
- clarification of roles and responsibilities with regard to providing a coherent assessment system
and experience for students
- linkages and agreement for collaboration between various divisions in GES and with WEAC.
4.
Key Challenges - New and Ongoing:
In general, timely feedback on documents sent out for review.
Ghana support: Internet access at the MOESS is very slow and severely limiting to quick and efficient
operations
5. Key Meetings/Contacts for this month:
Including purpose and outcome
- Meetings with
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GeSCI Programme Management: Monthly Progress Report
o
o
o
o
o
o
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KeLC Coordinator to agree on next steps with regard to GeSCI support: agreement on
review of Strategic Plan and survey on e-learning readiness in education sector
MoE Kenya to establish possible areas of collaboration with the said ministry and
especially those that have issues that have not been addressed by any other donor
organization or partner: preliminary areas of support identified
CRDD Director and staff on assessment for practical subjects: identification of critical
issues
AAU Research and Education Networking Coordinator and WGHE Coordinator:
agreement on more formal collaboration through letter of intent
ERNWACA: joint funding proposal, participation in monthly research seminars
WEAC and CRDD: closer linkage to address common challenges
Workshop on assessment for practical subjects (including ICT as core and elective. (See 3
above).
6. Plans for the next Month
As per annual work plan
Continuation of activities indicated as on-going in 2 above, in particular:
- Country selection tool to be completed by end February
- Adaptation and testing/use of capacity audit tool to assess Namibian ICT unit and NETTS Centre
capacities and further refinement after test/use
- Further exploration of partnerships with CEMASTEA and SMASSE
- Further exploration with Kenya MoE on identified areas, through research and review of
documents, in order to reach conclusion on which to prioritise and take forward
- Tech/Na! review and workshop with stakeholders, 16 – 27 February
- Letter of intent with AAU/ADEA WGHE to formalise collaboration
- Development of joint research proposal with ERNWACA and contribution to monthly research
seminar
- Finalisation of ToRs for KeLC Strategic Plan review and hiring of consultant
- Preparation for visits to Senegal. Mali and Burkina.
- Incorporating Symon Mukwe into ARP activities as agreed.
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