Progress on the Education Reform
Context
The Education Reform strategy was developed between 2010 and 2011 as a response to the
evaluation of the Education Programme by the Universalia external consulting firm and perceptions of
decline in the quality of UNRWA education.
It is fully aligned to, and placed within, the UNRWA strategic frameworks (the Medium-Term Strategy,
the Organizational Development Plan, the SPARE paradigm and the Sustaining Change process) and
considers the regional operating context as well as the global frameworks of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and the Education for All (EFA) initiative. It aims at providing quality
education for Palestine refugees to achieve their full potential, and seeks to achieve this goal through
the achievement of four interrelated core outcomes with regard to teachers, curricula, inclusive
education, and TVET.
The development of the Reform was led by HQ Amman, with the full engagement of all Fields and the
contribution of the PA Minister of Education, UNESCO and support of external expertise. The Reform
was endorsed by the May 2011 AdCom and officially launched in October 2011 across the five Fields,
on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day. The Education Reform has a number of stages, reflecting
the context of the Agency and best practices in implementing sustainable change (please see
attached diagram). The cross cutting issues of Gender, Protection and Disability were addressed in
the Reform design and continue to be, with the support of PCSU and Protection, in the specifics of the
Reform programmes. Currently the development of key policies, frameworks, and materials is moving
towards its final stages and the focus of Reform efforts are now on Field operational planning,
towards full Field specific implementation.
Costs and cost efficiency
Given the high resource constraints placed on the Agency, the Education Reform places a particular
emphasis on increasing resource efficiency, delivering better services with a similar level of resources.
To this effect it will harness, build upon and strengthen existing Education Programme systems and
structures at Headquarters and Field levels, working to redeploy existing resources more effectively by
maximizing comparative advantage and minimizing costs. This will help to ensure that after the initial
outlay of funds required for the development and implementation of the Reform, additional recurrent
costs would fall within the existing financial capacity of the Agency. Cost efficiency and effectiveness
will be achieved through the Reform in a number of ways. Firstly the Reform will bring a strategic
coherence that will put in place shared strategic goals and outcomes, harmonize both programmatic
and project efforts across the five Fields, avoid duplication and reflect global and regional best
practices and lessons learned.
Secondly, the Reform explicitly addresses the issue of optimization of resources through the UNRWA
(draft) Teacher Policy. Its Financial Simulation Model estimates implementation costs over the next
ten years, drawing on analysis of trends and data of the past decade. The Model takes into
consideration key aspects such as demographics, inflation, teacher attrition and teacher policy
parameters – e.g. ratio of support cadres, career progression criteria. The Teacher Policy is discussed
in more detail below.
Thirdly, with regards to cost efficiency and effectiveness, much emphasis is being placed on Result
Based Monitoring and Evaluation. This is also discussed in more detail below.
Recent progress on core areas of the Reform
Teachers
A draft Teacher Policy, developed in full collaboration with the Fields and Headquarters (PA, Jordan
MOE contributed to some stages) recognizes the central role of Teachers in the provision of quality
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education. The principles of the Policy build on international research in education and on the
evaluation of UNRWA Education. It addresses teacher recruitment and training, professional
development and support, diversified and motivating career opportunities, professional accountability
and quality assurance, and school empowerment.
In order for the Policy to be financially sustainable, a Financial Simulation Exercise was undertaken
between July and October 2011, with financial support from France. This involved working with, and
in, Fields to collect baseline data for the financial simulation; discuss demographic projections, and
develop specific Field financial simulation models. This work led to the development of an Agencywide Financial Simulation Model to inform discussion as to both professional and sustainability issues
around the draft Teacher Policy. The Financial Simulation Model projects education expenditures for
the coming ten years, based on a number of scenarios which reflect different policy choices in order to
achieve zero additional cost, whilst improving the quality of teaching and learning. Subsequent to this
a Financial Framework Note which details options for the Teacher Policy was drafted and circulated in
January. At this stage the Financial Framework Note looked at cost efficiency within and between
Fields. The Financial Simulation Model was shared on a face to face basis with MOE, PA.
Upon the request of the Field Directors a HQ led team is currently working with, and in, each Field to
ensure the concrete feasibility of each of the Policy trade-offs (for example any change in class size).
The HQ team is also working with each Field on transitional planning issues, such as administrative
and logistical phasing in, without losing professional coherence. Following the work in five Fields,
UNRWA will prepare a Transitional Action Plan which highlights commonalities, specificities and costs
and this will be presented to Management to support their decision with regard to the Teacher Policy.
Training and professional development of teaching staff
School Based Teacher Development
In line with the key tenets of the Teacher Policy the Reform also emphasizes meaningful school based
professional development. To this effect the School Based Teacher Development (SBTD):
Transforming Classrooms programme is moving to its latter stages of development. The programme
uses a multi media distance learning approach to maximize impact on teachers’ practice but without
incurring opportunity costs. Discussions have taken place with UNICEF, Queen Rania and Jordan
Education Initiative.
The programme, however, aims to do more than train teachers – it will serve as a vehicle in
strengthening the professional support systems. This is in line with the structures of the Teacher
Policy, whereby clear roles and ratios have been identified for professional support – e.g. Mentors,
and Education Specialists. Finance from SDC’s overall support to the Reform has been allocated for
the development of multi-media materials and other aspects.
Leading for the Future: Headteacher training
Given the importance of strong school leadership the Reform also focused on Head teachers. Again
this reflects the emphasis on Headteachers/Principals within the Teacher Policy. The education
School Leadership Programme: Leading for the Future will form Part B of a two part approach to
strengthening all aspects of school management. Part A, is a Human Resource programme
‘Installation Management’ which focuses on day to day operational/logistical issues, whilst the Leading
for the Future focuses on the professional role of the Headteachers. In full discussion with HR the
successful completion of both prograrmmes by Headteachers will lead to promotion in Syria, Lebanon
and Jordan Field. The programme will be multi media and school based, and successful completion
will require implementing change at school level.
Reflecting the different ways of developing and implementing the Reform – as agreed at early
Field/HQ Reform conceptualization workshops, the main responsibility for the development of the
Leading for the future programme rests with Lebanon and West Bank – with HQ funding of two
external consultants – a school leadership and a media expert. Finance from SDC’s overall support to
the Reform has been allocated for the development of multi-media materials and other aspects.
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Inclusive Education
A draft Inclusive Education (IE) Policy has been developed in collaboration with all UNRWA Fields of
operation, PCSU, the PA, UNESCO - HQ, Beirut, Amman and Ramallah.
Inclusive education is a central premise of the Reform and the Policy articulates a holistic, cross
cutting inclusive approach; this will ensure that the Agency has a responsive and supportive system in
place so that the learning, health and psycho-social needs of all students are met. Both documents
will be submitted to the IMG for endorsement. Work has already begun on the development of special
needs identification tools, drawing on the experience and practices of the Fields, as well as global
practices.
In close collaboration with the Health Department and in line with the Inclusive Education Policy, a
Draft School Health Strategy was also developed. The School Health Strategy aims to strengthen the
quality of the UNRWA School Health Programme, towards a healthy school environment.
In line with the IE Policy some Education Technical Instructions, including access to TVET, School
Health Programme, School canteen, School Safety and Security measurements have been updated.
Curriculum Neutrality and Human Rights and Conflict Resolution and Tolerance (HRCRT)
programme
HRCRT Programme
Following the recommendations of the OIG in 2010, in discussion with HQ Education Department,
emphasis has been placed on developing an Agency wide HRCRT Policy and Programme. This builds
on the HRCRT work in the five Fields, particularly in Gaza, of the past decade. Following a full scoping
of existing HRCRT programmes and practices a “HRCRT partnership forum” was held to facilitate
dialogue between Fields and NGOs and other partner agencies addressing Human Rights education
in the region. Technical support is being sourced from the Human Rights Education Association
(HREA) in the US with regard to developing both Policy and Programme.
The UNRWA HRCRT Policy is now awaiting the endorsement of the UNRWA IMG. Similarly, a
dissemination plan, outline of a HRCRT Teacher Resource Kit, and a framework for Learner
Competencies are all being submitted to the IMG. Existing UNRWA and external teaching/learning
materials are being analyzed in order to ‘map’ them onto the Learner competency Framework and
new materials will be developed and pre-tested in two Fields: Jordan and West Bank.
The HRCRT Policy, Resource Kit, and Learner Competency Framework will all contribute to enhanced
agency wide coherence and a more holistic approach to teaching and learning of HRCRT, whilst
allowing for Field specificities and innovation. Financial support is provided by PRM for all these
developments.
Curriculum Framework
In line with UNRWA’s strive to ensure quality teaching and learning experience and active adherence
to the UN values, UNRWA has also been working with the UNESCO International Bureau of
Education (IBE) on the development of a Curriculum Framework. The Framework will support analysis
by each Field of their existing text books and teaching and learning practices. The existing system of
curriculum review (as per the Interim Curricular Policy) will also be strengthened with feedback and
accountability mechanisms in place both within the Fields and at a central level. The Curriculum
Framework will be finalized in May 2012 and will be sent to the IMG for formal endorsement, before
any training begins. Funds from SDC overall Reform support have been allocated to the development
of the Framework.
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TVET
TVET was not the focus of the Universalia Review and, in order to address this, the Education
Department led on an Agency-wide assessment and review of the current TVET programme (April to
August 2011). This focused on issues of efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, relevance and impact.
Following this review, and Field/HQ workshops, an UNRWA TVET Strategy has been drafted, this
includes six priority areas: access, governance, quality assurance, sustainability, training approaches,
and PCG.
Each Field will lead on one of the six areas to ensure their full engagement and harnessing of their
expertise. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has offered both technical and
financial support for implementation of the Strategy through an agency wide SDC funded TVET
Project. GIZ has offered technical support to review the Placement and Career Guidance system, in
line with the specified outcome of the Reform Strategy.
Emphasis continues to be given to improving access and relevance of TVET particularly for vulnerable
groups and youths. One aspect of this is the implementation of a Competency Based Training (CBT)
methodology which has now been extended from the initial implementation in DTC (Syria) to WSTC
(Jordan), STC, NTC (Lebanon) and GTC (Gaza). The ILO has offered support in further developing
the CBT Framework for UNRWA.
There are also ongoing linkages, partnerships and initiatives with TVET institutions and industry, for
example in Jordan with the MoE for curricula preparation for school students and with UNESCO for
the purpose of capacity building of TVET staff in the field of entrepreneurship skills.
Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
UNRWA Education is working at strengthening Education’s common planning processes, such as the
HIP and the FIPs, and at reinforcing monitoring and evaluation. This has involved the following:
Improvement of Education indicators
Programme indicators
The UNRWA education related core common indicators, which form a basis of Agency-wide reporting
and are reflected in the FIPs, have been revised for alignment with international standards and with
ED’s strategic objectives and outcomes (please see attached). This has involved the development of
new baselines, computation of trends, and establishment of targets for drop-out and survival,
employment, and children with disabilities.
One such baseline is with regard to children with intellectual, motor, sensory, communication,
emotional, or health disabilities (disaggregating between boys and girls, and children in regular
classrooms or specialized classes). This should facilitate follow-up on the number of SEN children
who have access to UNRWA schools, how well they are identified, and whether they are
mainstreamed or not. It will help the Agency identify if particular effort needs to be exerted towards
specific categories of children with disabilities.
Reform indicators
An Education Reform Monitoring and Evaluation framework is being developed focusing on the
development and monitoring of Reform outcomes indicators. These indicators include a number of
qualitative indicators which will be monitored through ‘perceptional’ analysis to capture the impact of
the Reform on issues such as SEN students’ school experience, teacher motivation or TVET
graduates’ employers’ satisfaction. MOE, PA and UNESCO HQ, Beirut and Amman, were engaged,
With UNESCO HQ and Beirut specifically providing financial and technical support to the development
of the M and E framework.
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Data system improvement through an Agency-wide EMIS
In order to ensure that education policy decisions are efficient, effective and equitable - within an
evolving and resource constrained environment – they must be based on timely, systematic collection
and analysis of data and good research (the latter is discussed below).
The development of an Agency-wide Educational Management Information system (EMIS) has
therefore been prioritized. A ‘Visioning’ document was completed – ‘The EMIS – SMS Vision and
Specification document’ by an UNRWA EMIS Task Force, chaired by PCSU (David de Bold) with all
Fields actively engaged and support from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UNESCO Beirut, MOE,
Jordan, and the PA, in 2011. Further progress was not possible due to environmental internal and
external constraints. Resources have now been allocated from the SDC financial support and there is
a need to source technical and project management capacity. A Pilot EMIS system should be in place
by end of 2012.
Research
In line with the aim of ensuring education policy decisions are efficient, effective and equitable, key
areas for quantitative and qualitative research were identified. This was addressed within the
framework of an Education Research Strategy - its development and implementation has been
financially supported by Irish Aid since 2010. The Research Strategy is now finalized, Focal points
have been nominated in each Field and capacity development has taken place. Three key focus
research areas were identified: drop out, school leadership and classroom practices, with one Field
(i.e. three in all) leading on each area. For example, in order to better understand the qualitative
reasons behind drop out trends and thus address the issue, the Gaza Field is leading on the focused
drop out study. Similarly a study of school leadership within UNRWA (led by the Lebanon Field) will
provide a baseline for the Leading for the Future programme. Results for both studies should be
available by the end of 2012. The Norwegian Refugee Council provided support in the consideration of
the drop out study.
Reporting practices
Steps have also been taken to improve the quality, relevance and timeliness of the Education
Department’s broader reporting – internally within UNRWA and UN and externally. The roles and
priority levels of existing Education reports are being assessed in order to establish a “Publication
Plan”, and work to make the Annual Report more analytical is ongoing. Externally, recent work on the
improvement of the Education Reform Logframe led to additional support by DFID to GF.
Challenges
1. Communication between HQ and Fields and within Fields remains a challenge.
2. Financial challenges remain, most specifically with regard to establishing the EMIS
3. From a technical perspective (international and local), there is no Deputy Director in HQ, and two
international staff only (not including DE); and Jordan UNRWA is not attractive for new local staff.
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