DFID – EDOREN Research Capacity Strengthening Strategy

DFID - EDOREN Research Capacity Strengthening Strategy

Sub-Saharan Africa

2016 - 2018

Countries

Nigeria

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Michael Watts

Project Overview

Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. The basic education sector is beset by the problems of underfunded schools, overcrowded classrooms, and often poorly qualified teachers. EDOREN (Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria) was a five-year project, funded by DFID and managed by Oxford Policy Management, intended to support equitable access and improved learning outcomes for children in Nigeria. It had identified an intra-sectoral divide between policymakers and practitioners requiring good research to inform evidence-based policies and academics generating such research. The RCSS was developed to bridge this divide and was trialled through a two-year study on the recruitment and retention of effective primary teachers in five States in Northern Nigeria.

Approaches & Outputs

The impact evaluation, led by Michael Watts, took a qualitative approach. State-based teams of education practitioners and university-based academics had been recruited and required to work together to conduct the research project. A deep dive into the literature on intra-sectoral collaborations and the relevance of academic research to policymaking in Nigeria was conducted. Iterative face-to-face individual interviews and focus group discussions were carried out with all team members addressing: (i) their changing attitudes to their intra-sectoral colleagues; and (ii) the influence of the collaborations on the effectiveness and policy-relevance of the research. The findings were reported at the end of years one and two of the evaluation.

Impact On

The capacity of participating university-based academics and practitioners to generate policy-relevant research had significantly improved. The final report was able to explain that the collaborations had been mostly successful and were beginning to shape State-based policies.

Challenges

The evaluation had to explore deep-rooted intra-sectoral antagonism and personal prejudices, which could have undermined team cohesion, without disrupting the collaborations. This balance was maintained through the careful design of the interviews and focus group discussions and by strict adherence to the ethical principles of anonymity and confidentiality.

DFID – EDOREN Research Capacity Strengthening Strategy