Abstract
From 2013 to 2017, Save the Children Norway tested the hypothesis that a global framework could be used to empower locally driven solutions within the education sector. It did so by galvanizing support and aligning stakeholders to common goals articulated through the Quality Learning Environment Framework but allowing each community context to determine its own path for achieving those goals. This article explores the effectiveness and impact of these projects across the three pilot countries of Cambodia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe as defined by the original project goals, outcomes, and objectives. Reflecting on both qualitative and quantitative data gathered throughout the life of the project, the article speaks to project impact and achievements as well as operational findings including commonalities and differences between the three pilot projects and keys to success. It outlines lessons learned across the programming sites and in doing so it explores the role of a large International Non-Governmental Organization as a catalyst for change. Finally, it discusses the rigorous research and reporting framework driven by funders and development agencies, the rigidity of which struggled to capture the emergent nature of locally driven solutions.
Highlights
For many years national and international development actors in education were focused on access to school, including student enrolment, attendance and school completion
A growing body of evidence exemplified by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report and the World Bank’s evaluation of its education programming in over 700 projects (World Bank, 2006) found that while student access to
It responded by creating a framework to define quality in education from early childhood through the end of secondary school, known as the Quality Learning Environment (QLE) framework
Summary
For many years national and international development actors in education were focused on access to school, including student enrolment, attendance and school completion. ISSN: 2535-4054 school had increased, learning outcomes had declined. This has become known as the global learning crisis (Education Commission, 2016), which has recently been quantified as more than half of school aged children around the world as not achieving minimum learning proficiency (UIS, 2017). These developments influenced a leading international development actor, Save the Children, to review its programming. The goal of the QLE is to guide Save the Children’s programme design and implementation to focus on the quality of learning opportunity for children, targeting improved outcomes from children’s literacy, numeracy and holistic wellbeing: physical, social, emotional, cognitive and mental wellness (Maranto, 2017)
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