1. Presentation of PASEC UNESC0 hq 12th November 2008

2. Infos on PASEC PASEC is a program of the Conference of Francophone Education ministries Information on PASEC can be found at www.confemen.org Funding comes from CONFEMEN, France, OIF, IEA/WB, UNICEF

3. 21 participating countries (2008) PASEC I à VIII Other CONFEMEN member states New PASEC IX Cap Vert Egypte Democratic Republic of Congo Seychelles Burundi Comores Guinée Bissau Liban Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon Guinée, Maurice, Madagascar, Mali Mauritanie, Niger, RCA Sénégal, Tchad, Togo

4. Initial levelFinal level Schooling conditions Individual characteristics and background of pupils PASEC methodology Bonnet G. (2007) in a working paper posted on UNESCO web site gives a good description of the methodological differences between PASEC and SACMEQ

5. Ongoing work 1 Reports to be released soon: Gabon & Mauritius (december 2008) Burkina Faso, Congo, Sénégal (early 2009) Next PASEC wave : Burundi, Comores, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinée Bissau, Liban : field operations ongoing Methodological development : Curricula analysis Revision of the tests and the procedures (back translation, booklet, IRT, life skills) Effective schooling time measurement : piloting instruments

6. Ongoing work 2 Data analysis : taking into account poverty Link between poverty and learning outcomes Different types of pupils : different policies  specific data analysis/modeling : public/private sector, ZEP- non ZEP schools (Mauritius) Training : workshops in south east Asia and Democratic Republic of Congo (early 2009) Draft methodological guideline : sampling module to be released early 2009

7. The past use of PASEC results Double shift, repetition associated with negative impact  Disparition of double shift, diminution of repeating The class size debate : FTI target 40 pupils per classroom (consistent with PASEC results) Recruitement and training of teachers : Low impact of diploma, status and duration of the initial training of teachers : polemic results  What entry level (BEPC/BAC) ?  What recruitement/selection procedures ? (ex. : Guinea)  Most contract teachers are given minimum training now  Better targeting of the support to professionnal training of teachers  Reflexion on the initial training and the trainers (Tchad, Niger)

8. The actual use of PASEC results International comparisons : link between acces and quality Trend data Taking into account poverty in policy Equity issues (public vs private sector, distribution of inputs) Effective schooling time

9. Communication strategies Four components : Friendly publications Association with national studies and events : –Presentation of PASEC results along with national studies in « quality » information sessions –Participation to education sector annual reviews (Guinée, Bénin) –PASEC/CONFEMEN member of local donors coordination (Sénégal) Regional analysis : papers for CONFEMEN meetings, collaboration with UNESCO/ BREDA ; EFA monitoring report unit, production of a synthesis of PASEC results 2009 Web site : data on line : 1 request per week from researchers / students  promotion of thematic papers

10. Promotion of national debate on quality by regional assessments Whatever national conditions may be, the release of data on quality of education does promote public debate Why ? Regional/international assessment are not conditonned by the political will of dissimenation of results They do provide international comparisons and trends They promote competition in the production of data on quality of education They participate in the capacity building in quality measurement area They put quality on top of the agenda in the international debate

11. National context of the use of PASEC results To what extent the existence of public debate on quality of education is a sufficient and necessary condition of policy reform ? What are the good conditions ? 1.General democratic conditions : Press / awarenness of the public/access to information 2.Will to make changes in policies/timetable of implementation of EFA plan 3.Possibility of policy changes/ Influence of teachers union 4.Technical skills / Duration of ministry and policy makers 5.Influence/technical skills and matter of local donors/ Aid contribution to education/Indebtement of the country 6.Existence of national studies on quality 7.Institutionnal conditions (existence of independent evaluation structure)

12. Contribution of UNESCO How can UNESCO maximise the use of quality / assessment data in the EFA policy reforms ? Data communication support ? Promote education quality issue in the international debate ? Setting the « good conditions » at national level ?

13. Collaboration framework PASEC/ CONFEMENUNESCO World Bank General democratic conditions : Press / awarenness of the public/acces to information X Will to make changes in policies/timetable of implementation of EFA plan XX Possibility of policy changes/ influence of teachers union XX Technical skills / Duration of ministry and policy makers X Influence/technical skills and matter of local donors/ Aid contribution to education/Indebtement of the country X X Existence of national studies on quality XXX Institutionnal conditions XXX

14. Thank you ! pasec@onfemen.org www.confemen.org