Sectorwide Policy and Planning
Achieving Education for All requires careful planning and monitoring of education systems.
Efforts to develop credible education sector plans is key as it enables countries to engage in productive dialogue with their partners.
This is why the development of national capacities in planning and managing education systems in African countries is a UNESCO top priority.
Countries need to be able to make informed choices about the costs of education policies, the expected benefits, the social sustainability of reforms and equity.
UNESCO's role
UNESCO Dakar provides, through the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), technical support to countries for the formulation of “credible education sector development plans”. Focus is on access, quality, equity and effectiveness and it concerns all levels and forms of teaching.
Through the IIEP Pôle de Dakar, a platform for expertise in education policy analysis within the UNESCO Dakar Office, action areas include:
- Support to countries
- Education sector diagnosis – CSR
- Specific sub-sector diagnosis
- Teachers issues diagnosis
- Early childhood development programme
- Education-Training-Employment outlook
- Financial framework of education policy
- Support for education policy development
- On demand studies and training
The aim of these activities is to improve understanding of the trade-offs inherent in education policies, to accompany the elaboration of national strategies and policy documents, and to improve the management of education systems.
Since 2002, the Pôle de Dakar has supported national technical teams responsible for these issues in over 20 African countries.
- Reinforce the capacities of African officials
UNESCO offers a distance training programme and diploma in sector policy and education system management (PSGSE).
The course for French-speaking students is co-organized by the Pôle de Dakar and the Faculty for Education and Training Science and Technology (FASTEF) of the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD).
The course for English-speaking student is organized in collaboration with the University of The Gambia.
It aims to share the methods of education sector analysis, developed by the Pôle de Dakar, with African officials responsible for the management, financing and evaluation of education systems.
- Improve knowledge sharing
The Pôle de Dakar also publishes thematic studies on key education policy issues and analytical and methodological notes for the diagnosis of education systems.
Annual country profiles are published, including indicators related to progress towards Education for All objectives and countries’ demographic and macroeconomic contexts.
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