Include an account of your expectation for special needs school in Grenada and your observation on the documentary here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrhMsj7Y-3E. Considering your knowledge regardin

The report is primarily for m inistry of e ducation officials with the responsibility for revising or developing national education plans. i t can also be useful to others in the education system involved in district or school level planning. There are recommendations IVV for developing new plans based on extensive reviews of existing plans. The findings highlight the need to ensure that policies and strategies are evidence-based and that key issues of equity, child-centeredness and gender are adequately addressed. a lso highlighted are the need to address the cost and financing implications of the plan. There are practical guides for developing key sections of a modern education sector plan. These are backed by examples and best practices from the within the region and beyond.

The production of this report bears testimony to the many successful results that have emerged from the excellent collaboration between unicef e astern caribbean a rea office and the oecS Secretariat in advancing the goal of providing equity access to quality education, for all children in the region. a nother useful output of this collaboration has been a plan to guide the implementation of the oeSS. i t is anticipated that the combined use of these documents will add value to planning and managing the implementing strategies to realise the vision that e very l earner Succeeds. table of contents Acrony Ms 1 ExEcU tivE sUMMAry 2 intro DUction 4 sEction 1 The existing plans 6 State by State analysis 7 2.3.1 - The e xtent to which c ountries have adopted child-centred, gender-sensitive and i nclusive education p lans and policies 7 State by State analysis 7 2.3.2 - The e xtent of costing and financial i mplications included in the e ducation plans 17 State by State a nalysis 19 c onsistency of plans with the oecS e ducation Sector Strategy 21 m ajor omissions 33 sEction 2 i ndicators r elated to Social p olicy and monitoring and e valuation 36 1.1.1 Sectoral p olicies Targeting the p oor and disadvantaged 37 1.1.2 Sectoral p olicies based on e vidence and disaggregated d ata 41 1.1.3 Sectoral p rograms based on evidence and disaggregated d ata 44 1.1.4 a c hild Sensitive g ender response a pproach to b udgeting. 45 sEction 3 edmu / oecS Support to m ember States 48 a Standardised p lan format for m ember States 54 i nterim arrangements 56 Support for very Small States 57 e ducation financing and costs 57 r ecommendations 58 VI1 sEction 4 Appendices 63 a ppendix 1: m ember state basic education data 63 a ppendix 2: oeSS Strategic i mperatives by member state 67 a ppendix 3: e xamples of visions and mission statements 81 a ppendix 4: Status of e ducation plans in focus countries 82 a ppendix 5: Summary table showing the consistency of plans with the oeSS Strategic i mperatives. 83 a ppendix 6: c onsistency of plans with the key indicators. 84 a ppendix 7: Summary of i ndicator baselines 86 a ppendix 8: a sample reporting form for c hild budget a nalysis 87 a ppendix 9: e xample of an indicative c hild budget a nalysis for St l ucia 88 a ppendix 10: Some charts to compare state finance figures 89 a ppendix 11: a n example of a format for an annual workplan 91 a ppendix 12: d ocuments referred to by State 92 acRonyms british v irgin islands c aribbean a dvanced proficiency e xamination c aribbean d evelopment b ank c hild f riendly Schools c ountry p rogramme a ction plan c aribbean Secondary e ducation certificate c aribbean v ocational Qualifications c aribbean e xamination c ouncil d epartment for i nternational development (u nited Kingdom) e arly c hildhood d evelopment e arly c hildhood d evelopment Services e arly c hildhood e ducation e ducation d evelopment m anagement unit e ducation p olicy and Strategy Simulation model e ducation Strategic p lan i nformation c ommunications Technology m ulti c ountry p rogram organisation of e ast caribbean States oecS e ducation Sector Strategy p erformance a ssessment framework School i mprovement p lans Strengthening Teacher effectiveness p lans Strengths, Weaknesses, o pportunities and Threats Turks and c aicos islands Technical and v ocational education and Training u nited n ations c hildrens f und u niversal p rimary education u niversal Secondary e ducation World b ank bvi cape cdbcfS cpap cS ec cvQ c Xc dfid ecd ecdS ece edmu epSSim eSp ic T mcp oecS oeSS pa fSip STep SWo T Tci T veT unicef upeu Se Wb 23 executive summaR y The 12 STa TeS Tha T are covered by The unicef mulTi counTry p rogram (mcp) are varied and nearly all of these have produced education plans.

Some of these are current, whilst others have lapsed and are in the process of review. There are other g overnment wide strategic plans that have also being considered. a ll plans have different formats and nomenclature which can make them difficult to review and compare. i n general, the plans have vision statements, mission statements, objectives and provide strategies to guide them toward achieving targets, some of which are clearly defined and others less so. d espite this, there is no logical flow in some of the plans from the present situation through to clearly defined targets with strategies. There are a number of other weaknesses observed. first, is a lack of gender disaggregated historical date which can be analysed to allow for evidenced based policy making. Second, there is little information regarding the costs, and a lack of projected figures for resource requirements and also the projected enrolments and staffing data.

Third is a lack of a p erformance assessment f ramework that will allow progress to be measured.

The p lans themselves address issues of access, quality and management. a ll of the states have achieved u niversal primary education and many are now moving, some very quickly, toward u niversal Secondary e ducation, a few having achieved it already. These states are now looking at further access targets in the early childhood and tertiary sectors. The other major initiatives that are being instigated across the region are in the areas of curriculum reform, which will include the integration of T veT and icT into the primary and secondary schools, and methods of teaching and assessment.

d espite these laudable achievements there are still inequities observed in terms of gender, particularly at the post primary level, and disability. i t is encouraging that some states are seeing the integration of those with special needs into the regular school system as being an important objective. a ll issues of equity need to be continuously monitored.

a ll states are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain the high percentages of gdp that have been devoted to education since the late 1990s. This, coupled with the rapid increases in enrolments, has meant that some of the important ingredients that are required for an effective education system are not being given the attention they deserve. e xperience shows that as budgets tighten it is the quality inputs that are not supported and this has resulted in declining standards as measured by the 3 A number of recommendA tions cAn be mAde As A result of this report: 1. That a loosely defined format for national education plans and school development plans, both with certain minimum requirements, be adopted and endorsed by all states. – page 37 2. That the format for an annual work plan for OESS related activities be agreed to by all states. – page 39 3. That states continue to carefully monitor equity in terms of gender, disability and location at all levels of the system and actively develop strategies to alleviate any inequities that are identified. – page 11 4. That all states conduct training for staff in areas of policy development and general administration. – page 18 5. That the EDMU initiate a training program for all member states in the area of education costs and finances. – page 40 7. That a program of training on school leadership and management be provided for all school head teachers and principals. – page 17.

8. That a standard Performance Assessment Framework be adopted across all states with appropriate training provided.

– page 39. 6. That all states prepare a teacher education plan, with indicative costs, to ensure that all teachers are fully qualified.

– page 190 examination results of those completing primary and secondary schooling. The teaching resource is critical yet there is little mention of teacher preparation and of strategies to combat the large numbers of untrained teachers in all sectors. i t is likely that with the integration of T veT into the primary and secondary sectors that there will be increasing numbers of ‘out of field’ teachers.

The organisation of e ast caribbean States has endorsed a Sector Strategy and the plans are largely consistent, although to varying degrees, with the Strategic i mperatives. a subjective analysis suggests that there is greater adherence to the access related imperatives than to those relating to quality inputs. There is a need for the oecS, through the e ducation d evelopment m anagement u nit, to support the states in aligning their national documents more fully with the Sector Strategy and also to ensure that any future plans retain such consistency and provide the data that is needed to monitor progress on a regional basis. 45 This has resulted in a myriad of social and public demands competing for increasingly scarce resources. i n order to satisfy these demands g overnments have to either make more effective use of their existing funds or seek access to further sources of funds.

either way, this situation calls for each state to prioritise assiduously, to plan realistically and to budget responsibly to ensure the best possible outcomes.

a ll states have developed a plan or plans, that are variously described as being either strategic or development or even white papers. These are shown in a ppendix 12. What remains clear is that the objective of all plans is to improve the education sector and ensure effective intRoduction There are 12 independenT STaTeS in The ea ST caribbean area Tha T are S imilar in Some W ayS but very different in others. The states in the region have made enormous progress in providing access to education for their people and all states have achieved u niversal primary education (upe) and some are moving close to u niversal Secondary e ducation (uSe). a few countries (d ominica, St. lucia, St.

v incent and the g renadines) have also made public announcements of plans for u niversal e arly childhood e ducation (ece). This success has bought along with it raised aspirations and an increasing demand for places in the post primary and secondary sectors. The ongoing debate regarding falling standards, measured by the performance of those completing primary and secondary education, has brought demands for an improvement in the quality of education that is being provided. i n many ways the states could be said to have become victims of their own success.

learning and acquisition of skills, knowledge and competencies by children. Questions remain as to whether these plans are costed in any way and whether they are adherent to principles of child centeredness, inclusiveness and gender sensitivity. one of the outcomes of this paper is an analysis of the plans against these principles.

While the ideal scenario is for development partners working in the sub-region, such as caribbean d evelopment b ank (cdb), uneSco , unicef and the World b ank (Wb), to support countries individually to ensure that the above core issues are addressed, resource constraints do not permit such an exercise. a further outcome of this paper will be to provide the e ducation development m anagement u nit (edmu) of the organisation of e ast caribbean States (oecS) and other partners with a clear understanding of the status of the education plans. i t will then describe the type of support that may be required to ensure that the plans address the core issues above within the framework of regional strategies such as the oeSS’s theme of ‘every learner succeeds’.

The report is in four sections.

Section one looks at the plans that have been made available. The status of each of the plans is analysed following a brief discussion of the components that would be expected to be included. i t then looks at elements of costing and how each of the plans is consistent with the Strategic i mperatives that are discussed in the oecS e ducation Sector Strategy(oeSS).

The final part of this section considers a number of issues that have been omitted from the plans and which might have been expected to have been included.

Section Two considers the four indicators from the current mcp as outlined in the Terms of r eference. These four indicators, that are in the current mcp , point to the need for evidence informed education policies and plans targeting especially the most disadvantaged and at risk segments of the population. These are discussed on a state by state basis. Section Three considers ways in which the edmu might support the states in ensuring that the plans address the core issues of being costed and being child centred and gender sensitive. i t includes a section on the core components that should be included in a p lan.

Section f our is a set of appendices that are referred to throughout the text. 7 Section 1 :

the existing Plans Section 1 :

the existing Plans ThErE ArE A wid E r AngE of do CumEnT s that have been made available and that are variously called sector development plans, sector strategy plans, white papers and green papers. Some are for the education sector alone whilst others are government wide documents, such as a m edium Term development Strategy, with an education component. a complete list of all documents referred to is shown in a ppendix 12.

Whilst these efforts reflect the conviction of the states that sound planning contributes towards good governance and the development of a robust and responsible education system it is less clear as to how they contribute toward core principles of child centredness, inclusiveness and gender sensitivity.

There are two main areas of deficiency that can be identified and that are addressed elsewhere in this document. These are areas of costs and financing, and monitoring processes. The first of these is covered in a separate section – see page 13 – whilst monitoring and evaluation is discussed in the context of a standardised plan format – see page 39.

a ppendix 4 summarises the main components as included in each of the plans. The table in this appendix shows that seven of the documents are current. The review process for five of these needs to be commenced in the near future. This is because they will expire before the end of 2015. a ppendix 7 shows the baseline for the number of states that have achieved each of the indicators. State by State analySiS The following state by state analysis of the plans provides information regarding each of the plans and uses this to determine what type of document it is. e ducation plans rather than the broader national strategic or development plans are the ones that are considered here.

anguilla The main document being considered here is termed a draft and is the five y ear e ducation d evelopment p lan from 2010 to 2015, subtitled r aising Standards for Sustainable n ational development. This is a document that looks at way of alleviating a number of concerns that have been identified, and then termed as priorities, as much as 89 it is a plan. i t is not clear as to exactly how these priorities have been arrived at although they are similar to concerns in other states. a n example of this, and one, which is repeated in a number of other plans, is the worry about standards of performance in the science and maths areas.

The priority areas have been followed up and a review of the secondary system and a draft a nguilla T veT policy are both now available.

barbados The major document referred to here is the Strategic p lan, 2002 to 2012, unless otherwise stated. This plan is currently under review.

There is a whole section on the vision although it is not clearly articulated. The mission statement is for the m inistry and is followed by its goals and objectives. These include those for youth development that are included because the m inistry is that of education, y outh a ffairs and Sport.

The situational analysis consists of a lengthy review of the various initiatives that have been undertaken in earlier years, which is useful background. This is followed by an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, o pportunities and Threats (SWoT) and then a list of 35 contextual issues that are broken up into a number of categories. i t is unclear as to whether these contextual issues have been derived from the SW oT analysis. These issues are then articulated in brief sections in each of the sectors and are then used to develop strategic goals and objectives. finally, there are some strategic initiatives outlined that cover a wide range of categories from secondary education to school meals. The final section on the strategic initiatives is on the e ducation Sector enhancement programme that ‘ in the words of the political is destined to forever change the educational and economic landscape of b arbados’ (page 90, Strategic p lan). This program is mentioned in a few places throughout the plan but is not as prominent as one might imagine it would be.

There are no costs provided, no monitoring framework and no real discussion regarding indicators in the plan.

The b arbados h uman resource d evelopment Strategy was produced much later than the education strategic plan and concentrates on training and the various qualifications frameworks that are being developed. i t has a clear vision and clear mission and provides objectives, strategies and also a financing mechanism although costs are not broken down. Grenada The document that is considered here is the s trategic Plan for Educational Enhancement and d evelopment (s PEEd). This document has long been in development and is extremely comprehensive. The plan is current but it is presently under review.

There is a vision for the children of g renada but no mission statement, a fairly sound situational analysis, a vision and goals have been set. There are eight strategic foci and then six key objectives for each of the focus areas. i t is these six that are then broken down into sub objectives and used in tables that show core strategic objectives and sub strategic objectives, all with targets and a priority rating. This is followed in the plan by a log frame that provides information on indicative costs, process / activities, outputs, outcomes / impacts and, finally, monitoring and evaluation. i ndicators are provided with means of verification. i t can be difficult to see direct links between the eight foci, the key objectives and then the log frame and it would be greatly improved if there could be a system of referencing in the log frame. This could then be cross-referenced to the information, which is presented in the body of the text.

There are some very good things that come up in the log frames and the tables that outline the objectives but that are not mentioned in the accompanying text, district boards of management are one such example, and this can be a little confusing. The lack of any numbering reference system makes it hard to follow initiatives through – resource centres in the primary schools is a particular example.

a s noted, all of the actions are prioritised but this is not then reflected in the sets of tables that follow. i nitial perusal suggests that there are too many high priority activities and it is not clear exactly how the various priority levels have been defined. a list of all high, medium and low priority activities would have been useful.

There is an appreciation of the fact that if many of the strategies put forward in the plan are to be realised then there will have to be a consistent and assured source of funding from g overnment and also from other agencies in the provision of education services.

The need for a greater diversification of funding sources is also noted.

Montserrat The document being considered here is the m ontserrat ministry of education Strategic p lan for 2011 to 2014.

The vision and mission statements are clear. The situational analysis looks at the outcomes of the previous plan, both successful and unsuccessful, lessons learned and key challenges.

This is followed by a client and stakeholder analysis of their needs and expectations along 1011 with the response of the m inistry. There are a series of charts and tables looking at trends in population, enrolment, standards and spending.

This is then followed by a series of issues that have come partly from reviews and reports that have been undertaken prior to the preparation of this plan. They include information that have been taken from the analysis of previous plans and the stakeholder analysis.

There is then an assumption and risk analysis which is good although it is not clear just where the assumptions come from.

There is then a log frame providing strategic objectives, indicators and targets by year.

The plan ends with some information on costing (see separate section on page 16) and monitoring and evaluation.

St Kitts and n evis The document considered here is not a plan as such but, rather, is a White p aper on e ducation d evelopment and policy, 2009 to 2019, subtitled ‘Raising the Standard, Maximising Resources, Aligning with Best Practices – Promoting Success For All’. a White p aper in the Westminster system of g overnment is a policy document that has been approved by c abinet. There is mention of a document entitled ‘Learning and Growing - The Long Term Education Plan 1998-2013’ a copy of which is not available.

There is a vision, which is far too lengthy, and a mission statement. The plan also provides objectives, goals, a situational analysis of varying depth and an agenda for action in each sector although these tend not to be quantified. There are parts of the white paper that feel like a plan but there are no log frames, no p erformance assessment framework (paf), no costings and many of the other things that a plan needs.

St. lucia The p lan discussed here is the Education Sector Development Plan, 2009 to 2014. i t is still current. This p lan has a vision statement and a mission included in this plan as well as values, principles and a statement of philosophy. There are five strategic priority areas that are broad in nature and that are then broken down as part of a strategic outlook. This leads to a list of policy directions. The sectors, from early childhood through to tertiary, are then defined and the priorities within each are stated.

e ach division of the d epartment - some are divisions, some are units - has its own section in the plan and lists their own priorities, of which, in total, there are far too many. This list of priorities is followed by an action plan, in log frame format, that details outputs, performance measure, targets and the like. There are no links demonstrated between these and how they contribute toward either their own divisional priorities or the overall priorities outlined earlier in the p lan.

Towards the end of the p lan there is a monitoring framework but there are far too many indicators. This is an extremely important part of the p lan but the number of indicators needs to be restricted to those that are linked to the key objectives and the priorities and that are already collected. This is discussed further in Section 3. one of the indicators is ‘the # of schools with disaster management plans’. There is no other mention of these disaster management plans elsewhere.

c ostsare said to be in a separate document, which is not available at present. This plan seems more of a p lan for the department than for the education system.

St Vincent and the Grenadines The plan discussed here is the Education Sector Development Plan, 2012 to 2017. i t is still current although it does still need to be formally endorsed. There is no formal vision as such provided although a goal that is quoted is in the form of a vision. i t is unclear as to whether the mission statement that is noted is an approved mission or simply one that has been developed for the purpose of this plan.

a situational analysis looks at all aspects of the socio economic condition of the country, the budget situation and then identifies successes of the education system and some issues of concern. There are ten of the former and 28 of the latter. i t would have been useful if this large number of issues could have been grouped to provide a more manageable number.

e ach of the sectors is then considered separately and has sections on issues such as access, equity, standards and management. The sectors are all treated slightly differently but all conclude with a number of key policy objectives. There are, in general, four or five of these objectives for each of the sectors.

These are followed by three separate log frames for each of the sectors, although some do not have all three. The first includes the objectives, strategies and activities. These are quite exhaustive. The second takes the objectives and strategies, and provides indicators and means of verification, as well as targets and risks. The final log frame is entitled an action plan and considers the costs by academic year. These log frames are largely empty. (See the costs section for more comment.) e ach of the sectors is organised slightly differently – some actually have a section entitled situational analysis – which makes the p lan hard to follow. 1213 There is a section of monitoring and evaluation, which explains at length what it is and then discusses a committee system for approaching the issue. The tables showing the draft i ntegrated m onitoring and e valuation plan do not show the type of indicators that would be used to monitor plan implementation.

t rinidad and t obago The plan considered here is a comprehensive document, very professionally presented and entitled the Education Strategic Plan, 2011 to 2015, and is current.

There is a vision, mission, set of values and also a philosophy included at the start of the plan. The situational analysis is in the form of a snap shot which explains how the education system is structured as well as how it is administered and provides data regarding the number of institutions. The section finishes with a number of issues that need to be addressed although these issues have not themselves come directly from the preceding snap shot. Three goals are set and the p lan then presents a table with 16 ministerial priorities. These m inisterial p riorities have been responded to in the m edium Term policy framework – i nnovation for lasting p rosperity.

The strategic plan framework then takes the three goals and splits them into 13 strategies or priorities and key activities. These are called transformational strategies. The two sets of priorities, although based on the same goals are not the same and are linked by the policy planning framework of the m inistry that will ‘take deliberate steps to integrate the above- mentioned transformational strategies along with the sixteen (16) Ministerial Priorities and other programmatic activities’ (page 19, ESP). The p lan then presents a table with the 16 m inisterial priorities as before but this time with key activities.

There are no log frames to provide information as to who is going to carry out these key activities, when or how. The implementation chapter just speaks of general implementation methodology, how to implement the transformational strategies and issues of governance.

There is a chapter on monitoring and evaluation approaches and reporting requirements although no monitoring framework as such. finally, there is a finance framework that provides budgetary forecasts through to 2015.

i n the appendix there is an interesting stakeholder analysis with the views of parents, students, teachers and the like. There are a large number of issues raised although it is not really clear as to exactly how these issues have been fed back into the setting of priorities and key activities or even the issues that were identified at the conclusion of the snap shot.

t urks and c aicos islands The document considered here, called the Five Year Education Development Plan, 2006 to 2010, is a document produced in a highly professionally manner and developed by a team of consultants. The plan is not current and is presently under review. i t does seem to be more of a plan to address the labour issues being faced by the country, that at present hosts large numbers of migrant workers, than one looking at the issues faced by the education system. one of the reasons for the high numbers of migrant workers is the lack of suitably qualified islanders. one of the key reasons for this plan is to look at ways of alleviating this shortage.

v ision and mission statements are in place and have been developed by the writers from discussion with stakeholders. i t is not clear as to how much these have changed from earlier plans or whether they have been changed at all.

There are long sections early in the plan on the economy and on the labour market, which is clearly very important to the i slands. The issue of ‘belongers’ and ‘non-belongers’ is vital when looking at education requirements at all levels. The situation analysis contains useful tables about enrolments and examinations, all disaggregated by gender and by ‘belongers’ status. There is also useful information concerning pupil teacher ratios, expenditures and teacher qualifications and training.

i n the section on the plan itself tables are provided for enrolments to ensure universal education given certain assumptions regarding growth rates and non-belongers entering the system. The projections for the post primary are made taking into account the labour market needs and policy decision relating to work visas and the like.

There are no log frames as such but there is a table that shows key activities and who is to be responsible. There are no targets and really no objectives explicitly laid out and no discussion regarding monitoring and evaluation.

2.3.1 The extent to which countries have adopted 1415 child-centred, gender-sensitive and inclusive education plans and policies i f the purpose of an education plan is to improve sector performance, then, some specific areas merit clear attention in the plans. c lear measures to address inclusion issues, among them gender differences, should receive prominence and this is especially so if the objectives are to achieve universal access to ece, primary and secondary education. There are also the issues of belongers in T ci, indigenous populations in dominica and other countries such as St. l ucia, migrants in montserrat, while mainstreaming disability is a common challenge to all countries. These issues constitute core concerns on equity, which forms the basis of the current unicef c ountry programme a ction plan (cpap) Some states may consider that they have achieved gender equity following achievement of universal education in the primary and secondary sectors and they can now afford to concentrate on other competing priorities. This is evidenced by the many countries that make little or no reference to gender equity. The figures do not suggest that gender equity has been achieved (see a ppendix 1) and point to the significant problems that boys are having in progressing through the education system. The c aribbean Secondary education c ertificate (cS ec) report suggests that it is not only in terms of access that boys are being disadvantaged. Their figures suggest that in January, 2013, 64% of girls against only 36% of boys gained the degree of passes that are considered to be a satisfactory level of achievement. The figures detailing the number of candidates in the cape and the cS ec are equally revealing. Some 60% of candidates in each are female (a ppendix 1, tables 5 and 6).

i t is incumbent upon all g overnments to continue to disaggregate data by gender, remain vigilant and to monitor gender and inclusion related indicators on a regular basis. There is an encouraging acknowledgment in most plans of the importance of the integration of those with special needs into the school system.

St ate by State analySiS There is little indication of any consideration being given by Anguilla to issues of gender sensitivity or inclusive policies and measures although it should be borne in mind that the document is not a comprehensive education sector plan. The country does subscribe to the i deal caribbean person as endorsed by caricom and instead has ‘ continued promotion of student-centred learning’ as a strategy related to curriculum development.

i t is advised that a nguilla is one of the countries now implementing the child friendly schools initiative, and this should feature prominently in the design of a new sector plan. e ven then, measures for ensuring inclusion should also be included in school improvement plans (S ips), where they exist so that there is full attention to inclusion issues at the institutional level The p lan for Barbados does not specifically refer to gender as being an issue in education although one of the objectives of the m inistry is ‘to ensure equity in the delivery of education, taking the special needs of students into account’. a g ender parity index of 1.12 in the secondary sector suggests that much still needs to be done in the area of gender equity. The details of candidates entered for the cape and cS ec also demonstrate this (see a ppendix 1, tables 3,5 and 6) i n terms of inclusiveness one of the goals is ‘to provide special educational facilities for the disadvantaged to enable them to lead full, active and interesting lives’. i t is acknowledged in the plan that ‘there is an absence of effective educational opportunities for those with special needs’. There is a section in the plan that is devoted to Special e ducation, which deals largely with the preparation of teachers. The p lan makes certain commitments with a number of strategies designed so children with special needs are provided with a quality education. finally, there is no mention throughout the p lan of children being reintegrated into the classroom. a new child centred approach to teaching was to be one of the strategies to be used in implementing the curriculum reform.

The Grenada plan has little specifically related to gender but does include a sub objective to ‘ develop enabling conditions for full participation of at-risk and excluded children within the context of gender parity’. This section mentions the reintegration, where possible, of children and youths with all manner of problems – social and otherwise.

There is a target of an inclusive system being in place by 2010. critically, it states that ‘Educational development goes hand in hand with poverty alleviation, on condition, however, that educational policies are inclusive of the needs and the characteristics of the most deprived in Grenadian society’ (page 18, SPEED). one objective of the 2012 curriculum policy statement is to ‘reconfigure the learning environment to establish learner-centred, child-friendly, health promoting schools’ There is little mention in either the Montserrat d evelopment plan or the Strategic p lan of gender apart from note of gender differences in examination results. The figures shown in a ppendix 1 illustrate that the country has still not achieved gender equity. The most worrying statistic is that twice as many girls than boys were entered as candidates for the ceSc in 2012 (a ppendix 1, table 6). There is no mention of inclusiveness and the only acknowledgement of there being any children with differing needs, comes in the draft d evelopment p lan. The 3rd output of an objective relating to the improvement of teaching is ‘the progress in the learning of Students with identified Special e ducation needs and disabilities’ (page 20, d evelopment plan). There are a number of activities that relate to 1617 this output. There is no mention of child centred learning in documents available.

There is a T veT Strategic p lan incorporated into the s t Kitts white paper and it acknowledges that there are gender issues in training and that too many people perceive there to be separate training courses for men and women. The T veT p lan is seen as being an opportunity to improve gender equity.

The 6 th objective of the white paper is to ‘provide opportunities for children with special needs to participate in inclusive early childhood experiences’. There is an entire section devoted to Special n eeds education that speaks of a special education unit as well as skills for teachers in regular classrooms. The only mention of child centred learning was that a student- centred curriculum should be designed for lower streams.

There are priorities within each of the sectors in the s t. Lucia plan that relate to those with special needs but there are so many priorities that this does not really imply that they are genuine priorities. one of the outcomes of the plan is an understanding of the principle of gender equality. h owever, as with the priorities there are just so many outcomes that this is really of little significance. The plan asks for new modalities of teaching and learning to be introduced.

a lthough the term inclusive is not used in the s t vincent and the Grenadines plan there is an acceptance that those with special needs have the right to have additional or different provision made for them in order that can receive an equivalent education to others of a similar age. There is a section in the plan devoted to special education that acknowledges that many are not receiving due attention because there are insufficient teachers able to provide the instruction required. There is not yet sufficient integration of children into the mainstream primary and secondary schools. There are a series of strategies that include the construction of special units in some schools and also teacher preparation and these are all included on the log frames with, in some cases, costing and a time frame. i n the same way gender equity is mentioned throughout the plan and the tables provide gender disaggregated data. e quity, to be assessed by gender, socio economic status, geographical location, and ethnicity is one of the areas of focus of the plan.

There is frequent mention of teachers using new methods but it is not entirely clear as to whether this is referring to child centred learning.

Special education needs and gender concerns are identified as being two of the major challenges in the t rinidad and tobago plan. There is provision made in the projected costs that include an appropriation for special education. The Seamless e ducation System p rogramme has identified the need for a c onsultancy to be conducted for inclusive e ducation. The first of the guiding principles in the e ducation Strategic plan is to see the child as being the centre of everything that the d epartment does The t urks and c aicos plan observes principles of equity, be it geographic, gender or whether people are of belonger/non-belonger status. i t acknowledges the needs of students with special educational needs and suggests that some 10% of children, including those who are exceptionally gifted, will require special attention. one of the key activities is to develop facilities to treat equitably those with differing needs. The plan contains little mention of methods of teaching and learning.

2.3.2 The extent of costing and financial implications included in the education plans.

o ne of the weaknesses of this set of plans is the almost complete lack of any information regarding costs. i t is important to include the costs for two main reasons.

first, g overnment needs to understand the financial implications of policy decisions made before it endorses a plan. When this endorsement is achieved then g overnment has made a commitment to support the m inistry in the implementation process through the annual budget appropriation. The m inistry responsible for budgeting, usually the m inistry for finance or Treasury, should be required to approve the p lan before it is considered for approval. The Turks and c aicos recognise this as one of the main actions is to ‘ determine the level of financing to be allocated to the education system over the medium term’.

Second, in a time of increasing fiscal discipline around the region there is going to be increasing competition for limited funds. e ducation is sometimes seen to take up a significant part of g overnment budgets, usually between about 15 and 20% and this is largely due to the costs of teacher salaries. finance officials are not going to recommend the commitment of further funds to education unless there is a demonstrated link between the funds that are being requested and stated targets. i n too many cases plans are made without recourse to budgets and, similarly, budgets are prepared on an annual basis without reference to stated goals and objectives. a well-costed plan that is directed towards objectives is much easier to elicit approval for than one that has no such information. i n the longer term states may be required to develop a m edium Term e xpenditure f ramework that would integrate policy, planning and budgeting in a medium term perspective 1819 What should be included in a chapter on costs and finances? There are two aspects to this – the costs and the financing.

on the costs side all aspects of administering the education system should be included.

They will include recurrent costs and the estimated costs of new initiatives and strategies introduced as a result of the plan. The most recent budget figures should be included and the projected figures by year for at least the first few plan years 1. The costs in some of the outlying years may only be indicative. i f this work is done then there is some interesting analysis that can take place. a ppendix 10 shows examples of some charts that can be derived from plans that have provided some information on costs.

a n enrolments, staffing and costs simulation model could be used as a technical tool to help States determine the costs of a plan. This could either be a simple model developed at the state level or it could be a rather more sophisticated model such as the uneSco developed e ducation policy and Strategy Simulation model (epSSim). The latter is used by some states in the region and will require training for planning and budgeting staff for it to be utilised to its fullest capacity. The value of using a rather more sophisticated model is that it allows greater flexibility for scenarios to be run comparing different policy options.

i f a g overnment does commit itself to supporting a plan then it is only reasonable that it be made aware of what is to be achieved, as a result of this expenditure. This is equally true for donor and other development partners who need to be able to justify expenditures to their own constituency. This is why a monitoring framework is so important. i t is through this mechanism that reports can be generated and g overnments and other stakeholders informed as to how the funds are being expended and the results that are being achieved against stated targets.

on the financing side, there should be estimates of revenue from g overnment, from donor partners and other stakeholders which, will allow for a resource gap to be calculated. i f there is a gap, then the m inistry will need to prioritise, in concert with g overnment and other stakeholders, what the prioritised activities should be. This, ultimately, will lead to discussion concerning the gap and analysis as to how it should be closed. 1 w hether these should be real or nominal costs is an important issue but is beyond the scope of this document. State by State analySiS This section considers the type of information that each state has included in its plan on resource availability and on the costs of implementing the plan. There are instances where the plan that has been referred to in the section on e xisting plans does not contain any such information yet there is some availability in other documents. Such instances are noted where appropriate.

This is little mention of financing and costs in the Anguilla plan although there are some interesting figures given. There is a table showing education expenditure as a percentage of the budget. i t has dropped from up to 18% in the 1990s to only around 11% between 2005and 2008. The share of education spending going to secondary education has also dropped from more than 85% in the late 1990s to just less than half in 2008. f urther analysis is necessary to determine whether this could simply be a result of increasing emphasis on basic education in order to achieve targets relating universal primary education.

The Barbados h uman resource d evelopment Strategy provides the costs for the whole program with exactly 10% coming from external sources. These costs are disaggregated by strategic pillar of which there are five but not by year or activity.

There is very little included in the e ducation Strategic plan and there are no finance or costing tables as such. h owever, there is an acknowledgment of the importance of finance and two of the critical success factors are ‘ finance at the individual, institutional and m inistry level’ (page 101, eS p) and the ‘provision of adequate financing with a view towards cost efficiency’ (page 101, eS p). The Grenada plan includes costs as one of the fields in the logical framework. i t is described as indicative costing although the figures are very precise. This would suggest that they have been calculated. The information that is provided would be of greater use if it were clearer as to what the figures are referring to, how they have been arrived at and what time period each covers, although the assumption has to be that it is for the entire period of the plan.

The Montserrat Strategic and d evelopment plans both give similar figures of past expenditure and these are projected forwards in the d evelopment plan. There is little analysis and there are questions as to why administration costs are so high and why unit costs for the early years education so expensive. There are some interesting figures illustrating the huge percentage of the education budget that is spent on teacher salaries.

This is due primarily to the very low pupil teacher ratios. i f nothing else, this demonstrates the huge potential that exists for the reallocation of funds from salaries to quality components. 2021 The strategic plan gives detail of budget requirements for recurrent and development with the source for all development funding being the d epartment for international d evelopment (dfid) of the u nited Kingdom. The costs are also broken down by year. i n addition, projected staffing figures and costs are provided by year and sector.

There are no costs included in the s t Kitts White paper.

The foreword to the s t Lucia plan refers to ‘the costing of the plan (being) presented in a separate document’. This document was not made available.

The s t vincent and the Grenadines plan suggests that chapter 4 is a Summary of ‘ i ndicative costings and financing issues’ but in fact it is a table showing indicative capital and recurrent costs by sub sector. c osts, that look to have been calculated, are provided in the action plans that are provided at the end of each section and these are consistent with those shown in chapter 4. i t is not clear at tothe period that these costs cover.

The p lan speaks of the poor macroeconomic climate and the fact that this will lead to increasing competition for limited public funds. i t further warns that with education spending already so high it may even be expected that there be no real increase in education appropriation. There are sections in the plan that point out the difficulties that are faced due to the structure of the d epartment which has both a permanent Secretary, responsible for spending of the annual budgetary appropriation, and a c hief education officer who is the head of the professional staff of the m inistry.

The t rinidad and t obago plan provides financial projections for both recurrent and capital expenditures. These figures do not include tertiary education, which is the responsibility of a separate ministry –Science, Technology and Tertiary e ducation. TveT programs are included in the secondary sector. The recurrent figures include personal emoluments for teachers as well as social support programs that include nutrition, textbook rental, and transport for students. Teacher training and icT initiatives, including the laptop program, are also included in the recurrent figures. c apital expenditure includes new construction and improvements on existing stock as well as upgrades of public buildings at the district level. a nnual support is provided for the Seamless e ducation System program. The figures suggest an annual rise in recurrent expenditure of 12% and a rather less manageable rise of 25% in capital expenditure. This very high rise for capital expenditure is due to the base year, 2011, showing a very low level of such expenditure. There is no indication as to how realistic these figures are and just where this funding is likely to come from whether from g overnment sources, from donor partners or whether parents be asked to contribute more the education of their children. There is little sense whether there is likely to be a funding gap. The turks and caicos islands are using unit costs by pre-primary, primary secondary and tertiary for calculating the totals for the system. The unit costs for the secondary sector have been calculated as actuals. The costs for the other sectors have been calculated using data from oecd countries to derive ratios for the relative costs for primary, secondary and tertiary. f or example, the unit costs of primary education in oecd countries is 80% of that of secondary and so this same ratio has been used for Turks and c aicos. although highly innovative, there must be doubts as to how accurate this method is.

The unit costs for each of the secondary schools have also been calculated. The plan is almost entirely devoted to achieving access targets and, rather ambitiously, to achieving targets relating to the percentage of fully trained belongers available to join the work force.

There is no costing done of quality initiatives although it is possible that these are included in the unit cost figures. i f this is the case then it would imply that the situation regarding such initiatives will remain ‘as is’.

c onsistency of plans with the oec S education Sector Strategy The organisation of e astern caribbean States has developed a comprehensive oecS e ducation Sector Strategy (oeSS) to guide educational development in the region during the years 2012-21. The Strategy was endorsed by oecS m inisters of education at their 22nd m eeting which was held in St. Kitts in m ay 2012. The oeSS ensures an approach to investment in and strengthening of education that will achieve measureable, sustainable outcomes for learners and education systems across m ember States. it is anticipated that over time all national education strategies and plans will be aligned to the regional strategy. The oeSS provides m ember States with a guide to inform, develop or to revise as necessary, their own national i mperatives, Strategic objectives and outcomes for the education sector. i t is anticipated that there will be convergence in implementation of the Strategy across the oecS region. a lthough recognising that member States will each have their own priorities, time lines and targets to meet their respective educational priorities, at the regional level they are expected to integrate these priorities with those of the oeSS.

The purpose of this section is to consider the planning documents that have been made available from member states and to determine their consistency with the seven strategic imperative as laid down in the oeSS. a cautionary note must be made to advise that the planning documents being used vary enormously both in their nature, scope, duration and in their dates. i n a number of cases the plans date from some ten years or so ago. Some have lapsed, but either extended or just continue being used. 2223 There are seven Strategic i mperatives as outlined in the oeSS. a ppendix 2 gives, state by state, summaries of their adherence to each of the i mperatives.

Improve the qualIty and accountab IlIty of leadershIp and management The outcomes from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• Qualified leaders are in place across the education system and are supported by b oards (where applicable) and governing bodies.

• Revised legislation, knowledge management and accountability frameworks that devolve decision making to schools.

• Education leaders, managers and aspiring leaders have access to continuing professional development.

s uccess in the achievement of these outputs will be measured by:

• The “share of qualified education leaders at all levels in posts across the OECS by 2021”; and • The “share of educational leaders reporting progress annually to oversight bodies and acting on feedback”.

a ll of the p lans make mention of leadership and management as an important issue that does need addressing and most propose some form of training. a number of the states actually see this as being one of their priorities. There is a difference, however, in the interpretation of what leadership and management encompasses. v irtually all states see it as referring to school leadership and school management and there are not so many that consider ministry leadership and ministry management as being of equal importance. There are only a few that have included the training of m inistry staff The oeSS Strategic i mperative sees the issue as being leadership and management at all levels from the school to the m inistry. Grenada have an interesting take on this by recognising that if management practices at the school level are going to change then there will have to be reform in the way in which the m inistry is administrated and managed.

s t Lucia looks to an overall staff development and learning plan, which can be taken to include those in the m inistry, to enhance administrative functions. on a slightly different tack, they are also one of the few states to bring up training for governing bodies. i n their case it was included for the b oards of secondary schools but could be of equal value in the other sub sectors.

The reason for there being less mention of m inistry training may be that many of the 1 states and their ministries are so small that it is simply not feasible for them to conduct training programs for their staff. There is also the issue as to whether these states have the capacity to do so without outside support. i t is interesting to note that two of the larger states, t rinidad and tobago and Barbados, in their n ational Strategic plan and h uman r esource d evelopment p lan respectively, highlight the need for training and institutional strengthening across the whole of the public service and not just the m inistry of e ducation. i n the case of the latter there has clearly been some analysis of institutional capacity taking place as recommendations have also been made regarding specific new positions required in order to fill a skills gap, one of them being a statistician. a greater analysis of whole of g overnment plans may well reveal that more of the states have encompassed these sorts of ideas. The type of training to be put in place is not addressed widely. s t vincent and the Grenadines would like to see a school leadership program leading to an accreditable certificate. g renada has proposed a program to be supported by the dfid of the u nited Kingdom.

The issue of decentralisation is raised in a number of the plans and the use of district personnel is one strategy to move decision making closer to the communities. The exact role of the district administration will obviously vary from state to state and it is difficult to comment on training programs necessary. p rior to a state embarking on a program of decentralisation the core responsibilities of the ministries need to be determined.

There are a number of ways in which these training programs can be supported by edmu .

m uch of the skills set and the knowledge that m inistry officials need are similar to those of other public servants and it might make sense for states to run courses for their public servants in personnel management, policy development and general administration.

These courses could be attended by those from all m inistries. There are, however, some areas that are specific to education, examples of which might be education planning, data analysis, and monitoring and evaluation techniques. There are other ‘grey’ areas such as budgeting and finance – calculating the costs of education activities may be the same for all states but budgeting processes may well be very different.

improve TeacherS ’ profeSS ional d evelopmenT The outcomes from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• Improved teacher quality • Pre-service training and professional development programmes are in place for all prospective and in-service teachers and teacher trainers respectively, relevant to each 2 2425 stage of their career.

• Regular and systematic teacher appraisal operates in conjunction with established teacher professional standards.

• Reduced numbers of out-of-field teachers in schools.

s uccess in the achievement of these outcomes will be measured by:

• The “share of qualified teaching staff in schools and colleges across the OECS”; and • The “percentage increase in qualified teaching staff working in their areas of expertise in oecS schools” • The establishment of Teacher Professional Standards The need for teacher professional development is accepted in all plans. The only surprise is the little mention made of training for the untrained teachers currently in the system. This is known to be an issue in many countries in the region, especially at the secondary level where up to 47% remain untrained (oecS, 2012). The Grenada plan notes this as being one of the constraints to improving teacher professionalism and bemoans the traditionally necessary, but undesirable, practice of recruiting untrained teachers.

i t is readily acknowledged in all documents that any form of curriculum reform will have to be allied with a program of professional development for teachers. This is even the case for the t urks and c aicos where otherwise it was felt that the c ommunity college in the country had done a good job in preparing teachers for their work. The introduction of icT into the classroom and into the administrative life of schools (see Strategic i mperative 3 below) is seen in the bulk of plans as being the major area for intervention. s t Kitts and nevis also identify the integration of T veT subjects into the school curriculum as an initiative that will lead to the need for further teacher preparation.

The different and changing modalities of training are discussed in many of the plans with a number of them pointing to the improvements in icT leading to the broadening of opportunities for teachers to contribute towards their own professional development.

s t v incent and the Grenadines is the only state to bring up the need for special consideration to be given to teachers from disadvantaged areas – in their case for teachers serving in the g renadines.

Barbados is the state that has delved the furthest into issues of the teacher beyond just that of training. empowerment of the teacher is discussed and their plan considered an evaluation system and a way of rewarding excellence. Succession planning is noted in both their e ducation Strategic p lan and national Strategic p lan as being critical for a teaching service if an education system is to be successful. The n ational Strategic p lan looked at establishing a Teaching Services c ommission and developing a human resource d evelopment p rogram that would look at individual career development as well as succession planning and leadership training. g renada is also concerned about an apparent decline in teacher professionalism, what is described as ‘lethargy in pursuing continuing professional development’ (page 31, S peed). it suggests that introducing a licensing system would promote standards of teacher professionalism. s t Kitts will be introducing an appraisal system for teachers.

improve The Q ualiTy of Teaching and learning The outcomes from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• Learners are engaged with all learning and their expectations met.

• Achievement levels are significantly improved; all learners attain required levels of literacy, numeracy and technological skills, and are equipped to use relevant competencies at school, at college, at home and for future work.

s uccess in the achievement of these outcomes will be measured by:

• The “share of schools and classrooms at all levels of education across the OECS that demonstrate the use of learner-centred lessons”; and • The “percentage increase in learner achievement at all levels to match relevant benchmarks”.

Student centred learning is not specifically mentioned in many of the plans although it may well be implicit in much of the curriculum reform that is proposed (see Strategic i mperative 4 below). s t vincent and the Grenadines mention teachers using ‘new methods’ in their teaching without ever actually explaining what these new methods might be. The n ational Strategic p lan in trinidad and t obago suggests, ‘...the adoption of new teaching methodologies as well as the infusion of technology in the learning process.

g overnment sees the importance of incorporating new ways of learning and promoting technology adaptation among the youth’ (page 12, nS p). The first of the guiding principles in the e ducation Strategic p lan, also in trinidad and t obago, is to see the child as being the centre of everything that the d epartment of education does. a ll reforms will involve the integration of v alue outcomes for c hildren into the curriculum. Grenada produced a curriculum policy statement in 2012 which says that ‘teachers must be student-centred in their approach to teaching and foster classroom environments which are conducive to learning and promotes healthy lifestyles and behaviours’ (page 6, c urriculum policy Statement).

i t should however be noted that there are initiatives both by governments as well as those supported by other development partners in promoting child centred teaching and learning in various forms. The c aribbean development b ank (cdb) is supporting 3 2627 school effectiveness in some countries such as b arbados that also has a teacher training component, the Strengthening Teacher effectiveness p lans (STeps). it has also supported a programme in m ontserrat that focuses on assessments, classroom management and pedagogical processes. unicef continues to support the c hild friendly Schools (cfS) programme that has so far been adopted in seven countries (a nguilla, antigua and b arbuda, b arbados, d ominica, g renada, St. Kitts and n evis and St. vincent and the g renadines) with Trinidad and Tobago expected to start in 2013.

There is wide spread concern across the region regarding the standards being achieved in schools at both primary and secondary levels. The percentage of children achieving an acceptable score in the test that determines placement into secondary school is the concern at the primary level whilst at the secondary level it is the numbers passing five subjects (including m ath and english) in the c aribbean Secondary education certificate (cS ec). The science subjects are those that cause the greatest concern. i mproved performance in these subjects and maths was identified in Anguilla as being one of their priority areas and the same country has ‘ continued promotion of student-centred learning’ as a strategy.

Montserrat has a strategic objective of improving icT access and actually has a student computer ratio as one of their targets.

improve curriculum and S TraTegieS for aSS eSSmenT The outcomes from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• Flexible, learner-centred curricula with assessment at each stage which includes a wide range of learning outcomes targeting academic, technical and personal development skills.

• A relevant and comprehensive education and skills strategy operates nationally and across the oecS region with resulting curricula that are learner-centred and competency-based to meet the needs of all learners.

• All performance measures for learner outcomes indicate improvement year-on-year at each stage and match comparable international benchmarks.

• All learners can demonstrate core knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies needed to be successful 21st c entury caribbean citizens, and can confidently contribute and progress at school, college, in their communities and at work.

s uccess in the achievement of these outcomes will be measured by:

• The “percentage of learners at all stages of their education accessing a curriculum that meets their individual needs”; • The “percentage increases in attainment levels that match relevant benchmarks”; 4 • The “assessment strategies in place in classroom and national levels to measure learning achievement; and • The “percentage reduction in learner disciplinary incidents reported”.

a ll of the states propose curriculum reform of some description although the degree of the reform varies. s t Kitts and nevis are looking to extend the curriculum for primary and secondary children by the promotion of after school activities. i t is hoped that this, amongst other things, will help to improve the plight of many boys who are struggling in the system. This is similar to the key pillar of the c hild friendly Schools programme that focuses on inclusion and differentiated teaching and learning for girls and boys.

The word relevance is used in many of the plans. The t urks and caicos sum it up in their e xecutive Summary stating that the ‘curriculum is in need of updating to improve its relevance to Turks and Caicos i slanders facing the demands of the 21st century’ and that it should ‘speak to the needs of diverse communities in Turks and Caicos’ whilst displaying ‘sensitivity to the culture of the Turks and Caicos i slands.’ There are a number of drivers for curriculum reform and there are a few that have received multiple mention. first is the wide spread introduction of e arly childhood e ducation as an integral part of the education system (see Strategic i mperative 5) and this has led to the primary curriculum having to be reformed to be consistent with what is being taught prior to entry into primary school. Second has been the increasing integration of T veT subjects into the curriculum, particularly at the primary and secondary levels. Third has been icT and the increasing push for this to be introduced into schools both as a learning tool and as a subject in itself. The British v irgin islands have long had computers in their schools but still need to fully integrate icT into their curriculum. Antigua and Barbuda has recently given up to 6,000 ipad 4s to its high school students, while s t. Lucia is also implementing a laptop distribution programme to its students.

There is an implicit acknowledgment that the curriculum is going to have to change as the economies of the countries change and this is an important aspect of relevance.

m ontserrat say that the curriculum has to change to ensure alignment with the developmental needs of the country.

m any of the states in the region are now approaching universal secondary education and this has clearly meant that students with an increasing range of ability have been enrolled in the secondary school system. a s a result of this there has been a need to diversify the curriculum at the secondary schools particularly in regard to T veT subjects. a core strategic objective of the Grenada plan is that curriculum reform is needed ‘to ensure that the relevance and scope of the curriculum reflects the diversity of learning needs of all 2829 children as well as the demands of the labour market’, (page 50, S peed).

There is much less said about assessment and assessment strategies although there are one or two states speaking of continuous assessment. Grenada would like to see assessment processes become more varied and to include continuous assessment and the development of a competency based approach to assessing learning outcomes at the primary and secondary levels. They took it one step further and proposed that this should lead to student promotion through the system by defining and adopting minimum competency levels for students to achieve at each g rade. Barbados identified a lack of assessment processes as being a weakness and continuous assessment is being recommended across all sectors.

increa Se (and eXpand) acceSS To Q ualiT y early childhood d evelopmenT ServiceS (ecdS) The outcomes, by 2021, from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• National operational plans developed and implemented to increase pre-primary education for all learners aged three to five • Formal Early Childhood Development Services meet required minimum standards • A sustainable funding strategy for ECD, supported by both public and private sector investment in place and operational.

• Functioning inter-sector, parent and community collaborative mechanisms in place in all m ember States made up of a variety of stakeholders. s uccess in the achievement of these outcomes will be measured by:

• The “percentage of all children entering primary school with prerequisite readiness skills”; and • The “share of 0 to 5 year olds accessing ECD services”.

a ll states subscribe to this imperative and as can be seen from the figures in a ppendix 1 great progress has been made in terms of access. d espite this, there is still much to be done. ecd is largely privately provided and this remains as a potential barrier to the many poor households in the region who are not able to pay. There are variations between the states in how they look at the issue and how they treat those in early childhood.

a n example of this is s t Kitts and nevis who are charging fees for early childhood institutions 1 which is contrary to the fee policies at the other levels of the education 5 1 s ource – g overnment web site - http://www.moeskn.org/index.php?option=com_content&view =article&id=3&i temid=64 system. on the other hand, s t Kitts and nevis also states that special emphasis will be placed on the children from poor and disadvantaged families and communities. st v incent and the Grenadines mention the importance of access for those from poor homes and the t urks and caicos the ‘non belongers’.

The financial implications of introducing universal early childhood education are significant and have not been fully addressed. St l ucia feels the need to develop and implement standards and regulations within early childhood education partly because expansion has been so quick and also because many of the providers have been in the private sector.

only one state, t rinidad and tobago, note the legislative implications of introducing universal early childhood education. s t vincent and the Grenadines and s t Lucia speak of the development and implementation of standards and regulations that have to be determined for early childhood education.

Montserrat have clearly understood the implications of a rapid expansion and their whole of g overnment Sustainable d evelopment plan has a strategy to ‘ improve education infrastructure to respond to growing student population, changes to curriculum and developmental needs’ – page 74, Sdp. This is across all sectors but includes a target for work to be completed at two ece centres. ece is not compulsory in m ontserrat although there has been significant expansion and the ger is very high – see a ppendix 1.

There are also variations as to just how the states will cope with some of the implications of achieving universal early childhood education. The most obvious impact is that of teacher education and there seems to be little evidence of efforts or programmes to address this.

p rovide oppor TuniTieS for all learnerS in Technical and vocaTional educa Tion and Training (T veT) The outcomes from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• Primary school curricula, teaching and learning incorporate exploratory learning experiences that develop basic technical competencies and an appreciation for the world of work • Competency based curricula linked to the CVQ framework established across secondary and tertiary education and in all other educational settings in work and in community • A Qualification Framework established that enables learners to move seamlessly between academic and vocational qualifications in formal and informal educational settings 6 3031 s uccess in the achievement of these outcomes will be measured by:

• The “percentage increase in relevant TVET programmes sanctioned by employers and g overnment”; and • The “increase in number and share of students participating in TVET programmes”.

a ttitudes toward T veT have been changing but there is still a way to go as evidenced by a comment made in one of the plans ‘… provisions were made in the TVET sub-sector for students who left school at the end of g rade 9 by virtue of deficiencies in school supply as well as their own less than stellar performance in the school system’. There needs to be an acknowledgment that academic prowess is not the sole criteria for a student to be a success. The introduction of cv Q and mainstreaming in primary and secondary schools should help change perceptions towards T veT. finally, the acquisition of relevant skills is important in the development of education systems that produce graduates with characteristics of the ideal c aribbean person.

There is widespread acceptance of the importance of T veT in all parts of the system and, as noted in the section on Strategic i mperative 4, the increasing diversity of the intake into secondary schools has meant that there is increasing demand for skills development training as opposed to a purely academic curriculum. s t Lucia, maybe recognising some of the implications of a rapid expansion in T veT, will carry out a review prior to developing a set of n ational regulations and T veT p olicies. T veT is an expensive part of the education system as noted by Grenada and care must be taken in its expansion.

The Barbados plan seeks to put in place a pilot project to rationalise the T veT resources in the secondary schools. The draft m edium Term development Strategy recognises the need to fit out the secondary school facilities in such a way that they are able to offer the cv Q programs.

s t v incent and the Grenadines have taken both a long and a short term view. a long term objective would be to restructure the T veT sector to be incorporated into a national integrated system of life long education and training and have an entry point into T veT institutions at post-secondary. i n the short term there is the intention to make the existing system more efficient, to expand the number of courses available and to upgrade the quality of the workforce.

m any of the implications of a rapid expansion of the T veT sector, both in the primary and secondary schools, and in the post-secondary sector are discussed by many of the states but none really come to grips with the financial implications of such changes in focus. t rinidad and t obago are the exception to this in that their plan recommends an audit to determine the needs of schools if they are to embark on integrating T veT fully into their secondary curriculum. They also discuss extending the scope of their scholarship program to allow for students to study for T veT qualifications rather than only for academic ones.

t urks and c aicos islands also counsel an efficient use of the scholarship program to ensure that their people have got an opportunity to be able to receive training in a wide range of disciplines. This is because of the realisation that their system is not going to be able to provide all of the courses that are required at their own college. Some of their students will have to train elsewhere.

There is still much to be done in relation to regulating the T veT system – Anguilla speaks of the need for a T veT framework, s t Kitts have been working on a draft policy, their plan actually includes a draft T veT Strategic p lan, and st vincent and the Grenadines acknowledge the need to look at the management of the T veT system. The c aribbean v ocational Qualifications (cv Q) system was noted by a number of states and T veT is clearly one of the sectors that can benefit from a regional approach to its development. one reason for this, as pointed out by the t urks and caicos islands is that the states are simply too small to be able to provide training in all disciplines and at all levels.

increa Se proviS ionS for Ter Tiary and c onTinuing educa Tion The outcomes, by 2021, from interventions to implement this imperative will be:

• Sustainable funding mechanisms for tertiary and continuing education to meet the economic, social and labour market needs of the oecS and learners can access affordable tertiary education • A legal institutional framework that improve the status, sustainability and outcomes of tertiary and continuing education institutions across the oecS.

• Accredited tertiary and continuing education institutions in and outside the OECS produce high quality relevant programmes and research results fostering creativity and innovations.

s uccess in the achievement of these outcomes will be measured by :

• The “ increase in access to tertiary and continuing education”; • The “increase in research and innovation in the OECS”; and • The “level of employ and government satisfaction with relevance of course on offer at tertiary institutions”.

The states are concerned about tertiary education and in some cases, Barbados for example, the amount of space devoted to the sector is significant. There are good reasons 7 3233 for this concern. first is that as the states move towards achieving universal primary and, more recently, universal secondary education the demand for education has moved to the pre-primary and tertiary sectors. t urks and caicos islands articulates this in noting that with the near realisation of universal education in the ece, primary and secondary sectors, the country can focus more on the post-secondary and tertiary sectors.

Second is that the world of work is changing and is becoming more and more sophisticated. The c aribbean states are not immune to these changes and it is incumbent upon them to respond to these changes. The demand from employers is for highly qualified and competent students to be produced by the tertiary institutions and no longer is secondary education considered as being suitable for entry into many areas of employment. a number of states, Montserrat and s t Lucia amongst them, note the importance of expanding opportunities in line with labour market needs. s t Kitts have set themselves a target of 20% ger for university entrance by 2020.

There are c ommunity c olleges, in many cases just the one, that are mentioned by nearly all of the states. They are clearly held in great regard because of the contributions that they have made to nation building. s t Kitts, Montserrat, st vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and st Lucia all put forward strategies to develop, to expand or to upgrade these institutions. i t has to be recognised that there are limits as to just how much can be done with these colleges.

There are worries about the costs of tertiary education but this concern is often limited to the costs that are going to have be incurred in the form of fees. These worries are very real because there are only a limited number of scholarships available in each state. a ny increase in access, and especially the rapid rises that are envisaged by states will mean that unless the values of scholarships available rises proportionally that students themselves are either going to have to take on the extra burden or miss out on the opportunity. u nfortunately this is the most likely outcome as a result of the rise in access. s t vincent and the Grenadines have explicitly articulated their concerns by acknowledging that support will be needed for the disadvantaged students, many of whom come from the g renadines. The same state also expresses concern about gender disparity with up to two thirds of tertiary students being female.

Tuition fees are not the only costs that have to be considered. The costs of establishing the extra places, diversifying the range of courses that are made available and recruiting, training and then retaining the staff is not addressed in many cases. t rinidad and tobago is an exception here as they highlight the need for new buildings, new institutions and increased provision of scholarships if targets are to be achieved.

These are all reasons why this is the sector in which states are looking beyond their own borders and can see the advantages to be gained from looking at alternative modalities.

Montserrat are looking at their own c ommunity college strengthening strategic alliances with other institutions. Grenada and st. Lucia both point towards additional opportunities that can be made available by improved icT that will allow students to access a greater range of courses online. online provision of courses is just one example of taking courses to the students. There are other states that have looked to distance learning to be supported by outlying centres of the existing c ommunity colleges. in the case of Grenada they would be based in the parishes. The budget speech of 2012 in the s t v incent and the Grenadines makes mentions of the c ommunity college in that state ’enhancing its activities in outreach in the community’.

Major oMiSSionS There are a number of issues that have been identified in the oeSS as being of importance but which have not received the prominence in the education plans that might have been expected. Some of these are outlined in this brief section. s tr AtEGic iMp ErAtivE 1 One or two of the states speak of the districts, or the regions, but there does not seem to be much discussion regarding the decentralising some decision making. There are a number of states, including Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, that already have a decentralised system. The exact roles of the districts or regions should be examined to determine just how such sub national authorities are able to benefit their communities especially those who are from some of the more remote island regions.

There is little note of training for governing bodies, which is mentioned in the OESS. This is important if schools are going to be given greater responsibility to determine their own development.

str AtEGic iMp ErAtivE 2 There is an acceptance of the need to prepare for the number of untrained teachers in the ECE sector but not in the others. The vast majority of teachers in ECE are untrained and work in the private sector and so are not included. It is known that teachers in the countries 3435 that are implementing the High Scope curriculum have received some workshop based training and have been certified at certificate level\ , but this is considered largely inadequate.

There are many untrained teachers in the primary sectors. There are only two states, St. Lucia and St. Vincent, reporting that more than 75% of their primary school teachers are trained. This figure is an over estimate because it only includes the schools in the public sector.

Despite this, there is no mention of a program to expedite the training of these untrained teachers. It is possible that provision has been made in the professional development programs that are noted in all states, or it may be that they are expected to enrol on the regular pre service program. Either way, alternatives should be looked at to introduce a mixed mode training program that can be completed with only a minimum amount of time spent away from the classroom.

The situation is perhaps more serious in the secondary sector where an average of only about half of all secondary teachers are reported as being trained, or whatever might be considered as being trained.

In addition, there is little information available as to how many out of field teachers that there are in the system. This might be assumed to be more than there are untrained. It is likely to become more of a problem as the secondary school system expands and as more TVET programs are integrated into the secondary school system. Barbados speaks of allocating teachers with scarce skills to cover more than one school but this is one of the few initiatives that have been considered.

s tr AtEGic iMp ErAtivE 4 There is much written about the curriculum but less on assessment systems.

There is little mention of books and equipment, which one would think as critical for an upgrading of the science and technology teaching.

There are textbook rental and free textbook schemes noted in various plans but there are no figures relating to the number of textbooks available. Only Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands identify the need to upgrade science laboratories and technical facilities in the secondary schools. str AtEGic iMp ErAtivE 5 There is a large private sector involvement in the provision of ECE, less than 18% of ECE institutions being publicly administered. This is an entirely different situation to that seen in the other sectors. There needs to be significant discussion as to how these are to be regulated and how they are to be financed. There is a danger that in order to satisfy a profit motive some of them will be charging school fees.

str AtEGic iMp ErAtivE 6 The cost of a well-resourced TVET sector is not truly addressed.

str AtEGic iMp ErAtivE 7 There is discussion by many of a regulatory framework for the TVET but not for the tertiary sector. This maybe because in many of the states there is only the one tertiary institution and so there is little need seen for a regulatory framework. However, as more offerings are made available online and by open campuses this will become more of an issue. Section 2 :

indicatoRs Related to social Policy & monitoRing & evaluation 37 Section 1 :

indicatoRs Related to social Policy & monitoRing & evaluation EACh of ThE indiCATors is disCuss Ed sTATE by sTATE in ThE sECTion.

Appendix 6 provides a table that shows assessments on a 0 to 3 basis as to the status of each state in relation to the particular indicators. This is a highly subjective assessment although guidelines as to how the assessments have been arrived at are provided below the tables. a ppendix 7 shows the baseline for the number of states that have achieved each of the indicators.

1.1.1 Sectoral policies targeting the poor and disadvantaged There is very little analysis pertaining to education for all in terms of the poor and the disadvantaged. m any of the plans speak generally of equity and ‘education for all’ at the primary and secondary levels but rarely is there any analysis to show that this is actually the case. e qually, there is little to demonstrate which sections of the community, if any, are not able to access education services. The tables in a ppendix 1 suggest that some countries have a way to go before achieving universal access and gender equity. There are a few states which make specific note of the difficulties faced by the poor and marginalised.

s t v incent and the Grenadines deserve special mention because of their regular reference to the disadvantaged position of those living in the g renadine islands.

The following provides a state-by-state analysis.

There is a plan available from Antigua and Barbuda entitled, ‘ national p lan to reduce the v ulnerability of School b uildings to natural disasters’ that dates back to 1998.

This plan looks, on a school-by-school basis, at the vulnerability of school buildings to natural hazards. The types of hazards considered are hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and droughts. i t was written as a result of h urricane luis that caused so much damage in 1995.

a s well as providing a profile for each school the plan speaks of the role that teachers and the community should play in the case of further disaster. i t cannot be considered a disaster plan.

The Barbados h uman resource d evelopment Strategy accepts that ‘ in spite of best efforts within the formal school system some students will leave school without appropriate skills 3839 and qualification needed to enter the job market. i n addition, periods of economic recession, personal crises and experiences may cause persons to disengage from the job market……… s econd chance educational opportunities must be made available where such persons can access them at any point’ (page 49, hrdS). one of the activities suggested is for intervention and counselling services for students at risk of failure, particularly in post- secondary and tertiary institutions. There is no mention of those at the pre-primary or primary levels of education.

The Grenada plan is the one that includes the most significant input on the poor and disadvantaged. i t is stated early in the plan that ‘The main way to lift the poor out of their poverty is by building up their educational assets’ (page 17, s PEEd). Critically, it states that ‘Educational development goes hand in hand with poverty alleviation, on condition, however, that educational policies are inclusive of the needs and the characteristics of the most deprived in g renadian society’.

i n a chapter entitled ‘ meeting the costs: s ustaining the investment’ it is acknowledged that, ‘ f inancial obligations have a negative impact on poor families, and could be a contributory factor, among others, to low attendance’ (page 62, s PEEd). one of the objectives of the plan is to ‘ rationalize the financial obligations of parents by reviewing and finalizing the various user charges paid in secondary schools’ (page 63, s PEEd). This is further addressed through two of a list of strategies:

• Review cost-sharing obligations of parents for secondary education, and • Stipulate and monitor costs that parents are to assume with ceilings indicated and articulation of procedures for review.

There is also a strategy to reintegrate previously excluded children, and dropouts and to provide support for their participation. This does specifically target the poor and the disadvantaged but it would undoubtedly benefit them. This is a part of a core strategic objective to, ‘ develop enabling conditions for full participation of at-risk and excluded children within the context of gender parity’ (page 41, s PEEd). also, in a similar vein, is the proposed support for providing continuing education opportunities for adolescent mothers. finally, there is a strategy, or should it be a target, that ‘ performance in the ten (10) consistently low performing schools is systematically improved’.

The Montserrat 2011 to 2014 Strategic p lan has an objective to put in place ‘systems and procedures in schools to ensure the safeguarding of all children’ (page 28, Es P). There is a baseline and targets set for this objective. m ontserrat identified volcano activity as being high risk with a medium to low likelihood. The response to this risk would be to conduct simulation exercises to ensure alertness levels remain high.

s t Kitts and n evis place special emphasis on children from poor and disadvantaged families and communities when it comes to access to early childhood education.

The st Lucia plan speaks of support for the poor in a number of occasions with two references as below:

This upgrade and expansion will increase access to post-secondary and tertiary education and will afford students from poor families a greater opportunity to access tertiary education’ - Tertiary education – page 19, eS dp s trengthen and expand support services for children with special needs (gifted children, the poor, disabled, hiV Aids, children at risk, orphans etc) and make provisions for ‘second chance’ education. – page 66, eSdp The first of these may not impact greatly unless there is also a strategy for supporting those from poor families with the costs of enrolling on tertiary education courses. This will probably have to be done by also increasing the number of scholarships that are to be made available. Simply increasing access by increasing the number of places available does not necessarily mean that opportunities will be greater across all sections of the community.

one of the indicators is ‘the # of schools with disaster management plans’. There is no other mention of these disaster management plans elsewhere in the p lan!

i n the s t vincent and the Grenadines plan there is frequent mention of those in rural areas and the g renadines, who are perceived as being disadvantaged. St v incent continue to support the poor through a social support program, that includes a textbook loan scheme and school uniforms. h owever, even in this state there is no actual evidence of disadvantageness except in the case of tertiary education. a t the ece level there is an objective to facilitate the full participation of children from indigent and poor homes.

There are a number of activities relating to the poor that appear in the log frames and are also costed in the action plans. Some of these costs appear to be indicative whilst others have been quite carefully calculated. a s an example, there is an activity in the early childhood sector to ‘determine the level and nature of assistance to be provided, and how such assistance is to be disbursed’. This is in order to provide support to the poor and indigent to ensure that they are able to participate in education. i t is very accurately costed at 5% (presumably the percentage considered to be in the poor and indigent category) of 2870, the total students, who will receive support to the value of ecd100 per month.

There is no mention in the t rinidad and tobago plan of the poor or the disadvantaged.

h owever, the financial projections show figures for the Social Support p rogram, a program of which the country is very proud, which provides allocations for Textbook 4041 r ental, School n utrition and School Transportation.

The t urks and c aicos islands acknowledge the fact that there are still groups of children who are going to find it difficult to complete their education. These will include children orphaned as a result of the hiv/aidS pandemic, children who have been abandoned by parents of guardians, or are the victims of circumstances such as having parents incarcerated or hospitalised. The plan is of the opinion that ‘resources ….may have to be marshalled from outside of the educational system, in complementing the educational effort’ (page 65, Ed P). possible sources might be the budgets of other g overnment agencies of from the private and voluntary sectors. They feel that the state has most of the relevant structures in place, including subsidised school meal and uniforms for poor children provided that the d epartments of health and Social services cooperate. There is no mention of these children and these types of activities in the section which outlines the actions required in implementing the plan.

i n virtually all of the plans there is a statement suggesting that universal compulsory education has been achieved at the primary and, in a number of cases, the secondary level.

e ducation is deemed to be free in these countries but this does not mean that all financial barriers have been removed. i n one or two cases there is mention of other costs beyond simply school fees – school uniforms and transport costs being two such examples. School lunch programs are cited in one or two states, including St v incent and the grenadines, which suggests that some states are supporting the poorer parts of the society.

There seems to be greater concern at the post primary level as opposed to basic and secondary. The area that causes the greatest comment is the gender disparity in examination performance, particularly at the end of secondary school, and this clearly has an impact on access at the tertiary level. i n some states the tertiary institutions are very much dominated by females. There have been some attempts to develop strategies to address these issues.

a side from this, there is little or no evidence presented in any of the plans to demonstrate regional disparities, disparity due to ethnicity or to quantify the disadvantages faced by the poor and marginalised. This evidence is available and should be included in the plans.

St v incent speaks on a number of occasions about the problems faced by those from the g renadines but there is no substantiation of these assertions apart from a little on tertiary education. i n general, there is little use of evidence to illustrate the points being made.

n one of the plans reveal any detail at all regarding disaster risk reduction although such risks are mentioned in a number of the plans– m ontserrat for example speak of the risk of volcanoes. The g renada plan mentions the affect that h urricane ivan had on education infrastructure and the consequent need to revise targets. There is, however, no discussion related to any future disaster. 1.1.2 Sectoralpolicies based on evidence and disaggregated data There is very little hard data available in any of the plans, disaggregated or not. i t may well be of course that there are separate documents with the data that is required to provide the substantiation for some of the strategies that have been proposed. i t could be argued that a strategic plan does not require a large number of tables and other quantified data but in order for evidence based policy development to take place such data is required.

There are other ways of securing data with which to inform policy and programs. a number of states have used forums or questionnaires to gauge views of particular interest groups. These could collectively be described as stakeholder analyses. The groups used have included teachers, students, churches, parents, business leaders and politicians. i f this information is gathered and then analysed effectively it can prove extremely valuable for use in planning.

The Anguilla plan, which is really just a plan for the secondary sector, has very little data that could be used for policy making. There are sections on observations and perceptions regarding the comprehensive education system. These have been gathered through the analysis of a questionnaire but, again, it is unclear as to whether these have been used to inform policy.

The Barbados h uman resource d evelopment Strategy presents large amounts of data regarding the labour market and the tertiary sector. This provides a useful background to the development of policies relating to courses offered being driven by market rather than social demand. The p lan suggests that the development of the plan has seen a consultative process but there is no real analysis of this and much of it seems to have been in the past.

There are no tables in the Grenada plan despite some targets that require numbers to be provided. l ikewise, many of the objectives call for sets of tables to be presented with enrolment, staffing and ultimately cost projections. The type of evidence that is presented is the like of ‘The quality of teaching and learning leaves much to be desired at both primary and secondary level, as the results of m inimum Competency Tests, undertaken since 1999, have convincingly shown’ (page 19, s PEEd).

The p lan states that ‘S peed 11 is the result of a wide consultation process. i t reflects, as far as possible, the vision of the g renadian people’ although no specific analysis of this consultation process is provided. 4243 Montserrat (from the 2012 to 2020 e ducation development p lan) make an attempt to determine how well pupils learn by using the learning outcomes that pupils achieve from attending school as a key indicator of the effectiveness of the education system. The plan compares over a number of years the performance of their students in the secondary school examinations against all of those sitting the cX c. although by no means definitive there is the suggestion that the performance of m ontserrat students is getting worse.

c omponent 2 of the plan is Teaching Standards and the second output of this is an i mprovement in b oys’ attainment at Cs EC 5+ including English and maths (page 7, Ed P).

i t is unclear as to whether this particular output has been determined directly from the analysis noted earlier and there are no targets set. h owever, amongst the long list of key actions are ‘ rigorous performance management, target setting and review cycle’ and ‘Annual institutional targets set for boys’ attainment’ (both page 21, Ed P).

There is a ‘client and stakeholder’ analysis included in the 2011 to 2014 plan that identifies needs of the particular interest groups and provides an assessment as to how these needs will be met. i t is not immediately clear as to how, or whether, these needs have been incorporated into the log frames that outline the strategic objectives. i n the 2012 to 2020 edp the outcomes from consultations with stakeholder groups have been used to determine the five main components of the plan. The plan also presents some historical data regarding government expenditure at the different levels of education although it is unclear as to how much this is used.

s t Kitts provide no tables in their White p aper which states that all of the recommendations, policies and strategies have emerged following wide consultation.

There was feedback from all stakeholders, including education officials, teachers as well as members of civil society, following publication of the g reen paper. There is no analysis of this consultative process.

There is no evidence base in the s t Lucia plan for the prioritising that has taken place within each of the sections. The plan states that consultation meetings were held with parents, teachers, students and other stakeholders to discuss priorities and strategies and to elicit further views. These discussions and debates were then used in the finalization of the p lan.

s t v incent and the Grenadines make efforts to analyse primary and secondary enrolments but this only serves to muddy the waters. There are difficulties because the population figures are so outdated and the plan says that a statistical bulletin has not been published for a number of years. The explanation in the primary section is not particularly clear and in the secondary section the figures beg the question as to whether some 4000 of the 15,000 children born between 1991 and 1997 have really died (page 73). This information could be used to provide enrolment and staffing projections for the years of the plan but such tables are not presented.

i n the tertiary section there are some interesting figures on enrolments by area which demonstrate that the g renadines are disadvantaged in terms of access. i n that sense, this data has been used to drive policy and strategy. There is an objective to increase access to tertiary education but the work done on existing enrolments is again not extended to provide projected numbers. The same applies to the section on teachers.

The plan speaks of widespread consultation that reflects the’ commitment to a participatory process’ (page 25) and that ‘recognises the interest and stake of all partners’ (page 25). This consultative approach is noted in a number of the activities and strategies – an example being that the ‘ curriculum is re-visited annually in consultation with private and public sector for relevance and effectiveness and kept abreast of emerging developments in the world of work and higher education’ (page 97).

There are no tables in the t rinidad and tobago plan but figures must be available somewhere because cost estimates have been provided for expenditure on personnel by sector. There is a large increase, greater than 50% between 2011 and 2015, in the amounts required for early childhood education. This suggests that a significant increase in early childhood staffing is being planned and this is consistent with the stated objective of achieving universal access. i n order to have been able to make this financial projection the number of teachers must have been known. These tables could have been included.

a strategic assessment was carried out and a part of this was to assess stakeholder expectations. These expectations, and the issues identified as a result of them, were supposed to be used to develop the 16 ministerial priorities. a s it transpires, few of the 16 priorities can be found amongst the 74 issues raised although it is fair to point out that the two most common issues raised – a lack of communications and desire to play a fuller part in the development of the education system are both included.

There is an enormous amount of information in the t urks and caicos islands plan in areas of enrolments, staffing and finance. This information is used to project the numbers that have to progress through the education system in order to achieve targets relating to universal education in the pre-primary, primary and secondary sectors. This is a particularly difficult exercise given the huge unknown relating to the number of non belongers that migrate to the country as a result of g overnment decisions regarding work visas. The data that they have available also means that indicative costing can be provided.

m ore information and analysis of the costs is provided in the section on costs on page 13. The plan states that the primary objectives were reached following an analysis of the situation and discussion and consultation among the stakeholders. 4445 There is also a huge amount of examination data, disaggregated, in most cases, by gender, by location, by belonger and non belonger status, which is a very important distinction for this state, and also by country of origin. The analysis of examination performance, which is by school level for the secondary sector, is particularly detailed. m uch of this examination information is not used any further in the plan for the purpose of developing objectives, strategies and targets.

1.1.3 - Sectoral programs based on evidence and disaggregated data i ndicator 1.1.3 is the number of countries with sectoral programs that are based on evidence and disaggregate data.

There have been no sectoral programs made available. 1.1.4 - A child sensitive gender response approach to budgeting.

i ndicator 1.1.4 is the number of countries employing a child sensitive gender response budgeting approach in sector budget processes and national budget.

There is very little information provided in the plans regarding the budgeting approach that is used in the various states. i t is likely that they will all be different. The assessment that is given in a ppendix 6 is highly subjective in nature and really refers more to the gender sensitivity of the plans rather than any budgeting.

This indicator relates to i ntermediate result 1.4 of the m ulti country p rogram a ction p lan. This result is that, By 2016, excluded and disadvantaged boys and girls in 5 countries are ensured coverage from enhanced national capacity to apply child and gender sensitive-budgeting approaches to national and sectoral budgets.

There is very little information available in the documentation provided on budgeting processes and the extent to which budget preparation is child sensitive. i t is thus not possible to determine in which states the poor and the disadvantaged are ensured coverage as a part of the budgetary process.

What it is possible to do with the documentation at hand, however, is to look at the allocations in a national budget to activities and programs that are child sensitive, or are supportive of children in some demonstrable way. i t is possible, provided that certain parameters are laid down, to identify those activities and programs that could be defined as being child sensitive and this would have to be done for a c hild budget a nalysis to be conducted. This identification process is an entirely subjective exercise and could provoke some considerable debate. Simplistically, all activities in the education sector as well as much in the heath sector would be included although even in this instance there may be debate regarding, for example, tertiary education and T veT. 1 it is evident that there will be considerable expenditure in areas that are not covered in the education plans but that should be included in any c hild budget a nalysis. i n St lucia 1 This section borrows heavily on a unicef document, Child b udgeting in india – Analysis of recent allocations in the u nion budget 2 The information in this para comes from Status of Social i nvestment in children in the e ast- ern c aribbean: an o verview (2009) by Koenr osselcambier and l eopoldoromagnoli 4647 for example the m inistries that have policies and programs related to children are h ealth, e ducation, Social Transformation, l ocal government and c ommunity empowerment and the m inistry of y outh development and Sports The latter presents, among its expenditures estimates, allocations for specific child related programmes such as the e xpansion of a fter School programs, Juvenile r ehabilitation, the boys Training centre, and Sport related programmes. The relevant m inistries in barbados are similar with the addition of the m inistry of housing and l ands 2.

The budget estimates for St l ucia for 2012 / 2013 are available and a rough c hild budget a nalysis has been conducted. The figures for the m inistry of education have been disaggregated between those that provide budgets for children and those that provide budgets for youth. Tertiary education, the inclusion of which is one of the issues that needs to be resolved, has not been included in this instance. The m inistries of Social Transformation, l ocal government and c ommunity empowerment, and y outh d evelopment and Sports have been dealt with in a similar manner. i t was not possible to break down the estimates of the m inistry of health and so it was assumed, entirely arbitrarily, that 50% of the allocations could be applied for children. The results are shown in a ppendix 9. These costs do not of course include any funding that may come from sub national levels of g overnment or from other sources. These would need to be ascertained in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis.

There are two further plans available that can provide us with more practical understanding of what can be done. These plans are the whole of g overnment plans from Trinidad and Tobago, and from m ontserrat.

i n the Trinidad and Tobago ‘ innovation for l asting prosperity’ there are a large number of key medium term programmes and projects that are aligned with the four strategic priorities. a s well as those that are in the health and education sectors there are two other that clearly look to be contributing towards the welfare of children. There are ‘ f amily c ourt – institutional Strengthening’, which is part of the crime and law and order sector, and the ‘ establishment of Social Services f acilities and facilities for the Socially displaced’. There are others, the ‘ development of r ural communities’ and ‘ urban r edevelopment’ being two such examples, that could contribute dependent upon the exact nature of the two projects. Such detail is often not given in budget documentation.

The m ontserrat Sustainable d evelopment plan has five Strategic g oals. education is included in the second of these – h uman development. There are five medium term objectives, only one of which is directly related to education, which is to ‘ increase access to and improve quality of formal and informal education’. The following are all strategic actions that are not part of the objective that relates directly to education. a ll of them could in one way or another contribute toward the development and wellbeing of the child. • Develop and implement family life programmes to improve the quality of life for all residents of m ontserrat • Establish a family court to deal with family related problems and matters affecting children • Revise and implement the nutrition policy and plan • Improve services to the most vulnerable • Provide social housing solutions for vulnerable households • Develop play/recreational areas in each community, especially in newly developed areas, for all age groups i n summary, there is only information at present available for St l ucia, and to a lesser extent m ontserrat and b arbados, on the level of funding being allocated to children across the whole of the budget. States should in future be asked to provide a simple budget analysis and then to present this to the edmu on an annual basis. p rior to this being done there have to be a few policy decisions taken and a sample form is attached in a ppendix 8. 49 Section 3 :

edmu/oecs suPPoR t tomembeR s tat e s Section 3 :

edmu / oecs suPPoR t to membeR states ThE forEgoing An AlysEs suggEs T T wo Things. firs T, Th AT ThErE is wide spread support for the Strategic i mperatives as outlined in the oeSS. This is further illustrated in the table in a ppendix 5. This should come as no surprise given that oecS m inisters of e ducation endorsed the strategy at their meeting held in St. Kitts in m ay, 2012. The final column of the table in a ppendix 5 would suggest that edmu and partner support should be concentrated on those states that have low average assessments. These would be d ominica, anguilla, the Turks and c aicos islands, St Kitts and n evis, and m ontserrat. Second is the fact that all of the states have used a different format for their plans.

intermediate r esult 2.3 of the mcp is that ‘By 2016 Eastern c aribbean governments have an agreed regional framework for education reform and costed national education plans reflecting the proposed reforms.’ This implies that the first part of the exercise will be to determine the framework and this has already been done with the completion of the oeSS. There is then a need to develop the costed education plans bearing the oeSS in mind. There are a number of issues for review that that are noted in the mcp . These are, with comments relating to their presence in existing plans and in the oeSS: School EnvironmEnT A secure safe environment is a minimum criterion for a good learning environment.

This can be achieved by schools adopting a Child Friendly Schools approach to school development. However, CFS should not be implemented in isolation but as an integral o f whole school improvement that is enshrined in the School Improvement (or development) Plans (SIPs). Indeed, the CFS framework does encompass virtually all the other issues discussed below. DiFFErnTiATED lEArninG Differentiated Learning as a framework for effective teaching that allows all children to learn effectively regardless of difference in ability and variation and regardless of gender, disability and other characteristics. many states are committed to child centred learning as per the oeSS Strategic i mperative 3 and this is simply an extension of that. 50 incluSivE lEArninG Inclusive education is about the child’s right to participate and the school’s duty to accept the child and is endorsed by all states. A number of the plans include a section on special education.

Strategic Imperative 3 and the emphasis placed on child centred learning is a principle of inclusiveness as is the OESS vision of Every Learner Succeeds. SE conD chAncE EDuc ATion Second chance education is mentioned by many states particularly in regard to TVET and tertiary education and is considered in Strategic Imperatives 6 and 7. Although many of the states now have universal secondary education many people in the region have not had that opportunity. There will be people who wish for a second chance and who have yet to attend secondary or, in some cases, primary school. 51 STuDEnT pErFormAncE & conTinuED School ASSESSmEnTS Student performance and continued school assessments. Assessment procedures are a part of the 4th Strategic Imperative but very few states have made mention of it. Those that have wanted to see some component of continuous assessment and Barbados saw assessment processes as being a weakness of the system. Grenada would like to see the development of a competency based approach to the evaluation of learning outcomes at primary and secondary levels. link S T o School wiTh ThE worlD oF work Links to school with the world of work is raised in relation to TVET and tertiary in Strategic Imperatives 6 and 7. There are a number of strategies that speak of developing courses that are needed by business and industry. The same is true to a lesser extent with schools and the integration of TVET into schools, particularly in the secondary sector. GEnDEr DiFFErEncES Gender differences are one of the cross cutting themes in the OESS and are raised in many of the plans. In most instances this is regarding the performance of boys in examinations and gender inequity at the tertiary level where there are far more females than males enrolled 1. A number of reasons have been put forward as to why this should be but despite the concerns there are virtually no strategies suggested to alleviate this problem. 1 d espite these women still earn significantly less than men and there is greater unemployment amongst women than there is amongst men. 52 STuDEnT pErF ormAncE Many states are concerned about the performance of students at the end of both primary and secondary schooling. a more focussed curriculum and better prepared teachers are strategies that have been put forward to alleviate the problem as in Strategic i mperatives 2 and 4. i t is rather surprising that none of the states have mentioned the provision of textbooks and other school materials or equipment as a strategy. coSTinG EDucATion F or All As noted earlier in this review, see page 16, none of the plans provide a great deal of information regarding costs and finance. The same section makes some suggestions as to what should be included in plans. This could be considered as a part of Strategic Imper- ative 1.

thErE are a number of avenues in which the EDMU can support states. This support should be predicated on providing states with the capacity to help themselves rather than providing them with readymade solutions. 53 5455 a S tandardiSed Plan forMat for MeMber StateS The first of these avenues is assistance in developing a standard format to be used as each country prepares a new plan or revises its current plan. The discussion in Section 1 has demonstrated the very wide range of documents that are currently being used. The format that is recommended will need to be flexible enough to provide for state differences due to requirements that they may have placed upon them by their respective g overnments.

i t should provide for the inclusion of all the oeSS Strategic i mperatives and guidelines as to the sort of data and other information that should be provided and how it should be presented – all data to be disaggregated by gender being one such example. i t is noted that the edmu is currently working on strengthening data management in the sub-region, and has worked with the countries on an agreed set of common indicators for tracking oeSS implementation. a common format can be easily developed by edmu , or it can call on appropriate expertise for support. f ollowing consultation, the format could be adopted and then used by all states. a t the very least the edmu should be able to come up with agreement amongst the states as to exactly what should be included in the plan that will ensure consistency with the oeSS.

i t might first be instructive to consider briefly what a strategic plan should look like and the components that might be expected, to be found in such a plan. g enerally, strategic planning is a process of defining direction and making decisions on allocating resources to pursue this strategy. i n order to determine direction, it is necessary to understand the current position and the possible avenues through which a particular course of action can be pursued. The report on the uneSco c aribbean regional educational p lanning Workshop held in Trinidad and Tobago in January, 2013 should be referred to for further information on strategic planning.

The Trinidad and Tobago sector plan tells us that a strategic plan requires that goals, strategies, and action plans be aligned to the vision, to the organisational mission, and facilitates the flow of activities from goals to performance budgets. The process involves strategy development and strategy deployment through action plans, benchmarking, and key performance indicators.

A Strategic Plan should include the following:

v ision. a vision looks to the future and is a statement that outlines what the organisation wants to be. i t can be emotive and it might be worded in such a way that it can act as a source of inspiration m ission statement. a mission statement defines the fundamental purpose of an organisation succinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision, or a mission statement is an enduring statement of purpose; the organisation’s reason for existence. The mission describes what the organization does, who it does it for, and how it does it. (from the Trinidad and Tobago e ducation Strategic plan (eSp) a vision and a mission statement are distinct with the vision being a descriptive picture of a desired future state and the mission a statement of a rationale, applicable now as well as in the future. e xamples of a vision and a mission statement for the education sectors in South a frica and p apua new guinea are presented in a ppendix 3.

a strategic plan would usually follow a Situation-Target-Strategy approach or a ‘where we are now’, ‘where we want to be’, and ’how we are going to get there’ approach. • Situation - evaluates the current situation and how it came about and answers the question where are we now?

This is the situation analysis and a SW oT analysis can be used as a tool for conducting this analysis. a series of issues, or challenges, that need to be addressed should emerge from this analysis. • Target - defines goals and/or objectives /outcomes and answers the question where do we want to be?

a target must be specific, realistic and achievable but it should take into account the vision, which is a much longer term target. u sing access to secondary education as an example: a vision might be that ‘all children will have the opportunity of a secondary education’, an outcome might be ‘increased enrolment in secondary education’ whilst a target related to this outcome might be a ‘ ger of 75% by 2014’.

• Strategy - the proposed route to the goals/objective/ outcome that answers the question as to how we are going to achieve the outcome and how the issues identified in the situational analysis are to be addressed.

e ach of the strategies can now be broken down into a number of distinct activities. a log frame approach should be used and this will link, in a logical and coherent manner, goals with objectives, strategies and programs.

The strategies should be organised into a series of log fames designed and developed to show this information logically. e ach strategy and each activity should be referenced in a logical manner. This unique reference will subsequently be used in all log frames, as 5657 well as in the text, and will allow users to cross reference the activities. r eferences can be alphanumeric and should not have more than three digits. The format of a simple log frame should be similar to the following with the responsibility either being a person or an organisation and the indicator should be clear and easy to understand.

There should be a section that discusses the finances. There is no need for this section to be lengthy.i t should provide some indicative costs for each of the activities and these should be calculated rather than simply estimated. This should be done for each of the years of the plan and each activity should be designated as recurrent or capital. These costs could then be disaggregated as to whether they be for recurrent or capital purposes. a simple table is shown below.

ref sector strategy Activityresptarget indicator finally, there should be a monitoring and evaluation section. This should present a performance a ssessment framework that should be based upon that of the oeSS.

This paf will comprise a set of indicators that will measure progress being made and will reflect the priorities as determined by the plan. i ndicators should be clear, easy to understand, and measure progress toward targets that have been set following S marT 1 principles. i n an ideal situation, the information required is already being collected on a regular basis.

The paf should provide a baseline for each of the indicators, the target that is to be achieved by the end of the plan and a number of interim targets. These interim targets may not necessarily be annual and there may just be one midterm target that could be assessed as a part of the midterm review of the plan. ref sector strategy Activity costs by tear indicator Yr1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 interiM arranGeMentS a second avenue of support would be to look at interim arrangements to satisfy the requirements of edmu and other partners in respect of education plans. This initiative will support the states in developing annual work plans that will provide information on 1 smArT is a mnemonic and stands for s pecific, measurable, Attainable, r eliable and Time bound activities that relate to the Strategic i mperatives and the intermediate results of the mcp . i t is expected that this format would be similar to that already being used by states and that it could be completed by simply extracting information from their own annual work plans or other documentation. This work plan should be in the form of a simple log frame and should be completed annually. a n example of what the work plan should look like is presented in a ppendix 11.

SuPPort for Very SMall StateS There are a few of the very small states who subscribe to the objectives as laid out in the oeSS and wish to adopt this document as their own plan. bvi is an example of such a state. it is recognised that in these states an education plan would be incorporated intoa national development plan thus obviating the need for a standalone document for education. i n order for these states to benefit in a way similar to other states each should agree to the following:

• That a PAF be prepared with a benchmark and specific targets that address each of the Strategic i mperatives and that these targets are consistent with those of the oeSS. The states will be required to report on these targets on annual basis.

• That an annual work plan be produced that is similar to that outlined in this document.

• That the budget is prepared each year with OESS targets in mind and that allocations relevant to each of the Strategic i mperatives are readily identifiable.

education financinG and coStS a third avenue is to provide assistance to States in the area of education financing and costs. This has already been identified as one of the weakest parts of the plans that have been made available. There are two aspects of the costs of plans that can be addressed by the edmu and should be consistent with the general support for planning noted earlier.

first would be the more immediate and would be to offer some guidance on calculating activity costs and then incorporating these into the annual work plans.

Second would be rather longer term and beto provide the states with the capacity to be able to calculate the costs of education development and education reform over a longer period. They would then be able to prioritise their objectives and activities against expected available resources and incorporate all of this into future strategic plans. The support to be provided could be in the form of workshops, or of providing them with a training manual for them to work through. i n the first instance the priority should be to get the annual work plan process correct. once this has been done, the edmu can concentrate on supporting states with their next national education strategic plan. 59 Section Recommendations Section Recommendations introduction ThEs E rEC ommEnd ATions ArE dEsignEd to help the Edmu and its partners determine the type of support that needs to be provided to states in order that their planning documents are consistent with the oeSS and comply with the basic tenet for evidence informed education policies and plans targeting especially the most disadvantaged and at risk segments of the population.

That a loosely defined format for national education plans and school development plans, both with certain minimum requirements, be adopted and endorsed by all states. – page 37 i t is recognised that it is impossible, and probably undesirable, to have a rigid standard format for every state in the region. To do so would be to deny each state’s independence and right to have their own planning and budgeting approach. h owever, it should be possible and acceptable to standardise nomenclature and to expect from states that all plans should include certain minimum requirements. These minimum requirements might be the likes of disaggregated enrolment and population data as a part of a situational analysis, a list of priorities, a set of log frames to demonstrate links between priorities and activities, some indicative costs and a monitoring framework. This is consistent with the first of the oeSS Strategic i mperatives and the oeSS implementation p lan which anticipated that over time all national education strategies and plans would be aligned to the regional strategy. This i mplementation plan also identifies aspects of all Strategic i mperatives that should be included in national education plans.

The majority of states require that their schools have development plans but these have varying formats. i t would be advantageous if all states could adopt a format that is both consistent with cfS principles and also satisfies certain minimum requirements one such requirement might be that all plans should include a component relating to teacher professional development. This would ensure that all oeSS Strategic i mperatives are incorporated and also support monitoring.

i t is recommended that the edmu develop model plans similar to the model statistical presentations and acts that have been produced in recent years and that have been well received by member states. 1. 6061 That the format for an annual workplan for OESS related activities be agreed to by all states. – page 39 a ll of the plans have different formats and all expire at different times. There is a need for the oecS, through the edmu to be able to identify and then monitor activities that are taking place relating to the Strategic i mperatives as outlined in the oeSS. it is expected that the format will be such that states will be able to simply extract the information required from their own annual workplans. i t is anticipated that this same format could also be used, with minor modification, by the smaller states that wish to use the oeSS as their own plan.

That states continue to carefully monitor equity in terms of gender, disability and location at all levels of the system and actively develop strategies to alleviate any inequities that are identified. – page 11 a ll states have achieved universal education through to at least primary level. This does not mean that there are now no longer any sections of the community that are at a disadvantage through no fault of their own. There are still significant gender differences, particularly at the post primary levels, as well as other differences bought on as a result of disabilities or of geographic location. These differences need to be monitored on a regular basis and measures taken to alleviate any that are discovered.

This recommendation is entirely consistent with the vision of the oeSS that ‘ all citizens, at every stage of their learning journey, from early years to adulthood, are able to reach their full potential and be successful in life, at work and in society’.

That all states conduct training for staff in areas of policy development and general administration. – page 18 i t is clear that the administration of the system needs to be improved in order to keep pace with the developments being made at the school level. b asic training should be conducted for all, including those working at the sub national levels. This is consistent with the second of the outcomes related to Strategic i mperative 1 of the oeSS - Education leaders and managers have access to continuing professional development. 2.

3.

4. That the EDMU initiate a training program for all member states in the area of education costs and finances. – page 40 There are some areas of planning and budgeting that are common to all states and in these areas edmu will initiate a training program for appropriate officers. The program should concentrate on how to prepare costs for an education plan and the relationship between plans and budgets. This program will help states in their annual budgeting cycle although it is recognised that each state will have its own budgeting processes and procedures. This recommendation is in accord with the first of the Strategic i mperatives of the oeSS.

This training should include a component on the use of enrolment projection and cost simulation models. p rior to this, the edmu will need to determine the best way to approach this. i deally, this capacity enhancement program on the use of the epSSim, or similar, would take place prior to the individual ministries undertaking the review of their plans. a n alternative might be to develop a model specifically for use in the region but this is likely to prove more expensive and require greater training.

That all states prepare a teacher professional development plan, with indicative costs, to ensure that all teachers are fully qualified. – page 19 The quality of teaching throughout the region is an issue that has the potential to seriously compromise standards. This recommendation is wholly consistent with the second of the Strategic i mperatives of the oeSS. The achievement of oeSS Strategic i mperatives 3, 4, 5 and 6 will all be seriously affected if teachers are not adequately prepared.

This plan should provide ongoing professional development for serving teachers and also consider the needs of the large number of untrained teachers in the system.

The curriculum reform that is taking place in many states, the changing teaching methodologies and the integration of T veT and icT into the curriculum should all be topics for inclusion in this plan.

The provision of greater opportunities for teachers to undergo professional development will contribute towards the professionalisation of the teaching service and should be a part of any teacher assessment process that is to be established. 5.

6. 6263 That a program of training on school leadership and management be provided for all school head teachers and principals. – page 17 e ducation systems around the region have undergone significant reform in recent years and this will continue with fundamental change being initiated in teaching approaches, in the content of the curriculum and in teacher management. Successful implementation will be dependent upon sound and consistent leadership at the institution level.

School leaders need to have superior leadership and management capabilities and training should include financial management, monitoring and evaluation and teacher assessment. This recommendation is wholly consistent with the first of the Strategic i mperatives of the oeSS.

That a standard Performance Assessment Framework be adopted across all states with appropriate training provided. – page 39.

The lack of indicators and a monitoring and evaluation process has been identified as a weakness in the plans that have been considered in this review. a paf has been developed as a part of the oeSS i mplementation plan and this will be adopted by states to monitor their own progress. Training will be provided for relevant staff to determine baselines and also the availability and collection of data. 8. 7. pre primprimarysecondary Gpipriv GernerGernerGernerprim/ secprim Anguilla 9595949380780.98 12 Antigua 81629986105 850.95 52 barbados 10495126 95104 891.05 11 bVi 9386100 87102 -0.97 26 dominica 11082119 9498851.03 85 Grenada 9994103 87108 840.99 77 montserrat 9173107 92102 961.08 33 st Kitts 96-90 8594861.03 21 st lucia 6044938795850.98 5 st Vincent 80-105 94107 850.97 5 t rinidad 8266105 9490681.01 72 tci 11880907886701.00 30 Appendix 1: Member state basic education data Table 1 Basic Country data Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics pre prim primarysecondary mftmftmft Anguilla 999195949494827880 Antigua 778481102 9599106 104105 barbados 105103104126126126 98110 104 bVi 889793103 97100 100104102 dominica 105116110119118119 95102 98 Grenada 95102 99105 102103106109108 montserrat 1028191101 113107101103102 st Kitts 88103 96899190939694 st lucia 605960949293979495 st Vincent 798080109 101105106109107 t rinidad 828282107 103105 879390 tci 132106118 889290898386 median 929494103 99102 98103 100 Table 2 GER by gender and state Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics section 4 appendices 6465 pre primary primarysecondary Anguilla 0.921.000.95 Antigua 1.090.930.98 barbados 0.981.001.12 bVi 1.100.941.04 dominica 1.100.991.07 Grenada 1.070.971.03 montserrat 0.791.121.02 st Kitts 1.171.021.03 st lucia 0.980.980.97 st Vincent 1.010.931.03 t rinidad 1.000.961.07 tci 0.801.050.93 median 1.010.991.03 Table 3 Gender Parity Index for GERs by sector and State Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics pre primprimarysecondary Gpipriv GernerGernerGernerprim/ secprim Anguilla 20082008200820082008200820082011 Antigua 20112011201120112011201020112011 barbados 20112011201120082011201120112011 bVi 20062006201020102010 2010 2011 dominica 20112010201120092011201120112011 Grenada 20102010201020092010200520102010 montserrat 20072007200720072007200720072009 st Kitts 2011 2011 20112011201120112011 st lucia 20112011201120112011201120112011 st Vincent 2009 2010 20102010201020102010 t rinidad 20072007201020102008200420082010 tci 20052005200520052005200520052005 Table 4 Year of data Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics Table 5 No. of candidates by gender and state for the CAPE, June, 2012 Source: CXC Statistical Bulletin, December, 2012 male female total %age male %age female Anguilla 5094144 35% 65% Antigua 23631354943% 57% barbados 5728651437 40%60% bVi 0 dominica 717 2429% 71% Grenada 20746567231% 69% montserrat 22224450% 50% st Kitts 16741858529% 71% st lucia 3569104 34% 66% st Vincent 29156485534% 66% t rinidad 352153068827 40%60% tci 0 t otal 5108813313241 39%61% Table 6 No. of candidates by gender and state for the CSEC, June, 2012 Source: CXC Statistical Bulletin, December, 2012 male female total %age male %age female Anguilla 16229045236% 64% Antigua 8151439 2254 36%64% barbados 336151108471 40%60% bVi 88158 246 36%64% dominica 7051002 1707 41%59% Grenada 132121173438 38%62% montserrat 4284126 33% 67% st Kitts 4558071262 36%64% st lucia 156219753537 44%56% st Vincent 107819343012 36%64% t rinidad 123531843830791 40%60% tci 19729649340% 60% total 221393365055789 40%60% 6667 Table 7 Teacher qualifications by sector and state, 2010 / 11 Source: OERU Status Report, UNESCO Institute of Statistics Note: The figures in normal font are from the OERU Status Report. The \ information gaps, shown by the entries in bold and italic, have been taken from the Institute of Statistics where figures from later than 2009 ha\ ve been available. %age ece trs trained %age prim trs trained %age sec trs trained %age sec trs with degree Anguilla 74.071.057.0 Antigua 58.0 60.049.846.1 barbados 47.055.057.0 bVi dominica 57.743.132.2 Grenada 45.0 65.542.536.5 montserrat 79.0 st Kitts 56.0 49.042.0 st lucia 87.163.360.6 st Vincent 76.267.362.2 t rinidad 88.0 tci median 58.065.553.444.05 Appendix 2: OESS Strategic Imperatives by member state The following are notes for each of the states in relation to the seven Strategic Imperatives as outlined in the OESS. Anguilla 1 Nil 2 the improving secondary education priority included a strategy for provid- ing continuous teacher upgrade and training. there are no targets relating to teacher professional development.

3 Improved standards in maths, science and technology seen as being one of the main priorities. Continued promotion of student-centred learning is included as a strategy for curriculum development.

4 Speaks of curriculum review and renewal’ as a strategy for improving performance in science, maths and related technology areas.

5 nil 6 The establishment of a TVET framework is one of the priorities outlined \ in the Anguilla development plan.

7 nil barbados The bulk of the information is extracted from the Strategic Plan, 2002 to 2012 of the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport. Other sources are the Human Resource Development Plan and the National Strategic Plan (2005 to 2025). Use i\ s also made of a Project Completion Report (PCR) of the Education Sector Enhancement Program, anInter American Development Bank Project.

1 Centralised decision is seen as being a weakness The HRDP points out tha\ t the Government ‘should take the lead in identifying the skills gaps of its own\ work- force. This situation can be improved through a systematic training needs analysis and the building of capacity through training in this area’.

2 The need for professional development is acknowledged, as is succession planning, if a modern education system is to succeed. Empowerment of teachers seen as being important and a system of evaluation and rewards for excellence has to be established. These were also included in the NSP.

The NSP recommended the establishment of a Teaching Service Commission. It also wanted to provide an effective on-going Human Resource Development Program for teachers which would focus on individual career development, succession plan- ning and leadership training 6869 3 Rote learning identified as being a weakness.

One of the strategies for implementing the curriculum reform was to introduce a range of teaching methodologies which would mean a more child centred approach.

An integral part of the curriculum reform process has been the integration of information and communication technologies into the curriculum. What is \ clear from the PCR is that all schools now have internet access and computers to support them in their curriculum implementation.

4 The reformed curriculum was to follow an outcomes based approach. This was a major part of the Education Sector Enhancement program but thePCR is not clear as to the exact status of the reform curriculum.

Lack of assessment processes identified as a weakness and continuous assessment is being recommended across all sectors.

5 The plan addresses the needs to achieve universal education at the level and this included the training of more early childhood teachers, the provision of materials for the schools and a system for monitoring the provision of early childhood education services in the private sector. The NSP has a strategy of achieving universal nursery education but there is no target set as to quite when this should happen.

It would appear from the latest figures that objectives in relation to access have been achieved. A strong political will was identified as being required to develop universal access to early childhood education and this turned out to be the case.

6 Little included on the whole sector of TVET. In the ESP discussion relating to the Community College, the Polytechnic and a proposed accreditation agency have all been included in the section on tertiary education.

It is addressed much more in the Human Resource Development Strategy that discusses the different qualification frameworks in the region – the CVQ and the Regional Tertiary Qualifications Framework. Recommend that the two be somehow integrated and recommend a Transnational QF. The draft Medium Term Development Strategy points to the need to fit out 15 secondary school\ s so that their Industrial Arts Labs are equipped in order to be able to deliver CVQ programs. 7A significant part of the ESP is devoted to tertiary education, perhap\ s explaining its priority which is not surprising given the general status of the educati\ on system.

The NSP states that increased access to tertiary education should be by using distance and e-learning modalities.

british Virgin islands 1 2 Work needing to be done on professional development for teachers on integration of ICT into the curriculum.

3 4 Integration of ICT across the curriculum, on the other hand, has yet to take place.

5 6 7 Grenada This information is taken from the SPEED II and also the Curriculum Policy Statement of 2012 accessed from the Grenada Government website 1 There is an understanding that if school management practices are to be improved that the administration and management at the Ministry itself will also \ have to be reformed. The 5th of the objectives is to ‘Improve the effectiveness of management and administration of education at Ministry and school levels\ ’.

The Ministry should reflect more clearly on what its core responsibilities are:

‘policy formulation, setting of standards, quality monitoring and evaluation and providing support in the form of material, human and learning resources’. The decentralisation of other tasks is raised for consideration although it \ is unclear as to whether there is any staffing or facilities currently in place at the district level to be able to do this.

2 The promotion of teacher professionalism and development is one of the eight strategic foci of the SPEED. 7071 3 The curriculum policy of 2012 says that each school should be ‘Adapti\ ng the curriculum based on the Ministry’s guides to suit the needs and circumstances of students and the local conditions of the school’.

This same policy also states that ‘Teachers must be student-centred in their approach to teaching and foster classroom environments which are conducive to learning and promotes healthy lifestyles and behaviours’. One objective is to ‘reconfigure the learning environment to establish learner-centered, child-friendly, health promoting schools’ The Value of Learning is the second of the eight strategic foci and stresses the importance of the child. It speaks of ‘Valuing and organizing teaching to meet the unique learning styles of every child’. The fifth of the strategic foci speaks of the ’Introduction of students to ICT as a tool for learning and accessing knowledge’ and also sees ICT as being a tool to be\ used for teacher professional development.

4 The curriculum at secondary schools should continue to be diversified \ particularly in regard to TVET subjects. The curriculum should be revised and developed to ensure that the relevance and scope of the curriculum reflects the diversity of learning needs of all children as well as the demands of the labour market.

It is suggested that assessment practices become more varied and that they should include continuous assessment and the development of a competency\ based approach to the evaluation of learning outcomes at primary and secondary levels. This should lead to student promotion through the system by defining and adopting minimum competency levels for students to achieve at each Grade\ .

5 The first of the objectives is to provide universal access to early childhood education.

6 TVET is acknowledged as being an expensive form of education and to make\ it effective there should be parish centres established and also greater use made of the facilities in the secondary schools.

An on-going strategy is for TVET to be included in the pre-primary and primary curriculum although maybe not in quite such an explicit manner as in the\ secondary and tertiary sectors. 7Access to tertiary education needs to be increased and there are a number of ways of doing this:

• Increasing the number of places available at the Community College • Making greater use of the out parish programs of the Community College • Use ICT to allow students to access a greater range of courses.

In the longer term it envisaged that the Community College would achieve\ university status, maybe as a college of the University of the West Indies.

montserrat The ESP refers to the Education Strategic Plan and the SDP to the Strategic Devel\ opment Plan – Journey to Sustainable Prosperity, which is a while of Government document.

1 The first of the strategic actions in the Governance section of the SDP asks to ‘Strengthen the leadership development, performance and accountability syste\ ms across the public service’.

The ESP has an objective 2.2.4 ‘to increase school leadership and management capacity to deliver continuous school improvement’. To this end it is planned to run training programs for school managers. In addition to this, schools are to have 3 year improvement plans and a performance appraisal system will be established for school managers. The ESP intimates that the DfID sponsored Education Development Project would provide support for leadership training at all levels.

2 In the ESP the teachers themselves identified ongoing professional development as being one of the major issues affecting the quality of education being provided.

The SDP proposes that an education program be offered at the Montserrat Community College to help improve teacher qualifications.

3 One of the strategic objectives is to improve ICT access in all schools. Staff and child computer ratios have been set as targets. There is no specific mention of child centred learning in the ESP.

4 The ESP points to the general public wanting a review of the curriculum to ensure alignment with the developmental needs of the country. The ESP suggests that the DfID sponsored Education Development Project will cover curriculum implementation at ECCE, curriculum reform and school improvement at primary and secondary. 7273 5 The SDP has a strategy to ‘Improve education infrastructure to respond to growing student population, changes to curriculum and developmental needs’ Th\ e targets included work to be completed at two ECE centres.

6 The ESP acknowledges that outcomes at secondary level fail to match labo\ ur market opportunities. Renewed efforts will be made to review the curriculum in the technical and vocational areas at secondary schools.

7 Strategic objective 2.2.5 is to ‘Expand opportunities for tertiary ed\ ucation in alignment with labour market needs, as well as, promoting self- directed and life- long learning’. It is planned to offer more courses at the Montserrat CC and also to strengthen strategic alliances with other institutions. The SDP simply look\ s to establish partnerships with investors who may wish to establish a tertia\ ry institution in Montserrat and to expand the number of opportunities available through the open campuses.

st. Kitts & nevis 1 There is nothing specifically related to the quality of management and leadership although it is mentioned on occasion. Administration and leadership as b\ eing one of the career path options for teachers and appropriate training should be a requirement for such a move.

2 Ongoing professional development for all in the education system is noted throughout the White Paper. It is readily acknowledged that any sort of curriculum reform and introduction of ICT and TVET into the classrooms will need substantial professional development efforts if they are to succeed.

A system of performance appraisal for teachers and principals is being i\ ntroduced.

3 The plan suggests a student- centred curriculum for lower streams 4 There is an acknowledgment of the need to review and reform the primary school curriculum to ensure that it is relevant. They look to improve curriculum by promoting after school programs for primary and secondary children. 5The White Paper looks to increase access to the age group and, to improve teacher training. There is a fee charged for ECE which is not the case in the other sectors (see Govt web site). Special emphasis being placed on the children from poor and disadvantaged families and communities and this will be a part of the Re\ aching the Unreached program. Activities proposed include the construction of new facilities.

6 There has been a TVET draft Policy developed that considers a wide range of \ issues related to establishing a TVET system. The introduction of TVET into the secondary schools is also mentioned but the emphasis in the secondary schools remains on the more academic disciplines.

7 Much of the discussion in the White Paper on tertiary education is around the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College and how that should be developed to allow for degree programs to be offered. A GER of 50 for post-secondary students by 2020 and one of 20% for university graduation are set as targets. There is no sense of what the present figures are. Increases would be initiated through the establishment of an Open Campus of the University of the West Indies and arrangements with other universities.

There is mention of a few scholarships being awarded but little else as to how the increased access to tertiary education could be funded. st. lucia 1 There is a need to establish and implement an overall staff development/learning plan to enhance administrative functions and overall staff development/learning to ensure excellent delivery of the schools’ and Ministry’s work programme.

The Department should re-examine the role of District Education Officers Secondary school board training should be established to improve governance at the school level.

2 Develop and implement a teacher development plan to enhance both administration and to enhance administrative functions and overall staff development/learning Review and implement a teacher appraisal system. 7475 3 Introduce new modalities of teaching and learning which is taken to mean child centred learning.

Expand the use of ICT so that all students leave school being computer l\ iterate.

4 Worried about standards in key subject areas in secondary schools.

Looking at introducing a broad based, balanced and relevant curriculum in early childhood education, primary and secondary that would include ICT.

New modalities of assessment and certification should be introduced to include school-based and continuous assessment at all levels 5 Develop and implement standards and regulations within ECE. Provide professional development opportunities for staff.

6 There will be a review and development of National Regulations and TVET Policies A priority will be to establish a national system of accreditation and certification for TVET Look at ways to integrate TVET into the secondary school system.

7 Universal secondary education has increased the demand for tertiary education and the Sir Arthur Lewis CC is now a University College. This should all\ ow students from poorer backgrounds an opportunity for a tertiary education. There are increasing options for students via distance and online education.

Need to develop policies and regulations to guide the expansion of tertiary providers. This expansion needs to be carefully monitored Access will be expanded by increasing options and the range of courses. This will reflect the changing needs of the labour market. Improved ICT will again help learners.

Provision has to be made for alternative pathways and ‘second chance’ education st. Vincent and the Grenadines 1 Management training is considered as an activity in the primary and secondary sectors. The plan suggests that a formal certificate program, to be deliverable in mixed mode, be developed for this.

The sections on management of the system that is included as a section o\ f the plan is more concerned with what management needs to do in terms of, for example, the curriculum as opposed to how management can be improved. 2In general, all teachers should have access to professional development opportunities through of different modalities ranging from scholarships for full time study through to online and distance education. A particular need is identified\ for training on computers and in ICT generally.

In section 2.8 the plan says that despite how much been done to get trai\ ned teachers in the classroom that there was still a need for further professional development opportunities for teachers in the Grenadines. One of the challenges was seen as being motivating teachers to engage in continuous professional development.

3 In each of the sectors there is mention of teachers using the ‘new methods’ although it is not completely clear what these ‘new methods’ are. There is a clear move towards integrating ICT into the classrooms and there is also a one netbook per child project. (Is this the well known one laptop per child program? I can find no mention of St Vincent being involved with this.) 4 One of the principles of the plan is ‘instituting curriculum reforms across the education system in both formal and informal sectors’. It is particul\ arly important in the early childhood and the TVET sectors – the former because the \ institutions at present do not necessarily follow an approved curriculum and in the latter because there are so many changes being made.

5 The first objective of the ECE plan is to ‘facilitate the full part\ icipation of children from indigent and poor homes’. The plan suggests that there is not equal access to ECE services. Those from the rural areas are seen as being disadvantaged in comparison with those from the urban areas.

Activities related to ECE would include the likes of the development and implementation of standards and regulations, curriculum development and review, the training and professional development of teachers.

6 The plan suggests that TVET has already been included in the secondary curriculum and there is little in the plan itself to develop this integration further.

The need to improve management at the institutions is recognised and a training program recommended. There is an understanding of the need for improved management of the sub sector as a whole but this is not carried through to the various log frames outlining objectives, activities and, ultimately, costs.

A long term objective would be to restructure the TVET sector to be part of a national integrated system of life long education and training. 7677 7 There is an aim to continue the increase in access to tertiary education that has been achieved through expansion to existing institutions and by introducing alternative modalities such as evening classes and part time studies. Attempt\ s will be made to provide support for the disadvantaged students, many of whom come from the Grenadines. There is also concern at a gender disparity with about two thirds of students being women.

A Department of Continuing Education will be established at the Communit\ y College. A need to increase the numbers coming through in the science and maths fields is mentioned as an issue but this does not seem to be reflected in the objectives and the activities. It is noted that courses on offer will be reviewed on a regular basis in line with labour market demands. The budget speech of 20\ 12 speaks of SVGCC,’ enhancing its activities in outreach in the community’.

There is talk of improving management and leadership at the institutions level but not at the national level to oversee the development of tertiary educati\ on in the country.

t rinidad and t obago The NSP refers to the overarching document entitled ‘Innovation for Lasting Prosperity, the Medium Term Development Plan – 2011 to 2014. The ESP refers to Education Strategic Sector Plan – 2011 to 2015.

1 The second of the goals of the ESP is to transform the ‘Ministry into\ a high performing organisation’. A key strategy here will be to develop the capacity and capability of the organisation. A training plan and a succession plannin\ g policy would be developed. This is echoed in the NSP that also makes mention of\ career planning and succession planning processes to be developed for the public service.

At the schools level the ESP identified a need to design and develop a\ standard framework for the leadership and management of schools.

The Seamless Education System program will support improvements in system management. The NSP spoke of the need to establish Regional Authorities \ to coordinate, manage and improve performance of schools although it is not clear how these will link in with the districts 2 Teacher education, both pre service and professional development is considered critical to the first of the goals, that of designing and developin\ g a quality education system. The first of the activities mentioned is to \ conduct a training programme for teachers in all areas as well as Management Training and Alternate Dispute Resolution. Methods will be looked at to improve the development of teachers, teacher performance and teaching methods. The NSP agrees – ‘Mechanisms must also be put in place to provide opportunities for the professional development of educators, trainers and teachers.

Additionally, there exists a small pool of experienced and certified instructors, presumably for TVET, available nationally, which must be increased as continued skills shortages negatively impacts the development of our hum\ an capital.

3 NSP – ‘As part of the social transformation thrust, the education \ system will be reformed with the emphasis on curricula reform, teacher training, the adoption of new teaching methodologies as well as the infusion of technology in the learning process. Government sees the importance of incorporating new ways of learning and promoting technology adaptation among the youth. These reforms will instill some of the required values and attitudes necessary for national development’.

The first of the guiding principles in the ESP is to see the child as \ being the centre of everything that the Department does. The curriculum will be reviewed and updated at all levels to validate integration of Value Outcomes for Children into the Curriculum is this a child centred approach?

Information and communication technologies will be ‘infused’ into \ the curriculum at all levels of the education system – MSTTR The ESP str\ esses that the country will continue to invest heavily in the training of teac\ hers to effectively incorporate ICTs in delivering the curriculum. 7879 4 The NSP speaks of the curriculum at a number of levels of the formal sys\ tem.

There should be a complete revision of:

• the primary school curriculum as all subject areas have to achieve articulation with the ECCE Curriculum, • the secondary school curriculum to give students more career options and a broader range of offerings and to strengthen their critical thinking skills and creativity • the tertiary curriculum, to align institutions to clearly defined outcomes linked to the market and economic diversification strategies The ESP says that this curriculum reform will be supported by the Seamless Education System program. A concerted effort will be made to improve the quality of schooling, through a revised curriculum that makes provision for the differentiated learning styles of boys and girls. The in-service training and development programme for teachers will be strengthened to create a cadre of professionals to act as competent, dynamic and knowledgeable resources in schools.

5 The ESP is very clear on this with one of the thirteen priorities being \ to ‘Achieve Universal Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) by 2015’. Key activities cover a number of important areas such as infrastructure, teacher education and legislative needs. The NSP is in agreement with the ECCE access target of 2015.

6 The ESP looks to further expand the implementation of the TVET program into the secondary schools, with emphasis on the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQ) system. The ESP sees the need to develop a str\ ategy to recruit and then retain the teachers required to teach in these areas and also to conduct a comprehensive audit to identify the equipment, consumables and physical facilities that will be required for system-wide implementation of CVQ over the period of the plan.

The NSP speaks of rationalising the scholarships program – the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses program (GATE) – and expand it to allow students to access it for TVET courses. In addition, more Workforce Assessment Centres (no idea!!) will be established and technical/vocational education expanded in order to strengthen the skills base.

The Ministry of education was tasked to strengthen TVET and to expand Caribbean Vocational Qualifications system. 7It is clear that tertiary education is of importance to the country as a\ whole slew of activities are outlined in the NSP ranging from new buildings,new institutions and scholarship programs for teachers and students .

The GATE Program will be used to ensure students are enrolled in courses in the disciplines that are needed.

t urks & caicos islands 1 No real mention of management training for those working in the education sector.

2 It is hard to ascertain the views of the plan in regard to professional development! There seems to be a feeling that the teachers are well qualified and that the local Community College has played a significant role in teacher preparation and further training. There is an acknowledged need for teachers to be prepared for the introduction of ICT into the classroom.

3 There is little talk of teaching method and a child centred approach to teaching. The plan does envisage a move towards classrooms being more fully equipped with ICT equipment. One of the main areas for qualitative improvement is seen as being ‘The development or retrofitting of the ICT architecture in schools to assist in the creation of an ‘e-literate’ student population’.

4 The Executive Summary says that the ‘curriculum is in need of updatin\ g to improve its relevance to TCIslanders facing the demands of the 21st century’ and that it should ‘speak to the needs of diverse communities in TCI’\ whilst displaying ‘sensitivity to the culture of the TCI’.

The plan anticipates directives from Government in respect of curriculum enrichment and the widening of subject provision for students particularly in areas of information and communication technology, computers, traditional arts and craft etc. 8081 5 There is a commitment to universal ECE – the plan speaks of universal education already having been achieved at the primary and secondary levels and approaching at early childhood - and even talk of supporting the disadvantaged. Universal access is built into the costings tables althou\ gh the issues regarding the number of ‘non belongers’ arriving will influence this.\ Page iii states, ‘The commitment to universal education dictates broadly the allocations for kindergarten, primary and secondary levels’.

There is very little specific to ECE in terms of teacher education and cur\ riculum development.

6 There is an understanding that technical courses should be introduced into the secondary schools and that these schools should move away from concentrating solely on just a few academic subjects. There is much stress laid on the fact that many positions, particularly in the trade areas, in the T and C are taken up by non belongers. This is also clear in the teaching service \ where two thirds of teachers are non belongers.

It must be understood that the country is just so small that it is probably unrealistic to expect the local college to be able to provide training in all disciplines and trade areas. There is an acknowledgment that students will still have to go overseas and the efficient and effective use of scholarship funds is very important.

7 The plan speaks a lot of the importance of expanding access to the terti\ ary program and, now that there is near universal education in the ECE, primary and secondary sectors, the country can focus more on post-secondary and tertiary sectors. Appendix 3: Examples of visions and mission statements Example 1 – South Africa the vision Our vision is of a South Africa in which all our people have access to l\ ifelong learning, as well as education and training, which will, in turn, contribute towards improving the quality of life and building a peaceful, prosperous and democratic South Africa.

the mission statement Our mission is to provide leadership with respect to provinces, districts and schools in the establishment of a South African education system for the 21st century Example 2 – Papua New Guinea the vision Our vision is integral human development achieved through an affordable education system that appreciates Christian and traditional values, and that prepares literate, skilled and healthy citizens by concentrating on the growth and development of each individual’s personal viability and character formation, while ensuring all can contribute to the peace and \ prosperity of the nation.

the mission statement The Department of Education’s mission is fivefold:

• to facilitate and promote the integral development of every individual • to develop and encourage an education system which satisfies the r equirements of the nation and its people • to establish, preserve and improve standards of education throughout the nation • to make the benefits of such education available as widely as possible to all of the people 8283 state name of plan type of plan 7 Year for review 8 Vision mission objectives / goals log framescosts indica- tors Anguilla 9 Education Development Plan, 2010 to 2015 Dev 2014Ye sNo Ye s NoNoNo Antigua and barbuda No No No NoNoNo barbados Strategic Plan, 2002 to 2012 Strat2011NoYe s Ye s NoNoNo british Virgin islands dominica Grenada Strategic Plan for Educational Enhancement and Development, 2006 to 2015 Strat 2014Ye sNo Ye sYe sYe s montserrat Strategic Plan, 2011 to 2014 Strat2013Ye sYe s Ye s Ye sYe sYe s st Kitts and nevis 10 White paper on Education Development and Policy, 2009 to 2019 Disc 2018Ye sYe s Ye s Ye sNoNo st lucia Education Sector Develop- ment Plan, 2009 to 2014 Dev 2013Ye sYe s Ye s Ye sNoYe s st Vincent and the Grenadines 11 Education Sector Develop- ment Plan, 2012 - 2017 Dev 2016Ye sYe s Ye s Ye sYe sNo t rinidad and t obago Education Sector Strategic Plan:2011 – 2015 Strat 2014Ye sYe s Ye s NoYe sNo t urks and caicos islands Five Year Education Development Plan Dev 2009Ye sYe s Ye s NoYe sNo Appendix 4: Status of Education Plans in Focus Countries 7The plans have been categorised as being strategic (strat), developmen\ t (dev) or discussion papers (disc). The distinction between these can be very na\ rrow.

8The review of the plan should start the year before the plan expires. Th\ is is to allow time for comprehensive review, wide consultation, priority setting, costing, writing and the endorsement process.

9The Anguillan vision is really the ideal Anguillan person. The objective\ s are targets 10St Kitts vision is far too long. There are indicators in the log frame b\ ut there is no proper PAF in the White Paper.

11Vision and missions are not really very good and it is not clear where th\ ey come from state si1si2 si3si4 si5 si6si7 Average Anguilla 111.0 Antigua and barbuda barbados 23 22 3 23 2.4 british Virgin islands dominica Grenada 32 33 2 33 2.7 montserrat 32 12 2 23 2.1 st Kitts and nevis 13 12 3 23 2.1 st lucia 33 22 2 33 2.6 st Vincent and the Grenadines 2 3 22 3 33 2.6 t rinidad and t obago 3 3 33 3 33 3.0 t urks and caicos islands 0 1 12 3 33 1.9 Averages 12 2.142.43 1.862.29 2.57 2.713.00 2.4 Appendix 5: Summary table showing the consistency of plans with the OESS Strategic Imperatives. 12 Do not include the figures for Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda and BVI The table shows an indicative mark for each of the plans and the adherence to each of the Strategic Imperatives. The marks indicate the following:

• 0 suggests that there has been no mention at all in the Plan, • 1 suggests that there is mention but maybe only in passing and it does not seem to be a priority • 2 suggests that the SI is important and that most of the issue is cover ed • 3 suggests that the state takes on board fully the essence of the imperative For easy reference, the SIs are: 1. Improve the quality and accountability of Leadership and Management; 2. Improve Teachers’ Professional Development; 3. Improve the quality of Teaching and Learning; 4. Improve Curriculum and strategies for Assessment; 5. Increase access to quality Early Childhood Development services; 6. Provide opportunities for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for all learners; 7. Increase access to and relevance of Tertiary and Continuing Education The averages at the bottom are not particularly significant but it is maybe interesting that the three imperatives that are related to access, numbers 5 (ECD), 6 (TVET) and (tertiary education), rate higher than those of the quality related imperatives. 8485 state 1.1.11.1.2 1.1.31.1.4 2.3.1 2.3.2 Anguilla 00 000 Antigua and barbuda barbados 10 011 british Virgin islands dominica Grenada 21 112 montserrat 03 121 st Kitts and nevis 21 120 st lucia 21 220 st Vincent and the Grenadines 32 332 t rinidad and t obago 0 2 232 t urks and caicos islands 12 222 Averages 1.431.71 1.712.141.29 Appendix 6: Consistency of plans with the key indicators. There was no information available to assess third of the four indicators in the current MCP which is ‘countries with national/sectoral programs based on evidence and disaggregated data’.

The information below provides guides as to the criteria used to provide the assessments in the table. These are all highly subjective in nature and the exercise is made even more difficult by the fact that all of the plans are very different in their structure and in their objective.

0 No mention of the poor and the disadvantaged 1 Mention of poor and disadvantaged but with no follow up in the strategie\ s and activities 2 Included in an activity, strategy or objective 3 Included in a related indicator 0No use or presentation of evidence or data 1 Data tables and / or firm evidence of a consultative process 2 Analysis of data or the consultative process 3 Demonstrated use of evidence, usually Indicator 1.1 Indicator 1.2 0 No mention of gender disparities and no disaggregated data 1 Gender disaggregated data and disparities acknowledged 2 Gender issues noted in strategies and activities 3 Gender issues noted in log frames 0No mention, or only passing mention, of these issues 1 The issues acknowledged and included in the analysis 2 The issues considered as priorities and included in strategies 3 The issues noted in log frames or action plans Indicator 1.4 Indicator 2.3.1 0 No costs mentioned 1 Some costs mentioned and discussed 2 Costs included by activity 3 Complete costing table provided by year Indicator 2.3.2 8687 Appendix 7: Summary of Indicator Baselines indi indicator description baseline:

1. Education Specific 2.3.1 # of countries that have adopted child-centred, gender- sensitive and inclusive education plans and policies 2 2.3.2 # of countries with costed (national) education plans (reflecting proposed national reform) for inclusive education 0 2.3.3 Existence of a sub-regional education reform strategy approved by OECS Ministers of Education 1 2. Indicators related to social policy and monitoring and evaluation 1.1.1 # of countries with sectoral policies that clearly target the poor and disadvantaged (including disaster risk reduction (DRR)) 1 1.1.2 # of countries with national/sectoral policies based on evidence and disaggregated data 1 1.1.3# of countries with national/sectoral programs based on evidence and disaggregated data 0 1.1.4 # of countries employing a child sensitive-gender response budgeting approach in sector budget processes and national budget. 1 Appendix 8: A sample reporting form for Child Budget Analysis ministry childrenYouthGeneral total %age of budget education health social Welfare Youth development t otals recurrent budget for year ____________________ ministry childrenYouthGeneral total %age of budget education health social Welfare Youth development t otals capital budget for year ____________________ 8889 Appendix 9: Example of an indicative Child Budget Analysis for St Lucia ministry childrenYouthGeneral total %age of budget education 61,143,420 69,371,332 12,840,961 143,355,713 14.9% health 48,974,300 48,974,300 5.1% Youth development 2,268,586 2,268,586 0.2% stlGce 2,239,026 5,840,406 8,079,432 0.8% t otals 61,143,420 73,878,944 67,655,667 202,678,031 21.0% tabel 1 - recurrent budget ministry childrenYouthGeneral total %age of budget education 54,908,000 15,968,068 19,896,560 90,772,628 6.5% health 83,301,050 83,301,050 6.0% Youth development 1,717,000 1,717,000 0.1% stlGce 3,056,602 310,500 10,303,276 13,670,378 1.0% t otals 57,964,602 17,995,568 113,500,886 189,461,056 13.6% table 2 - capital budget ministry childrenYouthGeneral total %age of budget education 116,051,420 85,339,400 32,737,521 234,128,341 10.0% health - - 132,275,350 132,275,350 5.6% Youth development - 3,985,586 - 3,985,586 0.2% stlGce 3,056,602 2,549,526 16,143,682 21,749,810 0.9% t otals 119,108,022 91,874,512 181,156,553 392,139,087 16.7% table 3 - t otal budget Note: STLGCE is Social Transformation, Local Government and Community Empowerment Appendix 10: Some charts to compare state finance figures 9091 Appendix 11: An example of a format for an annual work plan One of the objectives of the plan is to improve the performance of male students in the final examination at the end of secondary schools.

A number of activities will be undertaken in order to achieve this objective. These activities are:

1. A teacher training program to strengthen teaching inareas that are determined to be aweakness for male students 2. Male students are being undermined by poor influences and poor choice being made out of school. In order to alleviate this, schools will be asked to provide a program of after school activities designed to improve school performance.

3. The lack of male teachers as role models is identified as being a weakness. An effort will be made to attract suitable male candidates into the teaching\ service by developing an advocacy campaign that will be presented at various forums around the state. refsector foci/si obj Activity costresp outputind baselinetarget 1.1 Sec Gender To improve boys performance in the CXE %age boys with 4 passesNo 1.1.1 Teacher training programECDxxComm Colls Prof dec program designed%age trs undergoing PDF ??% (??+10)% 1.1.2 After school activitiesECDxxSchools Extra Curr program developed%age boys taking part 0 20% 1.13 Recruitment drive for male teachersECDxx Ministry Advocacy campaign devised# of presentations made 0 4 9293 Appendix 12: Documents referred to by State The document that is in bold is the main source document that has been used. The status of this document is provided in brackets.

Anguilla five year education development plan, 2010 to 2015(draft) tVet policy 2013 first draft Comprehensive Education Review, 2009 Antigua and barbuda Education Sector Plan 2013-2018 – in draft but not available barbados education strategic plan, 2002 to 2012(under review) Draft Medium Term Development Strategy, 2010 to 2014.

National Strategic Plan, 2005 to 2025 british Virgin islands ICT and Education dominica No costs mentioned Grenada strategic plan for educational enhancement and development, 2006 to 2015 (current) montserrat Strategic Plan for 2011 to 2014 education development plan for 2011 to 2020 (current) st Kitts and nevis White paper on education development and policy, 2009 to 2019 (current) st lucia education sector development plan, 2009 to 2014 (current) st Vincent and the Grenadines education sector development plan, 2102 to 2017(draft) t rinidad and t obago education sector strategic plan: 2011 to 2015(current) Medium Term Policy Framework, 2011 to 2104 – Innovation for Lasting Prosperity t urks and caicos islands five Year education development plan, 2006 to 2010 (under review) Education Development Management Unit August 2013 ISBN: 978-976-956555-5-5