Minutes of the dpg education meeting

MINUTES OF THE DPG EDUCATION MEETING

HELD AT DFID, DAR ES SALAAM

10 June, 2009

In Attendance:

Tanya Zebroff DFID Chair

Maria Teresa Bejarano SIDA Member

Florence Ssereo UNESCO Member

Jim Ackers UNICEF Member

Beatrice Omari CIDA Member

Gertrude Kihunrwa DFID Member

Mei Mei Peng USAID Member

Laura Kikuli USAID Member

Rest Lasway WB Member

Leoncia Salakana ILO Member

Arun Joshi WB Member

Andrew Mambo WFP Member

Heinrich Heinrichs TGPSH-Tz Member

Mary J.Eyakuze UNESCO Secretariat
The Agenda had 8 items.

1. 
   UWEZO Project Update
   
2. 
   UNICEF Situational Analysis Presentation
   
3. 
   Minutes and Matters arising from last DPG Education meeting -13 May, 2009
   
4. 
   Agenda 1.0: UWEZO Project Update- Dr. Suleiman Sumra
   
5. 
   TWG Updates by Focal Persons
   
6. 
   Review of Current Issues and /or Comments
   
7. 
   Upcoming Events in June to August 2009
   
8. 
   AOB and Next meeting
   

Agenda 1: UWEZO Project Update
Dr. Sumra explained the following:

1. 
   That the UWEZO project was an initiative jointly to be undertaken in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
   

1.2 It was a way of civil society demanding accountability of the Government to deliver higher quality of education with aims at developing and promoting a simple broad based method to assess children’s competencies, with a strong focus on literacy and numeracy.

2. 
   The approach was already well established in India and the UWEZO team had been trained by Pratham the NGO from India that implements the ASER.
   
3. 
   In Tanzania, UWEZO had been piloted in Temeke and Simanjiro districts and the roll out to the first 40 districts was to take place from September-October, 2009 with the results to be released within 100 days of the surveys being conducted.
   
4. 
   The project was expected to cost $6 Million over 4 years and a request had been made to DPs to finance it.
   
5. 
   A power point presentation had been circulated to members.
   

Agenda 2:0 UNICEF Situational Analysis Presentation

2.1 Dr. S.Sumra also requested time within the meeting to discuss key educational constraints that he would capture in UNICEF’s situational analysis paper, which provoked some lively discussions around the Capitation Grant { does the school management know what it is for, how much they get , etc); text book availability; the constraints to educational quality, and seeing it within the overall deteriorating situation in other social services delivery { water, health} at the grass root level, etc.

Action Point:

2.2 Dr. Sumra agreed to share the draft document for in-puts when completed, through UNICEF to the secretariat.

Agenda 3:0 Minutes and Matters arising from last DPG Education meeting -13 May, 2009

3.1 Inclusive Education Strategy-2^nd Draft

3.1.1 It was informed that the 2^nd draft of the Inclusive Education Strategy that the Finnish consultant finalised and submitted to MOEVT did not incorporate the comments from DPs .

3.1.2 It was explained that the comments and in-puts were important in bringing out the whole concept of “inclusiveness” beyond the disability focus that the current strategy was emphasizing. It was agreed that these comments should be resubmitted to the TWG so that they can be included in the final draft.

Action Point:

3.2 CIDA would bring the DP Education comments to the next CCI TWG for inclusion in the final document that was to be submitted through the ESDC forum.

Agenda 4:0 TWG Updates by Focal Persons

. 4.1 ESDC Task Force

4.1.1 The ESDC Task Force held an extraordinary meeting on 9 / 6 / 2009 to review the progress on the Milestones in preparation for the Education Sector Review -2009. The next regular ESDC Task Force meeting which will discuss the rest of the regular work of the Task force, such as the endorsement of documents will be held on 18 June, 2009.

4.1.2 It is encouraging that most TWGs have met and have developed TORs. It was agreed with the ESDP Task team group that the consolidated TORs for all TWGs will be finalised and shared in the ESDC Task Force but that this work doesn’t have as high as a priority as other activities, and won’t be ready for endorsement at the 18 June meeting. Instead, it was agreed that it will be completed before the end of August, 2009.

4.1.3 The members were reminded that the focal person for each TWG have been kindly asked to submit a ½ page (maximum) brief on what took place at the last TWG meeting they are responsible to report on. That brief should include the key issues raised, agreed and the challenges outstanding as well as the way forward. The brief should then be sent by email to the DPG secretariat and the troika chair to then be circulated to all members.

2. 
   Updates for each TWG were as follows:
   

4.2.1 The Institutional Arrangement (IATWG) needs to be more coordinated since the Chair {PMO-RALG} is based in Dodoma. There may be need to have a co-chair from MOEVT, or have a IA sub-committee functioning in a similar manner as the PETS subcommittee under RACEF. At the moment the IATWG hasn’t met in the last few months and this has caused delay in implementation of activities, particularly the Human resources situational analysis.

2. 
   The cross-cutting issues (CCITWG) has been very productive and made significant progress in recent months. They provided the three strategic plans to be reviewed and all members were thanked for their valuable inputs to these large documents at short notice. The DP comments were presented to the CCITWG and it was agreed that all the strategic plans need revision. The CCITWG set up some working groups to finalize each of the strategic plans and they will not be presented for endorsement in this ESDC, but for the ESDC in August.
   
3. 
   The Enrolment expansion (EETWG) has been meeting and an update brief on the last meeting was provided by UNICEF to the secretariat.
   
4. 
   The Quality improvement (QITWG) has been meeting as well and an update brief provided by CIDA to the secretariat.
   
5. 
   The M&E TWG has also met and an update brief was provided by SIDA to the secretariat.
   
6. 
   The Folk committee has met and an update brief was provided by CIDA to the secretariat.
   
7. 
   The Higher education committee hasn’t met since April and the HEDP is to be discussed with senior management next week so that the draft can be shared with DPs. It was agreed that a DP position on the structure for Higher education committee should be developed.
   
8. 
   The resource allocation (RACEF TWG) have not met since end February 2009 and issues of the MTEF and budget that are raised in the meetings are consistently rebuked and no information has been provided on the budget at all. The chair of the RACEF has been changed to the DPP and since he became chair, the TWG has not met. This concern has been raised at the last extraordinary ESDC Task force meeting and will be raised again at the next ESDC TF and the ESDC meetings. However, the sub-committee of the PETS has been very active and holds close to weekly meetings to keep the process on track.
   

The PETS is now in the data collection phase and the enumeration firm has been contracted and the MOU signed. The Lead Consultant is providing an up-date on PETS progress on Thursday, 11 June for DPs and on 19^th June for the PETS sub-committee members.

The PETS data collection activities are planned to start from Mid-June to mid-July 2009. DP members from CIDA, UNICEF, UNESCO and the WB indicated interest to go the field as observers if this is possible.

Action Point:

2. 
   Focal persons are to send half a page summary on their TWG deliberations and issues after each meeting and all updates provided before the next ESDC taskforce meeting on the 18 June. .
   
3. 
   The secretariat will send TWGs key documents to DPs for review. The secretariat will also keep a file for each TWG’s updates that will be made available on the website (and by email before that is finalized).
   
4. 
   A DP position note on the Higher education structure will be developed by CIDA, WB and UNESCO before the next of the week so that it can be discussed during the ESDC TF and ESDC meetings in the coming week.
   

Agenda 5:0 Review of Current Issues and /or Comments

5.1 ESDC Task Team Issues:

A small team of MOEVT and ED-DPG Troika worked on the draft documents for the ESR -2009; namely; the Rating Framework for the 2009 review; the TOR for the monitoring field visit to the districts, the TOR for the JESR 2009 and the questionnaires for the monitoring field visits.

Action Point:

1. 
   The secretariat is to send the Rating Framework, the TOR for field visit, and the TOR for the ESR and the questionnaires to the DPs for comments by 11 June, 2009.
   
2. 
   Comments from DPs are to be sent to the Secretariat by Monday, 15 June. The mid-year review of the milestones is planned for 25 June, 2009 at the ESDC. The ESDC will focus on the review the Milestones however it is also expected to approve the TORs for the JESR, the monitoring field visits, the questionnaires and the rating framework documents.
   

2. 
   Preparation for the JESR 2009
   

The JESR for 2009 will be conducted for three consecutive days. The TOR is being revised and there was a good discussion on how to make the 3 day meeting more productive. It was suggested that it:

5.2.1 have more engaged discussions on the thematic papers and issues presented by using panel discussions, and small group work and presentations by directors on their areas of expertise (that are priorities for the MOEVT)

2. 
   The thematic areas proposed were:
   

1. 
   Relevance of education in relation to market demands (skills/vocational training discussions)
   
2. 
   PETS and efficiency of expenditure (findings and recommendations of the study discussed and agreed at HLM)
   
3. 
   Classroom Processes/pedagogy for quality education outcomes (focus on literacy and numeracy in the classroom)
   
4. 
   Discuss the challenges and recommendations found in studies done during the year and for the MKUKUTA review: (PETS, SITAN from UNICEF, ESA preliminary results, Capacity building strategy, etc).
   
5. 
   Discuss processes and outcomes for the year under review - e.g examinations, minimum standards, strategic plans;
   
6. 
   Discuss quality of education issues;
   
7. 
   Move JESR closer to the people; by providing feed back on sector reviews and field visits to communities so that those inputs can be used in the development of district level plans and budgets;
   
8. 
   Have bi-annual monitoring field visits (or even quarterly if agreeable)
   

Action Point:

2. 
   DPs to agree the areas we would like to prioritize in the review. Please send comments to the chair and the secretariat before 23 June so that they can be raised and finalized in the ESDC.
   

5.3 Sub-Sector Program Documents

The meeting was informed that a draft TOR for SEDP II was being developed.

Action Point:

1. 
   WB is to share, before the next meeting, the SEDP II TOR and its timelines for delivery of its activities in the preparation of the SEDP II WB assisted project.
   

3. 
   MKUKUTA Review Process
   

5.4.1 The GOT is leading the MKUKUTA Review and each sector has been asked to identify gaps and studies that could be conducted before the end of August to feed into the Review process. This is very short notice, however, discussions have been held with the MOEVT and it has been agreed that the MOEVT will share two TORs with Cluster working group 2. These are:

1. 
   A Situational Analysis of Secondary Education in Tanzania (as a precursor to the development of SEDPII)
   
2. 
   A Human Resources Situational analysis for the education sector, which looks at the Constraints in HR Availability , Deployment, and Retention (especially in underserved areas)
   

5.4.2 It was explained that it was likely funding would be required to implement these two studies. However, one was a precursor requirement for the development of the SEDPII and the other was a key milestone for this year’s jointly agreed MOEVT roadmap.

5.4.3 Members indicated the possibility of funding these important studies and this will need to be discussed in more detail after the CLGWG2 provides an indication if funding cannot be done through the PER main basket.

Action Point:

5.4.4 TORs for the two studies to be shared with all members once drafted and agreed with the MOEVT.

Agenda 6.0 Issues to be raised with MoEVT through the Troika:
There were no meetings with the PS in May. The following are issues to be raised in June. A meeting has been requested to be held with the troika before the next ESDC meeting on the 25^th June, 2009.

1. 
   Update on the ETP (including the status of the re-entry policy)
   
2. 
   Sharing of METF
   
3. 
   Dates of the midterm review of milestones and monitoring field visits
   
4. 
   Date of the HOC meeting with the PS confirmed
   
5. 
   Planning for the ESR
   
6. 
   DOL discussions – new dialogue process between GoT and DPs.
   

 .

Agenda 7.0: Upcoming Events in June to August 2009

7.1 DPG Calendar

7.1.1. It was agreed to have a calendar of events covering a three months’ period, or longer where events are known. This will enable DPs not only to be informed, but will also enable those interested in participating to programme their availability well in advance.

Action Point

7.1.2 The secretariat is to send the DPG calendar to all members for them to fill in and return by Monday, 15 June. The secretariat will then share the updated calendar.

3. 
   The next ESDC Task Force meeting will be held on 18 June, followed by the ESDC meeting on 25 June, 2009.
   

7.1.4 DPs who will be around to attend {CIDA, WB, UNICEF, UNESCO will have a small planning meeting on June 23^rd from 11am -12noon to ensure all issues are being covered in the ESDC.

2. 
   Next Get together event
   

The Chair offered to have a tennis tournament/ Ed DPG gathering on 14 August at her residence ( No, 2 Ruvu Rd, Masaki), for members to relax and interact together. It will be a potluck event starting at 4-8 p.m. Please bring one dish of some food to share and do not forget your running shoes (and tennis racket if you have one).

Agenda 8.0 AOB and Next meeting

8.1 The next meeting will take place on 12^th August, 2009 at the DFID office at 9am