Development of an Education Sector Plan within the GPE Initiative

Detailed description of project Back

Following the indicative allocation in the amount of 49.9 million USD from the Global Partnership for Education, the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan has indicated its agreement to join the Global Partnership for Education and to develop an Education Sector Plan in line with Uzbekistan’s Welfare Improvement Strategy (WIS). The GPE has identified UNICEF as the Coordinating Agency (CA), responsible for facilitating the work of the Local Education Group (LEG) and the development and endorsement of the Education Sector Plan. UNICEF has contracted PROMAN to provide technical assistance to the government partners in Uzbekistan through the process of developing (i) a situation analysis of the education sector; (ii) a comprehensive Education Sector Plan (ESP), and (iii) a 3-year action plan for ESP implementation.

The comprehensive ESP will be a key education policy document in the Republic of Uzbekistan. It will set the long-term strategic priorities for the national education system, in line with the country’s national priorities. Whereas the ESP will also establish the mechanisms required to meet these priorities, the subsequent action plan will provide a timeframe for implementing these mechanisms along with cost and finance simulation models.

The study draws upon the findings of previous and on-going relevant studies and is designed to assist UNICEF to provide support to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in compiling the necessary information required to submit an application for grant support through the GPE partnership. Within the framework of the GPE, the focus from 2011 to 2014 will be on three strategic dimensions related to (i) support for fragile states; (ii) improvement of learning outcomes and quality education; and (iii) support to girls’ education. For Uzbekistan, the second area of support related to quality education will be the relevant one.

Type of services provided

PROMAN provides the services of 3 experts: a Team Leader/Education Sector expert, a Senior Russian speaking Education Expert and an Education Finance Expert.

Core services include:

• In close collaboration with Government representatives, Development Partners (DPs) and other stakeholders, building upon a broad consultative process in order to solicit current information and to verify existing documentary sources;
• Produce Final Report on the Situation Analysis;
• Assist the work of working groups of all educational sub-sectors, to formulate the future strategic orientation of the Uzbekistan education sector;
• Develop an overarching framework of strategic outputs and outcomes in the education sector with a prime focus on the next three years;
• Present the emerging interlinked results framework at a one-day Validation Workshop with the LEG;
• Refined the framework at a three-day ESP Development Workshop, focussing on the adoption of a strategic design for the ESP and its implementation arrangements, including a comprehensive approach towards monitoring and evaluation (M+E).