External Evaluation of the Girls’ Education Campaign Haydi Kızlar Okula

Detailed description of project Back

The Girls’ Education Campaign – Haydi Kızlar Okula –was launched by the UNICEF Executive Director and the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in mid-June 2003. Its objective is to eliminate the gender gap in primary school enrolment and to realise the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) target for achieving gender parity in universal primary education. The expected results of the campaign centre around (i) the acceleration of the social mobilisation for girls’ education, (ii) the strengthening of capacity building processes, regional advocacy and inter-agency collaboration, and (iii) an integration/expansion of existing campaign strategies into UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) approach.

At the beginning of 2006, the campaign entered its second phase of implementation. Under the Country Programme of Cooperation between the Government of Turkey and UNICEF (2006-2010), this external evaluation represents one of the major evaluation activities. The objectives of the external evaluation are (i) to determine the extent to which the project objectives were achieved, (ii) to analyse the appropriateness of strategies used in the project (giving reasons in case of shortfall), (iii) to provide a cost-benefit analysis, and (iv) to serve as a reference guide for future UNICEF programming. In addition to providing input for UNICEF, MoNE and other stakeholders for the formulation and implementation of the second phase of the Campaign, the evaluation revolves around the five OECD/DAC evaluation criteria, i.e. relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Particular attention is given to (i) assessing the status of the implementation of the Campaign, (ii) providing detailed analytical information for future planning; (iii) contributing to the elaboration of a results-based strategy; (iv) reflecting upon lessons learnt; and (v) strengthening existing synergies between different groups of stakeholders in terms of promoting girls’ education. Also, an overall focus on marginalised, vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups emphasises the social context which in turn determines the current status of girls’ education within the prevailing larger social context.

Utilising a participatory approach, the evaluation puts strong emphasis on qualitative methods in order to assess the degree of attitudinal changes at the various levels of the campaign for the various target groups, i.e. social leaders, administrators, teachers, students, concerned families, girls who dropped out of/never attended school, and male members of local communities. Since the number of campaign provinces has been steadily increasing since the inception of the campaign in 2003, and has recently reached a country-wide coverage with a total of 81 provinces, the general approach requires representative sampling by categories and randomisation, in order to maximise the efficiency of inputs (manpower and time) and outputs (evaluation outcomes, i.e. data).

Type of services provided

PROMAN is providing the services of a senior team of consultants with expertise in the evaluation and monitoring of education projects (particularly in terms of assessing the quality of education), educational research methodology, education policies, formulation of education sector plans, planning of education programmes and gender issues.

• The Team Leader is responsible for taking the lead in the development of the design of the evaluation, including the development of qualitative evaluation tools (questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews). He also closely liaises with the Turkish government and other key stakeholders during the preparatory phase of the evaluation, and is ultimately responsible for the drafting of the final report;
• The second expert provides specific expertise in gender-related issues. Apart from assessing progress made in terms of relevance, impact, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the intervention, she will specifically address the notion of girls’ education within the Turkish context, also referring to the larger framework of the Child Friendly School concept.

Both experts closely cooperate with a national evaluation team on the basis of ToR developed by the experts in collaboration with UNICEF and MoNE.