Final external evaluation of the Support Program for the Development of Education in Senegal-Response and Resilience to COVID-19 (PADES-RR)

Detailed description of project Back

In March 2020, the Government of Senegal announced the closure of all schools following the onset of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, resulting in the interruption of teaching and learning for more than 4 million students. The effects of such interruption could be devastating in terms of learning losses and dropouts. Funded by the AFD and the Global Partnership for Education (PME), an emergency programme was designed to mitigate the effects of the crisis on the schooling of students in basic education and protect students and educational staff of the health risks associated with the resumption of teaching in class. The Support Programme for the Development of Education in Senegal-Response and Resilience to COVID-19 (PADES-RR) consists of three components:

1. “Emergency component” which sought to mitigate the effects of the health crisis by ensuring the continuity of the education system and services, particularly for vulnerable students;
2. “Rapid Recovery” component which contributed to the reopening of schools for the 2020/21 school year by ensuring the protection of students and staff while seeking to increase attendance and academic success of vulnerable students;
3. “Resilience” component to strengthen the resilience of the school administration and educational institutions in the face of this crisis.

The objectives of the present assignment are to evaluate the PADES – RR in accordance with the OECD DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability/ownership.

Type of services provided

• Literature review to enable the reconstruction of the intervention logic; finalise the evaluation questions / matrix and formulate hypotheses;
• Field missions to confirm or refute hypotheses through qualitative interviews and collection of additional data;
• Thorough analysis of the evaluation questions; refining the descriptive analysis of the interventions; summary analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the project;
• Conclusions and recommendations.

Main staff provided:

• Team leader – Evaluation Expert (27 w/d);
• Local Expert in Education (23 w/d).