DFID – Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN)

DFID - Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN)

Sub-Saharan Africa

2018

Countries

Nigeria

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Terry Allsop

Project Overview

ESSPIN was a multi-strand programme with core work focused on: school improvement programmes; headteacher training; school-based management committees (SBMCs); financing; textbooks; and inclusion. M&E Expert Terry Allsop was Team Leader for a review of ESSPIN, with the review implemented by Cambridge Education. The review was undertaken by a strong international team, including senior Nigerian educators, and managed by ECORYS.

Approaches & Outputs

ESSPIN ran a large central facility in Abuja, and State teams in each of the six states in which it operated, including three in the North of Nigeria. After a review of considerable documentary resources and briefing from ESSPIN, the review team divided into six sub-teams to carry out fieldwork in each of the six states. Fieldwork and data collection included interviews with State officials, LEA officials and advisers, headteachers and SBMCs. Classroom observations were undertaken at each site and headteacher training courses observed. A detailed evaluation report was produced for each state. Meetings were held with ESSPIN personnel, prior to generation of a collective report and related outputs required by DFID – progress against log frame, etc. The development of an end-of-programme sustainability plan was a key dimension of the review/evaluation work.

Impact On

Primary education, including State and LEA officials, head teachers – and by extension primary school learners – in six states in Nigeria.

Challenges

With just over one year remaining on the programme, the evaluation made a strong case for completion of sustainability plans, at all levels, but particularly at State level. The evaluation also highlighted to DFID the importance of setting up an impact evaluation between one and two years after the end of the programme. The evaluation invited the ESSPIN central team to reflect on the low visibility of issues to do with language learning in the early primary grades, which appeared in the findings as a significant issue in pupil learning, particularly in the three Northern states. Since the evaluation, several language initiatives have been taken forward in different states.

DFID – Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN)