TVET – Consultancies within British Council ‘English Connects’ Programme

TVET - Consultancies within British Council ‘English Connects’ Programme

Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 - 2020

Countries

Djibouti | Gabon

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Nicky Hockly, Gavin Dudeney, Michael Watts & Guillem Bonilla. Supported by a team of six additional TCE Consultants.

Project Overview

The English Connects programme aims to connect the UK to beneficiaries in francophone and lusaphone Africa through English; to improve the employability, resilience, and networks of young people; and to support senior policy makers in this endeavour. A team of ten TCE consultants carried out summative evaluations of the multi-strand English Connects programme in 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for two programme phases. One of the strands within English Connects related to TVET. The MoEs of two English Connects participating countries (Djibouti and Gabon) had requested consultancy services to provide sound, evidence-based advice on a proposed reform to English language learning and teaching in their vocational schools. The consultancy was carried out by Highdale Consulting, and monitored and evaluated by TCE, and specifically by Nicky Hockly & Michael Watts.

Approaches & Outputs

The two TVET consultancies formed part of a larger multi-country multiple strand programme. The evaluation framework developed by TCE for English Connects took this into account by developing programme-wide indicators (such as increased positive attitudes to the UK) and also TVET consultancy-specific indicators (such as MoE beneficiaries’ proposed actions based on the consultancy recommendations). A mixed methods approach was taken: qualitative data was collected via regular interviews carried out with the TVET consultant/supplier and with the Djibouti and Gabon beneficiaries, and quantitative data was collected via surveys with beneficiaries. The consultancy inception and final reports were reviewed, and a process evaluation was applied to the consultancy itself, with regular reviews of communications between (i) the TVET consultants and the British Council, and (ii) the TVET consultants and the consultancy beneficiaries. In addition, TCE developed a performance evaluation tool to apply to the consultancy itself, which included indicators in areas such as: Knowledge, experience & adaptability; Outputs; Ability to work with others; and Adherence to ethical guidelines.

Impact On

Ministries of Education in Djibouti and Gabon, and Ministry officials responsible for TVET in these countries; TVET colleges over the long-term.

Challenges

In Gabon the TVET consultants felt there was a lower sense of urgency about resolving the problems facing TVET schools, and possibly less engagement from policymakers. Carrying out in-country fieldwork (pre-COVID) as part of the consultancy helped build engagement in both countries. Follow-up on whether the MoEs in Djibouti and Gabon had been able to implement TVET recommendations was not budgeted for in the second phase of English Connects; nevertheless, both MoEs were left with high-quality in-depth consultancy reports and realistic recommendations to enable them to carry out simple to more complex reforms in the TVET sector.

TVET – Consultancies within British Council ‘English Connects’ Programme