The global and regional activities (GRA) program engages education stakeholders in researching and applying new knowledge and evidence-based practices to resolve education challenges.
The GRA program supports research, capacity development and knowledge sharing at the regional and global levels to accelerate the objectives outlined in GPE’s strategy through technical workshops, peer-learning events and conferences.
It focuses on 3 areas: learning outcomes, education financing, and out-of-school children. The GRA portfolio consists of 15 grants valued at US$31 million.
Learning outcomes
GPE has awarded 7 grants of US$17 million to undertake research, knowledge sharing and capacity development activities that seek to better understand and promote good practices in quality education. Projects include activities undertaken by 10 different agencies in at least 53 countries.
1. Development of methodologies to link reading assessments across regions and draw lessons regarding best early assessment practices
Objective: Promoting regular assessment of reading and numeracy progress and lessons on best practices.
Partners: UIS, Hewlett Foundation
Geographic focus: 53 GPE countries in Africa, Asia, Arab States and Latin America
Grant: $462,246 (2013-2015)
Knowledge products:
Website: Catalog of learning assessments
E-book: Understanding what works in oral reading assessment
2. Learning outcomes in early grades in reading: Integrations of curriculum, teaching, learning materials, and assessment of education
Objective: Development of well-defined curricula and syllabi in early literacy promoting reading success
Partners: UNESCO IBE, University of Geneva
Geographic focus: Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal
Grant: $2,998,996 (2013-2017)
Knowledge products:
Reports:
- Teaching and learning to read in a multilingual context: Ways forward for three sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal)
- Dispositif de formation pour l'enseignement / apprentissage de la lecture-écriture dans les trois premières années de l'école primaire au Burkina Faso
- Boite à outils pour l'enseignement / apprentissage de la lecture-écriture dans les trois premières années de l'école primaire au Burkina Faso
- Guide pédagogique pour l'enseignement / apprentissage de la lecture-écriture dans les trois premières années de l'école primaire au Burkina Faso
- Dispositif de formation du Niger. Proposition de déroulement et contenus principaux pour les journées de formation des encadreurs
- La lecture-écriture dans les premières années de scolarité. Guide de l'encadreur. Niger
- Module pour l'enseignement de la lecture et écriture au CI-CP. Niger
- Module pour l'enseignement de la lecture et écriture au CE1-CE2. Niger
- Apprendre à lire - Lire pour apprendre. Niger
- Orientations pour l'enseignement de la lecture et de l'écriture du français langue seconde dans les trois premières années de l'élémentaire au Sénégal
- Dispositif de formation des formateurs et maitres d'application des CFRPE en didactique de la lecture et de l'écriture. Sénégal
- Document d'appui pour la didactique de la lecture et de l'ecriture du français langue seconde dans les trois premières années de l'élémentaire au Sénégal
3. ELAN - Effectiveness of teaching and learning in bilingual context
Objective: Promotion of efficient literacy process in schools and contributing to universal primary education
Partners: AFD, OIF
Geographic focus: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Niger, Senegal
Grant: $1,408,200 (2013-2015)
Knowledge product:
4. OPERA - Teaching and learning effectiveness for learning outcomes
Objective: Self-assessment of teachers and improvement of their professional practices
Partners: AFD, Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie
Geographic focus: Burkina Faso and the IFADEM African partner countries
Grant: $996,855 (2013-2016)
Knowledge products:
Publication: OPERA. Rapport final
Tools: Livret de formation
Video: Improving teaching practices in Africa
Blog: Observer les enseignants en classe pour améliorer l'apprentissage
Blog: De nouveaux outils d'analyse du processus enseignement-apprentissage
5. Pacific Early Grade Readiness and Learning Program (PEARL) Quality/Learning Outcomes
Objective: Improving evidence-based policy and decisions on school readiness and early grade reading
Partner: World Bank
Geographic focus: Pacific island countries with targeted activities in Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, Samoa and Papua New Guinea
Grant: $8,505,075 (2014-2019)
Knowledge products:
Operational guide: Pacific Islands’ Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning (PEARL) - Operational Guide. June 2019
Supplementary annexes to the operational guide: Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning (PEARL) Operational Guide – Supplementary annexes. June 2019
Report: Early childhood development in Tonga: Baseline results from the Tongan early human capability index
Story and video: A better start for children in Tonga
Press release: Pacific early age readiness and learning workshop a success
Story: Pacific early age readiness and learning program: Every child ready, every child learning
6. Improving Teacher Support and Participation in Local Education Groups
Objective: Enhancement of teacher effectiveness through participation in social dialogue regarding policy
Partners: UNESCO, Education International
Geographic focus: Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Mali, Nepal, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda
Grant: $1,984,850 (2014-2017)
Knowledge products:
Website: Enhancing teacher participation in social dialogue
Report: Improving teacher support and participation in local education groups
7. Learning Outcomes - Asia Region/ Learner assessment for instructional progress
Objective: Improvement of quality of assessment systems and learning outcomes in the Asia-Pacific region
Partners: UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
Geographic focus: Asia Pacific region, with targeted activities in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Vietnam
Grant: $944,061 (2014-2016)
Knowledge products:
Website: Network on Education Quality Monitoring in the Asia Pacific (NEQMAP)
Online database: NEQMAP Knowledge Portal
Policy Brief: Using large-scale assessments of students' learning to inform education policy: Insights from the Asia-Pacific region
Education financing and systems building
GPE has awarded 3 grants of close to US$4 million to 4 partners in support of research, development of new methodologies and tools, capacity development, and evidence-based advocacy on issues related to school grants and equity, national systems and financial flows. Overall, the 3 grants cover at least 14 countries worldwide.
1. Education Financing: Development of methodologies to improve national reporting on financial flows
Objective: Development of detailed education finance data available for national sector planning and analysis
Partners: UIS and IIEP (Paris and Pole de Dakar)
Geographic focus: Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Lao PDR, Nepal, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe
Grant: $2,119,074 (2013-2016)
Knowledge products:
Report: Who pays for what in education? The real costs revealed through national education accounts
Report: Analysis of public expenditure on education in Zimbabwe in 2016
Webinar: National Education Accounts (NEA) - September 2016
Blogs:
2. Improving equity through school grants
Objective: Implementing school grant policies, assessing their impact on school equity, quality and students
Partners: IIEP
Geographic focus: Francophone Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean with targeted activities in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, Madagascar and Togo
Grant: $996,812 (2013-2016)
Knowledge products:
Videos:
- L'aide d'Aina. Documentaire IIEP-UNESCO
- Interview de Lina Rakotoson, Madagascar
- Interview du Pr. Crispin Mabika de l'Université de Kinshasa
- Interview du Pr. Sena Yawo Akakpo-Numado de l'Université de Lomé
- Video series on how to formulate a school grants policy
Website: Improving school financing: the use and usefulness of school grants
Reports and guidelines:
- Transferencias financieras a escuelas y el derecho a la educación. El caso del Programa Hondureño de Educación Comunitaria
- Améliorer le financement de l'éducation : utilisation et utilité des subventions aux écoles. Madagascar - Haiti - RDC - Togo
- Designing and implementing a school grant policy
Blogs:
- Findings from research on school grants in four countries
- Quel est l’impact des subventions aux écoles sur l’équité ?
Infographics: School grants
3. School profiles: systems improvement
Objective: Development of information feedback systems and tools for increased accountability
Partners: UNICEF, IIEP, Pole de Dakar
Geographic focus: Global with targeted activities in Madagascar, Nepal, the Philippines, Togo and Zambia
Grant: $878,069 (2014-2017)
Knowledge products:
Webinars:
- Data Must Speak - May 2017
- Developing and supporting effective education systems: Example of the Data Must Speak initiative – July 2017
Website: Data must speak
Out-of-school children, access and equity
Five grants totaling US$9,8 million were awarded to undertake projects in over 60 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The projects seek to enable a better understanding of the persistent challenges to access, the multiple barriers confronted by out-of-school children and ensuring equity for the most marginalized, including girls and children with disabilities.
1. Out-of-School children: Closing the data gap
Objective: Improving collection and use of data, increasing quality and comparability, linking data to policy.
Partners: UIS, UNICEF, World Bank, UNESCO
Geographic focus: Global: Africa, Arab states, Asia, Latin America
Grant: $1,099,527 (2013-2016)
Knowledge products:
Blog: Reducing the number of out-of-school children means reaching the most marginalized
2. Significant reduction in out-of-school children
Objective: Enhancing of retention rates and education system efficiency and reducing dropout risks.
Partners: UNICEF, UIS, national governments
Geographic focus: Global
Grant: $3,284,900 (2013-2015)
Knowledge product:
Report: Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children: South Sudan Country Study
Website: All in school
3. Addressing the out-of-school children data and policy gaps
Objective: Reducing number of out-of-school children, improving learning especially of vulnerable groups
Partners: World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, UIS, national governments
Geographic focus: Global
Grant: $1,583,027 (2014-2017)
Knowledge products:
Reports:
- Global and regional trends in women's legal protection against domestic violence and sexual harassment
- Ending child marriage: laws and regulations
- Economic impact of child marriage: Global report - Educational attainment brief
- Girls' education and child marriage in Central and West Africa
- Missed Opportunities : The High Cost of Not Educating Girls
- The price of exclusion. Disability and Education: Disability gaps in educational attainment and literacy.
Website: Economic impact of child marriage
4. Disability, health and education in support of learning for all
Objective: Improving learning for all in basic education through teacher training and implementation of inclusive school health and nutrition
Partner: World Bank
Geographic focus: Global: 15 GPE countries
Grant: $3,000,000 (2014-2018)
Knowledge products:
Reports:
- Guidelines for school-based eye health programs
- Cost effectiveness and budget impact analysis of delivering vision screening and refractive error correction in Ghana and Cambodia
- School health integrated programming (SHIP) extension
- Guidelines for school-based deworming programs
- School health for all
- Teachers' handbook for inclusive school health and nutrition
- Spectacle compliance among school children in Malawi, Nigeria and Pakistan
5. Addressing school-related gender-based violence
Objetive: Girls' completion of primary and transition to secondary school in a safe, supportive environment
Partners: UNICEF, UNGEI
Geographic focus: Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Togo, Zambia
Grant: $800,000 (2014-2017)
Knowledge products:
Reports:
- Addressing school related gender-based violence in Zambia: A scoping study
- Addressing SRGBV in Ethiopia: A scoping study of policy and practice to reduce gender-based violence in and around schools
- Addressing school-related gender-based violence in Côte d’Ivoire: A scoping study
- Addressing school related gender-based violence in Togo: A scoping study
- Addressing school-related gender-based violence in Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Zambia and Ethiopia: A cross-country report
- A rigorous review of global research evidence on policy and practice on school-related gender-based violence
Blogs: