Title: AID's course in basic education.

POPLINE Document Number: 018175

Author(s):

Warren MK

Source citation:

Horizons, 1983 Sep;2(8):13-5.

Abstract:

In recent years, steadily declining resources along with an increasing awareness of other development problems gradually led to reduced emphasis on education in the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Commitment to education has stabilized over the past 5 years, but during the 1970s there was a precipitous decline in USAID's funding for human resources developnent in general and basic education in particular. Grant assistance dropped form about US$336 million for the 1960-65 period to about $234 million for the 1971-76 period. Loan assistance underwent a comparable, though less severe decline, dropping 45% form 1966-1976. For comparison, total education and human resources development assistance currently averages US$100 million to US$120 million annually. These trends were in part of a response to budget constraints and challenges in program emphases. Lacking evidence of the overall impact and significance of past USAID educational programs, the growth debate within USAID on whether involvement in the education sector was the best use of foreign assistance funds was not empirically well grounded. Thus, impact evaluations were conducted to assess the extent that completed USAID funded education projects left a lasting social, economic, or institutional imprint on countries in which they were done. The lessons derived from these evaluations are reflected in the Agency policy paper on Basic Education and Technical Training (December 1982) and are being applied to programs in education. The projects and programs evaluated included 2 in Africa, 4 in Asia, 1 in the Near East, and 4 in Latin America. They covered a wide range of USAID development activities over the last 30 years, including the founding of institutions and institutional processes; curricula reform; distance teaching; vocational and nonformal education for out-of-school adults; teacher training; construction and equipping of facilities; and 3rd country training for professional educators. USAID's total expense for these projects and programs was conservatively estimated at US$235 million. Projects and programs that have had the most pervasive impact involved a wide variety of well-financed interventions aimed at solving several interrelated sector problems. Evidence on USAID contributions to economic and social change is sparse and should possibly be the focus of more systematic study. Evidence of institutional impact is much stronger and well documented by the evaluation reports. USAID efforts to reform school curricula appear to have had less than lasting impact. The relative ineffectiveness of curricula reform can be traced to several causes, 1 of which was simply the required investment in equipment, materials, and training. In sum, the impact evaluations confirm that in almost all developing countries there has been enormous progress in the education sector over the past 30 years, and that USAID contributed to this progress.

Keywords:

Developing Countries
USAID
Government Agencies
Education
Program Evaluation
Funds
Organizations
Programs
Organization and Administration
Financial Activities
Economic Factors