News & Commentary

Children with disabilities are 49 per cent more likely to have never attended school compared to children without disabilities. Even when in school, children with disabilities still face unique and additional barriers to learning, including limited access to appropriate and accessible teaching and learning materials. New and innovative technologies can be catalytic to advance inclusion in education to ensure ALL children can access, participate and learn in school. The UNICEF-led Accessible Digital Textbooks (ADT) initiative, in collaboration with Ministries of Education and implementing partners, follows Universal Design of Learning (UDL) principles to design and produce accessible digital textbooks (ADTs) for children with and without disabilities, to ensure that all students can learn together. ADTs have accessibility features such as sign language videos, navigation support, voice over and image descriptions, subtitles and interactive UDL activities.

There are an estimated 12.5 million refugee children worldwide – a significant increase of 116% between 2010 and 2020. Of these children, close to half are estimated to be out of school, with data on refugee youth (aged 18-25) being largely unavailable. With the average length of displacement ranging from 10 to over 20 years, there is an urgent need to protect and serve these children by including them in national education systems.

Authors: Kevin Clidoro and Sophia Kousiakis  While there are many valuable innovations in education, few are brought to scale. The Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance Research and District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) teams strive to ensure that innovations in education are scaled up by co-creating research with key partners and stakeholders from inception to policy transformation. Both initiatives are funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) which promotes actionable research and improved evidence use that is demand-driven by national education systems. How does a co-creation approach strengthen the use and impact of our research? The DMS research and DHIS2 teams share the outcomes from co-creating research on utilizing Education Management Information System (EMIS) data. Outcome 1: Well-aligned research with in-country priorities and needs The EMIS hosts most of a country’s education-related data and can inform priorities for improving the education system.  Countries face recurring challenges to build, maintain and utilize the EMIS data. Improving management information systems, such as EMIS, is more than finding the perfect software -- but a socio-technical undertaking filled with people and social networks. DHIS2 deploys a participatory action research approach, working closely with education partners and stakeholders at national, district and school levels to inform data systems strengthening.  University partnerships play a central role in cultivating in-country capacity to design, implement and maintain DHIS2. This drives innovation in the DHIS2 ecosystem that is government owned and responds to local needs.  In The Gambia, a PhD candidate based in the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) is focusing work on key policy directives connected to decentralized EMIS routines, such as data collection, validation and use. In tandem, a diploma and Master program in information systems, with a specialization in education management, is being established at the University of The Gambia (UTG); a partnership between MoBSE, UTG and University of Oslo. This initiative supports local institutions' engagement in EMIS research, provides training that is connected to real-world experiences and prepares a future EMIS workforce within the Ministry of Education (MoE). As part of its Stage 1 analysis, DMS research works with MoEs to harness the power of existing administrative datasets in generating evidence and improving decision-making.  The DMS research merges EMIS datasets with other existing datasets, such as examinations and learning assessments, across multiple years. For instance, the DMS team, together with the Niger MoE, linked EMIS data with local data on poverty to better understand the relationship between various socio-economic factors and school performance. In Côte d’Ivoire, the DMS team used an external database containing information on the presence of cocoa fields within a specific school’s vicinity. Linking EMIS data with such information resulted in deeper analysis regarding the relationship of schools’ context and performance.  The commitment of MoEs to utilize existing administrative datasets ensures that together, we can understand contextualized and specific education challenges within the country – such as resource allocation, teacher placement and learning outcomes.   Figure 1. Stages of DMS Positive Deviance Research Outcome 2: Strengthened capacities on data use and empowerment of education stakeholders  Continuous EMIS strengthening efforts are enabled by long-term investments in local capacity and community resources. The DHIS2 ecosystem enables a range of contributors -- ministries, education staff, researchers, experts, developers -- to build meaningful applications and services on top of EMIS. These services have an open-source license which enables access, improves data literacy, enhances ownership and allows innovations to be shared. In Uganda, various ministry departments, districts and partners identified a need to streamline, integrate and routinize data collection efforts, to reduce ad hoc data calls to district levels. Together, a digital integrated tool was developed, with dashboards depicting termly data for each implementation site, and program-specific dashboards visualizing gender, inclusive education, school feeding and health-related data. To date, District Education Offices (DEOs) have been able to submit enrollment numbers for 2023/24 budgeting, supported partners targeting learners for accelerated education programs, improved teacher transfers as well as provided accurate figures for health interventions targeting polio immunization and tetanus vaccinations. In addition, the tool has enabled districts to respond to data requested for scientific research by local universities.   Figure 2. A digital platform ecosystem approach to EMIS strengthening The empowerment of districts with data is essential to meet the many challenges faced in ensuring all children and youth gain their right to participate in quality education, as the district is the appropriate level for aligning national policies and interventions with reality on the ground. Capacity building of district staff is key in improving data use. The ability of districts to collect, analyze and share data with stakeholders has demonstrated the crucial role DEOs can have in improving education service delivery through evidence-based planning and resource allocation.  Outcome 3: Improved research uptake and impact on education systems Research co-creation improves evidence uptake and impact. When MoEs and key partners are meaningfully engaged throughout the entire research process, they become champions of the research who use the evidence to inform their own decision-making. To date, the DMS research has informed formal education sector planning processes in Lao PDR, Nepal and Zambia. In Ghana, the MoE has incorporated DMS research findings and recommendations into its application for a GPE Systems Capacity Grant, which aims to establish unique school identifiers to track school progress and identify trends over time, including within EMIS. Similarly, in Cote d’Ivoire, the MoE is convening a technical team to establish unique school identifiers to be able to keep track of the progress of cohorts of students through multiple years.  MoEs recognize the power of existing administrative datasets. Partner governments have demonstrated commitment through follow-up actions -- like mobilizing their own resources to continue strengthening their data systems, and increasing the use of existing data, which extend beyond the life of the DMS research. While a research co-creation approach can be challenging, it is ethical and inclusive. It also proves to be necessary in ensuring that investments to addressing education challenges are sustainable. Through a co-creation approach, research is aligned with in-country priorities, capacities are valued and strengthened, and uptake and impact are improved. For the DMS research and DHIS2 teams, a co-creation approach means always placing students and education stakeholders at the center of research and innovation.  This blog is the last in a three-part series sharing the value of prioritizing co-creation approaches when designing and implementing education research. The first blog detailed the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the DMS research co-creation approach and the second blog described the realities and circumstances that arise when co-creating research.The DMS Positive Deviance research aims to mitigate the learning crisis by using existing data to understand the behaviours and practices of exceptional schools (i.e., positive deviant schools). It is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education, partners, and key stakeholders. The DMS research relies on mixed methods and innovative approaches (i.e., positive deviance, behavioural sciences, implementation research, and scaling science) to generate knowledge and practical lessons about ‘what works,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the broader international community of education stakeholders. The DMS research is currently implemented in 14 countries: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, the United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. It is made possible through a coalition of donors: Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), Hewlett Foundation, Jacobs Foundation, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), Schools2030 initiative (Aga Khan Foundation), and UNICEF internal resources.   The HISP Centre at the University of Oslo (UiO) has a 30-year history with information systems strengthening; solidified into a vibrant ecosystem, around an open-source digital platform, DHIS2. Since 2019, DHIS2 has seen uptake in the education sector in 6 countries: eSwatini, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, The Gambia, Togo and Uganda. By leveraging a proven innovation in the health sector, the project seeks to enhance demand for data use at all levels of the education system, addressing the lack of a “turnkey” EMIS, that can be used sustainably and at scale. HISP groups act as the primary liaison to ministries and are led by DHIS2 experts, several of whom have completed PhD and MSc programs related to DHIS2/Information Systems at UiO or partner universities. They are staffed with experienced DHIS2 implementers, developers and trainers, who provide support for national, regional and international projects. DHIS2 for Education is made possible by Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), a joint endeavor by GPE and International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and internal HISP Centre research funds.     

The Data Must Speak (DMS) research team at UNICEF Innocenti has worked closely with Ministry of Education partners to co-create and conduct in-depth analyses of administrative data. Often, lack of data is seen as barrier to creating evidence-based policy. However, when it comes to education, the vast majority of existing administrative data is still undervalued and underused. Harnessing the potential of existing datasets is not only cost-effective but sustains ownership and investment in national data systems.

As global displacement rises, there is a pressing need to understand and respond to the migration experiences of children. This article provides key insights from a comprehensive review of UNICEF Innocenti’s research on migration and displacement over the last 30 years.

In a context of limited resources, it is important for policymakers, programme managers, and civil society to examine whether programmes are having their intended impact. UNICEF Innocenti and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (The Transfer Project), and the African Economic Research Consortium are hosting aworkshopto provide hands-on training on programme impact evaluation.

Since its launch in 2019, the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance Research, together with Ministries of Education (MoE) and education partners, has worked to identify and scale the behaviours and practices of exceptional schools (i.e., positive deviant schools). Through a co-creation and co-implementation approach, the DMS research has generated evidence to contribute to addressing the learning crisis in 14 countries. However, the DMS research has faced unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID-19 global pandemic. During the early stages of the research, the team and partners could not travel, engage in in-person activities, and sustain momentum for research implementation amidst emergency response. While the team has successfully adapted its activities, they were confronted with unforeseen realities when co-creating the research, even after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Nine out of every 10 refugees arriving in host countries from Ukraine are women and children. Only 1 in 3 of Ukrainian refugee children are enrolled in early childhood education and care services. This emphasizes the need for expanding and strengthening early childhood education systems to ensure sufficient access for all children, and the integration of Ukranian refugee children in the host-community. These briefs offer recommendations for policymakers on ways to expand services, and how to facilitate the integration of refugee children and their families. Strategies include limiting the barriers that may hinder refugee children's access to ECEC settings, capitalizing existing physical and human resources to address gaps in service delivery, in addition to the inclusion of refugees in national and sub-national plans, data systems and financing, adapting policies and programmes to ensure considerations are made for refugee children.

In Italy, more than 700,000 asylum seekers and migrants arrived in the country between 2014-2020. Newly arrived children including refugees and migrants need to quickly acquire Italian skills to succeed in school and society. To help address this urgent need, the Akelius digital learning application was introduced in Bologna and Rome for Italian and English language learning in the 2021/22 school year. This research presents findings from the first year of implementation of the Akelius digital learning application in Italy. Results show the use of the application supported self-paced learning, boosted students’ motivation and confidence and the use of the tool was especially beneficial for newly arrived children and children with disabilities. The report also explores challenges and good practices to inform improvements in the use of digital learning in classrooms.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the number of refugees and migrants arriving in the country has increased from just a few dozen arrivals annually prior to 2017 to 95,000 between 2018 and 2022. This increase has put incredible strain on the country’s education systems. This research presents critical findings on the implementation and effectiveness of the Akelius digital learning application in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was introduced as a tool to support refugee and migrant children’s English and German language learning.

Sierra Leone is facing a learning crisis, where only eight per cent of children in the third grade are able to read a simple text (UNICEF, 2022). As one of the responses to the widening learning crisis, Sierra Leone became one of the 20+ countries to launch the Learning Passport – a digital learning platform delivered through a partnership between UNICEF globally and Microsoft. The Learning Passport provides contextualized and engaging content, which has been aligned with the national curriculum in Sierra Leone.

The Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research believes that the most significant agents of change in the education sector are grassroot-level stakeholders, and that they should be at the forefront of addressing education challenges within their contexts. As such, the DMS team co-creates our research with stakeholders and partners, working together on research design, data collection and analysis, and evidence uptake.