Sharing Insights, Strengthening Systems: Cross-Cohort Learning on Education Data Innovation in Africa

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

Setting the scene

Africa’s education systems are undergoing a quiet transformation, one driven by stronger data pipelines, growing cultures of evidence use, and deeper collaboration across countries. This was the focus of our recent regional learning exchange, Sharing Insights, Strengthening Systems: Cross-Cohort Learning on Education Data Innovation in Africa.

Bringing together policymakers, academics, researchers, and implementing partners, the session highlighted a unified ambition: to move from data collection to meaningful data use, and from innovation to long-term institutionalisation.

Dr. Patrick Mbah Okwen from eBase Africa opened the webinar by reinforcing a central message: data becomes powerful only when it strengthens systems and empowers the people who use it. He underscored how ministries across the continent are beginning to ask sharper questions, build stronger data systems, and generate insights that matter for decision-making.

Patrick Walugembe of IDRC followed by connecting this work to the broader GPE KIX vision. He reminded participants that investments in dashboards, platforms, and assessments only achieve their full potential when they inform policy, classroom practice, and resource allocation.

With that, panelists from Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya took participants into the heart of real-world implementation—showing what evidence-informed practice looks like across diverse contexts.

🗣️Key Speakers

  • Dr. Patrick Mbah Okwen, eBase Africa and Unlocking Data Initiative
  • Patrick Walugembe, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  • Bauket George, Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB), Cameroon
  • Dr. Bernard Bahati, Director General, National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), Rwanda
  • Monica Amuha, Team Lead, DHIS2 for Education, Health Information Systems Program, Uganda
  • Robert Msigwa, Secondary Education Coordinator, PMO-RALG / Ministry of Education, Tanzania
  • Prof. Hilda Omae, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Finance & Planning, Meru University, Kenya
  • Dr. Nafisa Waziri, EdTech Hub

View the webinar here

🎯 Key Takeaways

Data use must be champion-led, not project-led

Across all countries, panelists emphasised that data systems succeed when policymakers value and demand data. Dr Bahati (Rwanda) noted that policy uptake depends on leaders who recognise the role of evidence in improving learning outcomes. Without this, even well-designed systems remain underutilised.

Capacity building is central to sustainability

From Cameroon’s classroom-level challenges to Uganda’s district-level gaps, the message was clear:
Data systems are only as strong as the people running them. Uganda is addressing this by deploying statisticians at the district level. Cameroon highlighted the need for continuous training to improve indicator literacy. Tanzania is training teachers, the primary data producers, to improve data entry and interpretation.

Interoperable, real-time systems unlock new possibilities

Rwanda’s Comprehensive Assessment Management Information System (CAMIS), built with Educate!, and Uganda’s repurposing of DHIS2 show how digital innovations can create real-time insights that improve early intervention for learners falling behind.

The panel stressed the need for systems that integrate administrative and learning data, link education and health data where relevant, and provide dashboards and school report cards for easy use.

Local ownership ensures long-term impact

A recurring theme was local ownership from ministries, schools, and subnational offices. Whether through Rwanda’s nationwide dashboard access, Tanzania’s push for unified government systems and Kenya’s embedding of evidence use in graduate training, panelists highlighted the importance of rooting innovations in national structures so they endure beyond project cycles.

Evidence must be packaged for decision-makers

Prof. Omae emphasised that numbers alone do not drive change—stories around the numbers do. To influence practice, evidence must be simple, visual, actionable, and contextualised. These are essential to bridge the gap between data generation and policy shifts.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Questions from the session—Answered Live

These questions have been edited for correct grammar and flow. Responses to these questions have been captured through our Webinar recording, which you can listen to here. 

  1. Thanks, colleagues from Cameroon and Uganda. My worry is to know how follow-up is done on the data dissemination done ie daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Which mechanism has been put in place to ensure that the recommendations are implemented?
  2. Some countries,  particularly sub-Saharan African countries and those ravaged by war, conflicts and terrorists, don’t have a budget to collect, clean, and analyse accurate and more secure quality data to support the decision-making process. What kind of support do those countries get?
  3. I appreciate insights on data generation, collection, analysis, use of evidence and sharing with policy makers. How best do we improve the packaging and communication of the evidence to the policy makers?
  4. In one way, we may have a lot of research findings, but what can we do to make sure that these available data are used to inform classroom practices, police makers at all levels? And how can we reduce this fragmented situation?
  5. Thank you so much for the wonderful education. My worry is how to recognise correct data for decision-making because the internet always provides us with several data. How do we identify the correct one

🙋🏽‍♀️ Questions from the session—Answered Via Q&A

In this section, we provide questions and answers to questions that panellists responded to in writing via the Q&A function. Please note that these questions have been edited for correct grammar and flow.

❓Question: Challenges in Ethiopia are issues of data quality, and supporting the government and policy makers to use the data. Similarly, how is the frequency of the assessment conducted?

📝 Answer: In Kenya, we have a similar problem. On quality, we have to build the capacity of the data officers by equipping them with skills and sometimes software. Put them in workshops on basic data quality classes and analysis using basic data software such as Excel. Collaborating with a university is a big win. Evidence-use culture is a challenge, too, and one way to handle it is co-creation with the government. For instance, ask them the data-related problem that bothers them and co-develop a solution with their own data. You must be watchful that the government is very protective of the same data they are not using

❓Question: I am planning to meet up with key people in education in Africa to explore how we can collect, analyse and strategise on how African countries feed into the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education. I would be happy to collaborate with anyone interested. 

Note: If you would like to collaborate on SDG4, please let us know, and we shall connect you to this contact. 

📝 Answer: Reporting on the SDG4 indicators has been a challenge for most countries. On the DHIS2-Ed project, we have designed standard datasets for the SDG4 indicators and are currently supporting countries to align their primary data sources to collect and report on this data.

❓Question: Great to hear you have started to transition into DHIS2. Are you only using health data or data on educational outcomes? In DHIS2, do you only use it for data entry or for analysis and visualisation, like Dashboards, charts, Pivot tables, GIS maps, etc?

📝 Answer: Yes, we are collecting education data using DHIS2, which informs health programs in schools. We capture data in DHIS2 but also use the system to analyse and present this data on dashboards that are accessible at the national, district and school levels

❓Question: Again, about DHIS2 usage, are you people using it only at the level of delegation, ministry or school level

📝 Answer: DHIS2 is web-based and can be accessed across all levels from the school, district, up to the ministry level. So, data captured at the school level is available to users across the education level

❓Question: Is there a possibility of using mobile apps like https://dimagi.com/ to enable teachers and school actors to collect and report data?

📝 Answer: Yes, this is a possibility with different innovations. Mobile first and offline capabilities are very critical, especially for schools that have limited resources and poor internet connectivity, and also in areas with insurgencies like Mr Bauket talked about. For example, with DHIS2-Ed we are able to collect data using Android phones, and this can also be collected offline and uploaded into the system when there is internet connection. 

❓Question: But how do we make sure that the data collected, analysed, and the policies developed benefit the very same learners/students that the data belong to? We have had problems where the data collected today, the policies developed from such evidence, will be used after five or more years.

📝 Answer: Part of this is due to capacity—we have many data collectors; however, we may not have enough with the skill/ equipment/software to analyse the data and translate it into useful information on time. This is all the more reason why we all need to know how to interpret data—even at a minimal level.

❓Question: Is there a formal process that allows innovators to access real education data for solution development, and what safeguards or approvals are required to stay within data protection laws?

📝 Answer: Very important question. One thing we found in Kenya, Malawi and Cameroon, which is actually the story across Africa, is the closed data culture. This is one of the elephants in the room

❓Question: How can we address significant cultural barriers affecting us from not using data rather than simply reporting it?

📝 Answer: First is helping the government solve their problems with their own data. We have also realised there is a wrong assumption that the data holders know how to use data. There is a capacity gap in how to use that data.

❓Question: Among qualitative and quantitative data, which should be more accurate and relevant than others?

📝 Answer: I think it depends on the context, really. You can’t say one is better than the other

Resources

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Closing Evidence Gaps in Foundational Learning Across Africa

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

How do we close evidence gaps in foundational learning and ensure that data is used for informed decision-making? This was the central question in our recent Unlocking Data Initiative webinar that explored who produces and uses data. Education data experts working as country engagement leads for the Unlocking Data Initiative, including Rigobert Pambe from Cameroon, Esme Kadzamira from Malawi, and Charles Gachoki from Kenya, discussed their progress in mapping evidence gaps and fostering collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

Launched in 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when data collection was severely constrained, the Unlocking Data Initiative emerged from a shared recognition among stakeholders of the value in harnessing existing datasets to produce timely and actionable evidence. The initiative’s main goals are to:

  • Map existing data and evidence in education across Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Bridge gaps by connecting researchers, policymakers, and data producers.
  • Create communities of practice to foster knowledge sharing and better decision-making.

As Laté Lawson, Senior Research Manager at ESSA. explained in his opening remarks, 

“Imagine a country where researchers, policymakers, and data producers collaborate seamlessly, reflecting on what data exists, what’s missing, and how to fill the gaps. That’s the vision of the Unlocking Data Initiative.”

Country Highlights from the Webinar

Country: Cameroon

Speakers: Nain Mirabel Yuh and Rigobert Pambe 

Key issues: Language, Gender, and Access Matter

Cameroon’s education system operates in a bilingual context and serves children in conflict-affected regions. Without inclusive and bilingual research and without elevating female voices, evidence risks being disconnected from the realities of the most marginalised learners. These gaps directly affect policy and programme design for foundational learning. Key highlights from the evidence gap map include: 

  • From a systematic search, the team reviewed 600 studies, but only 55 met the eligibility criteria.
  • Research is skewed towards policy and language of instruction, while teacher professional development and social-emotional learning, AI, and ICT in education were under-researched.
  • Literacy dominated numeracy. No systematic reviews were found.
  • Male authors dominated, and surprisingly, English-dominated publications were even more prevalent in French-speaking regions.

Recommendations:

  • Promote bilingual research and translation of research and resources into local languages.
  • Support female researchers through funding and leadership roles.
  • Include voices from conflict-affected areas.

  → Explore Cameroon’s Evidence Gap Map

Country: Malawi

Speaker: Esme Kadzamira

Key Issues: The Missing Evidence on Early Childhood Education in Malawi

Malawi is integrating early childhood education into its primary school system, but without robust evidence, policies risk being developed without a clear understanding. Lack of research on inclusion and equity also limits efforts to reduce dropout and improve learning for disadvantaged children, especially in rural areas.

  • The team mapped 131 studies, of which 60% come from grey literature.
  • There is a strong focus on teacher knowledge and literacy/numeracy; however, early childhood education remains significantly under-researched.
  • Despite widespread school feeding programmes, little evidence exists on their impact.
  • Male authors dominate two-thirds of publications.

Recommendations:

  • Invest in longitudinal studies on early childhood education as Malawi integrates ECE into primary schools.
  • Broaden research to include equity and parental engagement.
  • Encourage female researchers in underrepresented areas.

→ Explore Malawi’s Evidence Gap Map

Country: Kenya

Speaker: Charles Gachoki 

Key issues: Female-Led Research, But Equity Gaps Persist in Kenya

Kenya’s gaps in system-level evidence, especially on marginalised learners and early interventions, limit the ability to design equitable education solutions. Without research on ICT and social-emotional learning, opportunities to innovate for foundational learning remain untapped, particularly for children in rural or low-resource settings.

  • In Kenya, female authors dominated foundational learning research, unlike in Malawi and Cameroon.
  • Evidence concentrated on ages 6–8 years, with limited research on ages 4–5 or 9–10 years.
  • Limited studies on equity, marginalised learners, ICT, and social-emotional skills.

Recommendations:

  • Prioritise research on equity and system-level interventions.
  • Scale context-relevant interventions proven to work in the Global South.
  • Build capacity through the Evidence Synthesis Academy, which trains PhD students and government officers.

   → Explore Kenya’s Evidence Gap Map

Key questions from the conversation 

❓Non-formal education and dropout learners: Has your Malawi evidence mapping considered non-formal or alternative learning pathways, such as community learning centres? These programmes often serve children who have dropped out of formal schooling due to financial challenges, early pregnancy, or other barriers. Was any research on these forms of education captured in your mapping? If not, what do you think this says about data availability in this area?

Responder: Esme Kadzamira, Research Fellow—University of Malawi, CERT 
Yes, mapping under the Unlocking Data Initiative focused on foundational learning for children aged 4 to 10, and this included non-formal education pathways such as complementary basic education programmes for out-of-school children. However, we found very little accessible literature on this area. This doesn’t necessarily mean such evidence does not exist; it’s more a reflection of accessibility challenges. Many reports produced by NGOs and government agencies are not readily available, and most universities in Malawi do not have functional research repositories. Only two institutions have digital repositories, and even then, access is limited. We attempted physical searches in university libraries, but the process was still challenging. These barriers point to a critical gap in evidence accessibility, especially for interventions that target vulnerable children through non-formal education.

❓Early Childhood Education (ECE) Evidence Gap: The second question relates to early childhood education, which is a major area of focus in Malawi’s education reforms. Your evidence gap map shows limited research on ECE, despite significant interventions and pilot programmes in recent years. Could you elaborate on why this gap exists? What challenges make ECE evidence scarce? How is the government currently approaching evidence generation for ECE? Based on your situational analysis, what are the risks of continuing with policy reforms without a strong evidence base?

Responder:  Esme Kadzamira, Research Fellow, Centre for Educational Research & Training, University of Malawi
Early childhood education in Malawi faces a unique set of challenges. Historically, ECE has been managed under the Ministry of Gender, Community Development, and Social Welfare, which until recently had no dedicated department for this subsector. As a result, most early learning centres operate outside direct government control; they are run by communities, NGOs, or private providers. This decentralised and community-financed structure makes the sector very fluid. Centres often open and close depending on community resources. In poor areas, centres may close when funds run out. Consequently, there is no consistent data collection system, and very little evidence exists on how ECE programmes are functioning. Recently, reforms have started: the ministry is piloting an Early Childhood Development EMIS (ECDeMIS) to track data, but it is still in its early stages. Additionally, from September this year, the Ministry of Education plans to integrate 5-year-olds into primary schools by introducing preparatory classes in 200–500 schools as a pilot. However, these significant policy moves are happening with minimal evidence to guide implementation, particularly on issues like classroom sizes, accessibility for rural children, and the impact of such integration on learning outcomes. This underscores the urgent need for longitudinal research to ensure ECE policies are evidence-based and equitable.

❓It would be interesting to hear from the speakers as to where they see improving statistical collection in education data falls on the respective nation’s priority list, and what levels of funding are required?

Responder:  Rigobert Pambe, Program Manager – eBASE Africa
Improving education information systems is increasingly recognised as a priority in Cameroon. At the conclusion of a recent high-level workshop convened by the Ministry of Basic Education under the theme “ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE TRANSFORMATION AND RESILIENCE OF THE CAMEROONIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM BY 2035”, stakeholders identified the weakness of current information systems as a core challenge that must be addressed to support education system transformation and resilience. Through the Unlocking Data Initiative, we are working with government and other actors to strengthen data accessibility and use, particularly in foundational learning. While these efforts are still in early stages, the initiative aims to improve system integration, build capacity at subnational levels, and foster a culture of evidence use.A s for funding, precise national figures are hard to come by, but addressing the systemic gaps highlighted would require investment at multiple levels: infrastructure (e.g. electricity and digital tools for data collection in rural schools), human capacity (training for local administrators and data officers), and systems integration (linking EMIS with other data sources and platforms). In the Unlocking Data Initiative, for example, even with relatively modest grant funding from IDRC, we are seeing early signs of behaviour change, such as researchers aligning their work to Ministry priorities, and the Ministry being more receptive to discussing with other data producers.
Responder:  Esme Kadzamira, Research Fellow, Centre for Educational Research & Training, University of Malawi
In Malawi, the Ministry of Education has initiated EMIS reforms to enhance the system, with the ultimate goal of transitioning to a web-based EMIS that provides real-time data.  Under UDI, we are working with the Ministry to improve the EMIS system in terms of data quality, streamline data systems, and build the capacity of education officials at all levels (school, zone, district, and national) in data collection and analysis. We are working closely with the Ministry to improve and unlock the potential of the Cohort Tracking Data—an individualised EMIS longitudinal dataset that has been collected since 2012. Despite its richness, the data has remained unused due to the absence of a robust data management system and limited capacity for data analysis. EMIS reforms have faced financial constraints.  A major constraint in effectively utilising the cohort tracking data is the lack of financial resources to procure a data management system capable of handling large-scale datasets. Additionally, there is a significant capacity gap among personnel involved in EMIS data collection, including headteachers and EMIS officials at the district and zonal levels.Where funding opportunities do exist, they are often tied to donor priorities that may not align with the government’s strategic direction. For instance, recent funding for DHIS2 for Education was targeted at primary-level EMIS reforms, which did not align with the Ministry’s ongoing efforts—supported by UNICEF—to reform secondary-level EMIS

Looking Ahead: What’s Next for Unlocking Data

Across all three countries, the next steps include:

  • Co-creating national research agendas aligned with local priorities.
  • Building communities of practice to connect data producers and users including, researchers,  policymakers and practitioners.
  • Improving accessibility of data through shared portals and open repositories.

 → Read the Cross-Country Guidance Note

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Tackling three urgent questions in the African foundational learning knowledge and data ecosystem

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

By Charles Gachoki, Laté Lawson, Maurice Mutisya & Rigobert Pambe 

The 69th annual Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) 2025 Conference was a vibrant space for critical education, data, and policy discussions. The Unlocking Data Initiative (UDI), funded by GPE-KIX  and IDRC, hosted a panel that sparked deep reflections on foundational learning (FL) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a focus on Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi. The conference amplified diverse perspectives, and our session stood out for its engaging discourse on FL data, policy, and advocacy. 

Following four insightful presentations, the audience raised three key questions that were both pertinent and central to the core challenges of FL in Africa—questions we think deserve thoughtful attention. 

These questions highlight gaps in consensus, policy priorities, and strategic engagement—critical issues that demand attention to drive meaningful change. Drawing on the CIES discussions, this blog revisits these pressing issues to advance the conversation and engage an even broader audience. 

Question 1: Defining foundational learning in a multilingual Africa—shouldn’t we agree first?

The lack of a universally agreed-upon definition of FL is a recurring source of debate, especially in Africa and, generally, the global South. Unlike in the global North, where FL is often tied to native-language literacy, many African children are required to learn a foreign (often colonial) language before accessing education effectively. This context raises even more critical questions:

  • Does FL hold the same meaning across diverse African countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, compared to nations like Canada, the U.S., or the U.K.?
  • Should FL benchmarks be adapted to account for the multilingual realities in which children are learning in unfamiliar languages?
  • How can we accurately measure FL when assessment tools may not be contextually adapted for these environments?

Without a harmonized understanding of what FL means in the African context, efforts in data collection and policy formulation risk remaining fragmented. This underscores the urgent need for a pan-African dialogue to establish a contextualized FL framework before focusing solely on refining metrics.

Question 2: Why do sub-Saharan African countries need foundational learning-specific policies?

The global south and sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, face a paradox marked by high enrollment rates alongside alarming levels of learning poverty. As highlighted in the World Bank’s 2023 State of Learning Poverty Update report, education systems in the region are already struggling to address this deepening crisis. Despite more children attending school, many complete primary education without acquiring basic literacy or numeracy skills. Although many countries have adopted policies promoting access, equity, and quality, the question remains: Are general education policies enough to address foundational learning (FL) gaps?

This situation demands foundational learning—specific policies for several reasons:

  • Learning poverty requires urgent and targeted intervention

Decades of education interventions across Africa have successfully prioritized access, as demonstrated by the significant increase in primary school enrollment from 52% in 1990 to nearly 80% in 2019. However, this progress has been accompanied by a clear shortfall in educational quality. The situation is particularly alarming: according to the World Bank’s 2023 State of Learning Poverty Update, more than 87% of 10-year-olds in some sub-Saharan African countries are unable to read and understand a simple sentence. Addressing this crisis requires the development of specific foundational learning and numeracy policies, which can ensure the allocation of dedicated resources such as targeted funding, specialized teacher training, and appropriate learning materials—to effectively build foundational skills at scale.

  • Some equity gaps demand focused strategies

Generalized education policies often fail to adequately address the needs of highly vulnerable groups. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces some of the world’s most significant challenges:

  1. Out-of-school children: According to UNESCO’s 2024 Global Education Monitoring Report, the share of the global out-of-school child population in SSA increased from 32% in 2000 to 51% in 2023, with girls most adversely affected. 
  2. Refugee and displaced learners: UNICEF’s 2024 snapshot on migrant and displaced children shows that over one in four immigrants in Africa—6.2 million—are children, a rate twice the global average, with East Africa hit hardest. Also, at the end of 2023, more than half of all refugees in Africa were children (≈4.5 million). 
  3. Children with special needs (SNE): As noted by the United Nations, children with disabilities are significantly more likely to be out of school at all levels—and less likely to complete their education—compared to their non-disabled peers. 
  • Curriculum Shift: Coverage vs. Competency

Many African education systems continue to emphasize curriculum coverage over actual learning, which may explain why foundational learning outcomes remain persistently low. Specific Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) policies are essential to institutionalize competency-based approaches, ensuring that children master the basics before advancing.

This is well-articulated in UNICEF’s Curriculum Reform Think Piece by Cunningham (2018), which argues for a shift from traditional content-heavy curricula to competency-focused models that prioritize learning outcomes over rote content delivery.

Question 3: The advocacy gap—how can we effectively influence decision-makers?

The third critical question raised at CIES 2025 centered on the challenge of advocacy and influencing decision-makers. Even when strong evidence exists highlighting the importance of FL, reforms often stall. This is due to several factors, including

  • Misaligned incentives: Education systems reward the low-level and short-term visible outputs, such as increased enrollment numbers and new infrastructure, over the more complex and long-term outcomes of improved learning. 
  • Limited political will: Policymakers may favour quick, visible projects that align with political cycles or funder priorities over foundational reforms that require sustained commitment. 
  • Fragmented advocacy efforts: Researchers, NGOs, and practitioners operate in silos, sometimes even working at cross-purposes, which dilutes their collective influence.

Moving from questions to action: Addressing the challenges

Tackling these intertwined questions requires a multi-pronged, strategic approach. The path forward involves

  • Coalition building—uniting diverse stakeholders, including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), teacher unions, and the media—is crucial to elevate FL as a national priority and create a unified voice. 
  • Evidence-based messaging—translating complex research findings into accessible, compelling policy briefs that resonate directly with leaders and policymakers—is vital for informed decision-making
  • Leveraging global platforms—utilizing international frameworks such as Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) 2025 strategy—can help hold governments accountable to their commitments to improving foundational learning.

Conclusion: Towards Foundational Learning for Every Child in Africa

The CIES 2025 discussions highlighted three unresolved FL challenges in Africa:

  1. Definitional clarity: We need a pan-African FLN definition and framework. 
  2. Policy prioritization: Foundational learning-specific strategies must address learning poverty and equity gaps. 
  3. Strategic advocacy: A coordinated, evidence-driven approach is key to influencing policymakers. 

The Unlocking Data Initiative remains committed to engaging ministries of education, researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to collectively tackle these critical questions. By working together to demystify evidence, align policies with learning needs, and amplify coordinated advocacy efforts, we move closer to the ultimate goal: an Africa where every child achieves foundational learning.

An Examination of Kenya’s Foundational Learning Evidence Base

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

By Christine Nzomo

The pursuit of enhancing foundational learning outcomes is among the most urgent challenges facing Kenya’s education system today. As schools nationwide aim to provide foundational learners with crucial literacy and numeracy competencies, a pivotal question continues to arise: How can we guarantee the effectiveness of our initiatives when the evidence base is inconsistent and lacking? An analysis of evidence in the foundational learning ecosystem in Kenya, conducted through the Unlocking Data Initiative, reveals critical evidence gaps (Unlocking Data, n.d.). The results of the evidence gap map highlight both the progress made and the significant effort still required to establish an education system based on robust, practical evidence.

The Intervention-Based Evidence Landscape 

The evidence gap map unearthed several critical intervention areas that remain understudied, with limited or inconclusive evidence on their effectiveness. These include:

  • Remedial and accelerated learning programs, which aim to address learning gaps but lack robust empirical support regarding their long-term impact. 
  • Behavioural interventions, often designed to improve student engagement and classroom dynamics, have insufficient evidence regarding their scalability and sustainability across diverse educational settings. 
  • Technology-enabled learning, despite its growing popularity, lacks comprehensive research to validate its efficacy, particularly in low-resource environments where access and implementation challenges may hinder outcomes. The scarcity of rigorous studies in these areas highlights a pressing need for further investigation to ensure that such interventions are evidence-based, equitable, and capable of delivering meaningful results.
  • School feeding and health interventions, widely implemented to improve nutrition, attendance, and cognitive outcomes, have insufficient rigorous data on their long-term effectiveness at the foundational learning level.
  • The built environment (classroom design, sanitation, infrastructure), theorised to influence learning, has few studies providing conclusive evidence on its role in foundational learning outcomes in Kenya.
  • Social-emotional learning initiatives, fostering interpersonal skills, also show a lack of evidence in foundational learning.


Numerous empirical studies, such as (Carr 2006), (Dawson et al. 2013), and (Masriyah 2018), have demonstrated that assessments are a critical component of foundational teaching and learning, as they establish whether educational objectives are being met. Assessments are considered the backbone of teaching at the right level since they help education actors know where to start and ensure corrective measures are timely. In addition, assessments are an integral component of the educational processes, including teaching, assessment, and learning, as they influence transitions, progression, instructional requirements, curriculum design, and, in some instances, funding. Despite these benefits, crucial foundational learning assessment data in Kenya, such as the Kenya Early Years Assessment, remains inaccessible.

The Hidden Dimensions of Learning 

The evidence gap map shows a distinct focus on literacy and numeracy, with notable evidence of strength in most intervention clusters. Although research in both is observed, there is a slightly higher number of studies centred on literacy across interventions, suggesting a greater priority on reading skills and language outcomes. 

However, the available evidence supporting the effectiveness of interventions in other key outcomes referred to as ‘hidden dimensions of learning’ remains limited and weak. These areas include socio-emotional behaviour, equity and inclusion, system and policy-level changes, classroom engagement and participation, and enrollment, attendance, and retention outcomes. This suggests that further rigorous research is needed to establish stronger empirical foundations in these domains. Strengthening the evidence base in these areas is critical for informing policy and practice, ensuring that interventions are both effective and equitable.

Methodological Challenges and Opportunities

The quality of the existing evidence raises its own set of issues. The available evidence base is characterised by a heavy reliance on qualitative research methods (Arisa & Gachoki, 2025), which dominate the literature, followed by quantitative studies and, to a lesser extent, mixed-methods approaches. Notably absent are studies employing behavioural or cross-sectional methodologies, suggesting a critical gap in research that captures real-time behavioural data or broader population-level trends. Furthermore, rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental designs, which are essential for establishing causality, are seldom utilised, while longitudinal studies, which track outcomes over time, remain rare. This methodological imbalance raises concerns about the robustness of the evidence, as the scarcity of experimental and longitudinal research limits the ability to draw definitive conclusions about intervention effectiveness. Strengthening the use of diverse, high-quality methodologies will be crucial for generating more reliable and actionable insights in future studies.

Building a Stronger Evidence Ecosystem

Addressing these challenges requires action on multiple fronts:

  1. Prioritise research in understudied areas: Critical interventions like remedial learning, EdTech, school feeding, and SEL lack sufficient rigorous evidence and require targeted research to assess their effectiveness.
  2. Strengthen the methodological rigour and testing of contextual adaptations of results; Most studies rely on qualitative methods, highlighting the need for more experimental, longitudinal, and context-sensitive designs to generate stronger causal evidence.
  3. Enhance policy uptake of strong evidence by scaling proven interventions: Proven approaches like teacher development and structured pedagogy should be scaled system-wide, guided by reliable data to ensure impact and avoid ineffective investments.
  4. Foster collaboration & capacity building by:
    1. Strengthening partnerships and co-creation initiatives between universities, CSOs, and the Ministry of Education and its departments.
    2. Developing open-access repositories to enable access to evidence and train local researchers in evidence synthesis.

Which Way Forward?

The stakes for improving Kenya’s foundational learning outcomes are immensely high. With each passing year, millions of children move through an education system that may or may not be providing them with the skills they need for future success. The gaps in our knowledge represent more than academic concerns—they translate directly into lost potential and missed opportunities.

Addressing these evidence gaps requires sustained commitment from all stakeholders. Researchers must pursue questions that matter most to practitioners. Policymakers need to demand and utilise better evidence when making decisions. Donors should prioritise funding for studies that fill critical knowledge gaps rather than reinforcing existing research patterns.

By taking these steps, we can transform Kenya’s foundational learning landscape from one of uncertainty to one where every child benefits from interventions proven to work in their specific context. The journey will require patience and persistence, but the destination—an education system truly built on evidence—is well worth the effort.

As we move forward, let us remember that behind every data point are real children whose futures depend on the quality of decisions we make today. By strengthening the evidence base, we honour our collective responsibility to ensure those decisions are the best they can be.

You can explore Kenya’s interactive evidence gap map at the Unlocking Data Initiative Website

When Data Speaks: Lessons from Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi on Unlocking Foundational Learning

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

By Nain Mirabel Yuh and Rigobert Pambe

“Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” — African Proverb.

In Africa’s evolving education landscape, the power to tell our own story, through data, is becoming a defining force. Yet, while vast amounts of evidence are generated daily, too often it remains trapped in PDF reports or scattered across systems. This disconnect has real-world consequences because when data is not accessible or actionable, children’s learning suffers. Foundational learning outcomes have persistently remained low, not because there is no data, but because the information is not reaching those who can drive meaningful change. How do we bridge the divide between data and real-world impact? How can African stakeholders collaborate to turn insights into action?

These were the central questions of the Unlocking Data webinar, held on 12 February 2025, under the theme “Evidence to Action: Leveraging Ecosystem Players and Platforms to Scale Evidence Use.” Bringing together education researchers, policymakers, and data strategists from Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi, the event highlighted the promise and the persistent challenges of building inclusive, trusted, and responsive data ecosystems for foundational learning.

The Current Landscape: Data exists, but is it used?

Across the three countries, the panellists agreed: foundational learning data exists but remains underutilised, siloed, or inaccessible to those who need it most, hindering evidence-based decision-making.

In Kenya, Charles Gachoki (Zizi Afrique, Kenya) described a fragmented system where international actors easily access education data, while local researchers and NGOs face red tape. “It’s who asks that determines access,” he observed. This disparity means that research driven by local context and needs is often constrained. 

Esme Kadzamira (Centre for Educational Research and Training, Malawi) added that in her country, foundational learning data is split across ministries, hindering collaboration. Even promising tools like unique learner identities are underused due to a lack of analytical capacity among ministry staff and local educators.

Rigobert Pambe (eBASE Africa, Cameroon) spoke of mistrust: government stakeholders question external data, while researchers doubt the reliability of official statistics. The result? Fragmented systems and missed opportunities for unified action based on a shared understanding of the challenges.

Barriers to evidence use: Trust, access, and representation

Three persistent challenges stood out, often interacting with each other to create a complex web of obstacles:

🔐 Data silos and restricted access

Ministries holding vast administrative datasets often operate in isolation, like separate islands. In Cameroon, access is further constrained by donor priorities and bureaucratic hurdles, making it incredibly difficult for local researchers or NGOs to obtain necessary information for program evaluation or policy advocacy, while Kenya’s county-level data remains locked away, unused at the point of need, preventing local decision-makers from tailoring interventions effectively.

🤝 Mistrust among ecosystem actors

A lack of transparency between government, academia, and civil society creates suspicion. Government officials may be wary of research findings that contradict official narratives, while researchers may doubt the accuracy or completeness of government statistics. One attendee asked, “How do we build trust in data sharing?” The answer: through shared ownership, ethical practices, and open dialogue.

🧩 Gaps in representation

From Malawi’s missing data on early childhood education to Kenya’s lack of disaggregated statistics for students with disabilities or in informal schools, entire populations are left out of the data story. Without data on marginalised groups, policies risk perpetuating inequities”

What’s working: Promising practices and bold ideas

Despite these barriers, the webinar showcased bright spots of innovation, demonstrating that progress is possible when stakeholders commit to collaborative and innovative approaches:

  • Real-Time Dashboards in Malawi allow district officials to monitor foundational learning outcomes like numeracy and literacy rates, though training is needed to turn these insights into local action that directly impacts classroom practice and resource allocation.
  • Cross-sector data collaborations in Kenya are enabling counties and universities to co-analyse data and co-design solutions, fostering locally relevant, evidence-driven interventions.
  • Cameroon’s push for a centralized data repository aims to open up research access and align data flows across actors potentially breaking down existing silos and facilitating a more holistic view of the education system.
  • A data-sharing portal for education modelled after Malawi’s agriculture sector is in early design proof that solutions can cross sectors and borders. This cross-sector learning is vital for identifying innovative approaches to data governance and use.

Scaling what works: The way forward

To truly move from evidence to action, these recommendations build on the bright spots and aim to dismantle the identified barriers:

✅Embrace open data policies and anonymisation frameworks

Without privacy standards, governments hesitate to share data perpetuating silos and limiting access for researchers and civil society. Malawi’s experience with the Examinations Board shows how anonymisation tools can build confidence and unlock access to valuable datasets for public good research.

🧠Invest in capacity building at all levels

As Rigobert emphasised, data is underutilised not just because it’s inaccessible but because people don’t always know how to use it effectively to inform decisions. Training in analysis, visualisation, and storytelling is critical for policymakers, educators, and local officials to translate data into actionable insights.

🏛️ Empowering sub-National actors

Districts and counties often sit on untapped data. By building local capacity in data collection, analysis, and use and incentivising use, they can become laboratories for innovation and equity-driven reform.

Evidence is Power — But only if we use it for impact

The Unlocking Data webinar closed with a powerful message:

“Publicly funded data should be made a public good,” said Laté Lawson. “We must build cultures, systems, and policies that reflect this truth.”

The path forward is clear. We need:

  • Stronger collaborations across sectors, bridging divides between government, academia, and civil society.
  • Open and ethical data-sharing practices, supported by clear policies and anonymisation.
  • Investments in digital infrastructure and analytical capacity, empowering stakeholders at all levels
  • A cultural shift where data use is the norm, not the exception, driven by leadership and demonstrated success. Ultimately, the goal is not just to collect data but to use it effectively and equitably to improve foundational learning outcomes for every child.

📢 Join the movement

The Unlocking Data Initiative is building a continent-wide Community of Practice to connect data producers and users across education ecosystems. Whether you’re a policymaker, researcher, practitioner, or funder, there’s a seat at the table for you.

🔗 Join the community
📖 Explore the reports
🗣️ Share your insights, amplify your work, and be part of the movement to make evidence count—because education data should never go to waste.

Bridging the Data-Evidence Gap in Education for Improving Foundational Learning in Malawi

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

By Paul Chiwaya, Louiss Saddick, Halima Twabi, and Esme Kadzamira

Invisible evidence and inaccessible data undermining the progress of foundational learning in Malawi. What will it take to make evidence visible and data accessible?

Introduction

In this blog, we explore gaps in evidence availability and data accessibility that hinder informed decision-making on foundational learning in Malawi, and discuss the key actions needed to make evidence visible and data accessible. We conducted a country situational analysis to map data and evidence on foundational learning since 2010. The findings reveal that despite increasing recognition of the importance of foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional competencies, progress is held back by high internal inefficiencies, poor learning outcomes, and an underutilised evidence base that remains sparse, fragmented, and often inaccessible (⇡Kadzamira et al., 2025; ⇡Asim & Gera, 2024).

The state of Foundational Learning in Malawi

Malawi’s education system has long struggled with chronic resource constraints, inadequate infrastructure, high repetition rates, and high pupil-teacher ratios—factors that continue to undermine the delivery of quality foundational education. These systemic challenges have made it difficult to ensure that all children acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills. Despite concerted efforts by the government and development partners, learning outcomes at the foundational level remain alarmingly low.

National assessments conducted since the early 2000s, such as the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), reveal that a significant proportion of Malawian learners in the early grades are not meeting the expected benchmarks for reading and numeracy (⇡Pouezevara et al., 2012; ⇡Brombacher, 2019). These challenges are particularly acute in rural areas, where shortages of qualified teachers and adequate learning materials are most severe (⇡Asim & Gera, 2024). 

To help turn the tide, international organisations like Save the Children, USAID, and the World Bank have stepped in with programs to boost foundational learning in Malawi. These programs have introduced early literacy and numeracy interventions, teacher training, and community engagement initiatives. But there’s a catch—without reliable data to track progress, it’s difficult to determine their effectiveness, identify what works and what doesn’t, and sustainability build on any gains made.

Data gaps and inaccessibility: A major barrier to progress

A significant obstacle to improving foundational learning in Malawi is the lack of accessible and reliable data. Accurate data collection is crucial for understanding the state of learning in the country, identifying improvement areas, and measuring the effectiveness. One of the key issues is the sheer inaccessibility of data. Much of the data on foundational learning is collected through large-scale assessments, national surveys, and international evaluations. Yet, this information is not always publicly available or easily accessible to stakeholders who need it most. While government ministries, international organisations, and research institutions may collect valuable data, the lack of a centralised database or platform to share and access this data presents a major barrier to progress.

Data is often siloed, either within government agencies or within the organisations that commissioned the studies. These restrictions limit collaboration and hinder the use of data to inform national policies and programming. Without clear, open, and transparent data systems, stakeholders such as educators, policymakers, and civil society organisations struggle to make data-driven decisions to improve foundational learning.

Furthermore, limited access to education data in Malawi hinders efforts to identify gaps and inconsistencies in the data system, making it difficult to gain a clear understanding of the challenges learners face in acquiring foundational skills. For instance, while assessments like EGRA and EGMA provide some insight into literacy and numeracy learning outcomes, far less information is available about socio-emotional learning. Data on the learning environment, including teacher-student interactions, the quality of instructional materials, and the role of parental involvement, is also scarce. This incomplete picture means that interventions may only address a portion of the problem, inadvertently leaving critical areas overlooked.

The invisibility of evidence: A hindrance to effective policy

The problem of invisible evidence is closely tied to the issue of data gaps. Even when data is collected, it is often not synthesised into actionable evidence that can inform policy, programs, and decision-making. As a result, foundational learning interventions in Malawi are sometimes based on assumptions rather than robust evidence, reducing their overall effectiveness.

Another aspect of this challenge is the limited analysis of students’ progress over time. Although our mapping exercise revealed the existence of longitudinal datasets that can be used to analyse students’ progress over time, these datasets have not been analysed. As a result, it is difficult to determine whether interventions aimed at improving foundational learning have sustained effects on learners’ outcomes. Furthermore, limited research exists on the specific needs of different regions, such as rural versus urban areas, which can result in one-size-fits-all solutions that may not address the unique challenges faced by various communities.

Addressing the gaps: Steps toward improvement

While the challenges related to data and evidence are significant, they are not insurmountable. Several key actions can be taken to address these issues and increase the use and users of foundational learning data in Malawi:

  • Strengthening data systems through co-creation of a centralised data portal: One critical step is strengthening Malawi’s education data systems. This should involve creating a centralised platform where data from different sources—government assessments, donor programs, and independent studies—can be housed and accessed by all stakeholders. Such a platform should prioritise openness, accessibility, and transparency, allowing for real-time data sharing and breaking down existing data silos.
  • Improving data collection: There is a vital need to improve the quality and scope of data collection efforts. Beyond literacy and numeracy, data should also capture socio-emotional skills, teacher quality, classroom environments, and parental involvement. To ensure inclusivity and relevance for targeted interventions, data must be disaggregated by region, gender, socioeconomic status, and disability. Furthermore, regular feedback sessions are essential for identifying gaps in data collection methods and tools and for continuously improving data systems. 
  • Transforming data into actionable evidence: Collecting data is only the first step. Malawi must invest in systems and processes that transform raw data into actionable evidence. This includes establishing well-resourced national and sub-national data analysis units capable of synthesising complex datasets into clear, evidence-based policy recommendations. At the sub-national level, tools like dashboards enable rapid data visualisation and support timely, informed decision-making. These tools also play a critical role in identifying data gaps and improving data collection methods and tools.
  • Engaging stakeholders: Addressing the foundational learning crisis requires a collective effort from all stakeholders involved in the education sector. This includes the Ministry of Education, development partners, civil society organisations, and local communities. Regular stakeholder engagement will ensure that on-the-ground realities inform interventions and address the unique needs of different regions and groups, moving away from potentially ineffective one-size-fits-all approaches.
  • Fostering a culture of transparency and accountability: Finally, there needs to be a greater emphasis on transparency and accountability on data within the education sector. This can be done by, among other things, revising data-sharing policies to allow ethical sharing and access to important education data and creating agreements between the Ministry of Education and stakeholders to support evidence-based planning. By making data and evidence publicly available, the government can foster a culture of transparency and accountability. This, in turn, will encourage education stakeholders to utilise data-driven approaches in designing, implementing, and evaluating foundational learning programs, ultimately leading to more effective and sustainable outcomes.

The promise of foundational learning in Malawi cannot be realised without addressing the critical gaps in data and evidence. Strengthening data systems, improving the accessibility of information, and turning data into actionable evidence are essential to building an education system that provides every Malawian child with the skills they need to succeed in life. By confronting these challenges head-on, Malawi can ensure its foundational learning programs are effective, equitable, and sustainable, laying the groundwork for a brighter future for all. 

References

  • Brombacher, A. (2019). Research to Investigate Low Learning Achievement in Early Grade Numeracy (Standards 1–4) in Malawi: The victory of form over substance. HEART. https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/AIUSUUNA
  • Kadzamira, E., Saddick, L., Twabi, H., & Chiwaya, P. (2025). Exploring the Foundational Learning Data and Knowledge Ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa: Malawi’s Situational Analysis. Unlocking Data. https://doi.org/10.53832/unlockingdata.1019

What it takes to move from education evidence to action

Posted on by Jillian Makungu in Blogs

By Unlocking Data Initiative

This blog highlights key insights from a recent webinar that focused on foundational learning data from Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi

Data and evidence are crucial in improving educational outcomes, including foundational learning. However, fragmented data ecosystems, limited accessibility to evidence and data, and mistrust between stakeholders continue to hinder its full potential. The Unlocking Data Initiative has been driving conversations to increase the use and users of data across sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2024, the initiative, funded by a GPE-KIX grant has been working in Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi to map foundational learning data and implement collaborative research methods with data stakeholders to address bridge data gaps. In February, our webinar explored the state of foundational learning data in these countries, as published in 3 situational analysis reports for each of Kenya, Cameroon, and Malawi, as well as a cross-country report comparing challenges and lessons learnt. The webinar highlighted key challenges, opportunities, and practical ways to strengthen evidence use in foundational learning. Here are our key takeaways:

A critical first step: What do we know about the definitions of foundational learning in Unlocking Data focus countries?

As explained by Rigobert Pambe, Deputy Programme Lead at eBase, in Cameroon, foundational learning lacks a clear definition within policy and practice, making it difficult to align interventions across the region. While strong policies exist, implementation remains a challenge, particularly in conflict-prone areas. In Kenya, foundational learning focuses on improving learning outcomes for learners between the ages of 4 and 10.

The stakeholder landscape for foundational learning

Cameroon’s strong policies that drive foundational learning are embedded within the country’s education-governing institutions. Data from the country’s situational analysis reveal that the universities are not very involved in research on foundation learning. Most of the research outputs found focused on literacy and a little bit on teacher professional development. Areas like numeracy, social and emotional learning, and inclusive education were relatively neglected. 

In Kenya, the county government takes charge of early child development education (ECDE), while the national government delivers education services for primary 1 and upwards. This leads to fragmented efforts and inconsistent policies across the different levels of learning. 

In Malawi, foundational learning is managed across multiple ministries. The Ministry of Gender, Community Development, and Social Affairs is responsible for early childhood education, while the Ministry of Education focuses on basic and other levels of education, with little collaboration. This leads to gaps in data use and decision-making. 

Is fragmentation limiting data use and causing mistrust within the ecosystem?

Across all three countries, mistrust between government agencies, researchers, and policymakers limits the effective use of data. Governments often prefer to rely on their data, while researchers struggle to access official datasets. In Cameroon, research on foundational learning is limited, with universities largely disengaged. Much of the available data is published in English, limiting accessibility for francophone audiences, but also indicating limited opportunities for women to engage in data generation and publishing. A gendered analysis of publications also indicates limited female presence in the data generation space. In Kenya, researchers often reference data from the development sector or donor organisations such as the World Bank. In most cases, this data is easily accessed by development partners from the government because of a seemingly credible engagement between the government and the development sector. Meanwhile, in Malawi, researchers hold valuable insights on early childhood education, but much of their work remains siloed within universities, never making its way into classrooms where it’s needed most. This is mostly driven by researchers who fear the possibility of exposure of gaps in the data collection process and having their data plagiarized.

Gaps in foundational learning data

Across the countries of focus, research tends to focus heavily on literacy, with minimal attention to numeracy, social-emotional learning, inclusive education, and pre-primary readiness. Special needs education data remains scarce, making it difficult to design and implement inclusive policies. Data collected by governments is often outdated by the time it reaches decision-makers, as there is little integration with data collected by the respective ministries and departments, civil society organisations (CSOs) and universities.

What do we learn from what is working?

There are various opportunities to improve data use and data sharing. The Kenyan county governments are increasingly seeking support to package data into actionable reports, signalling a willingness to open data to the rest of the ecosystem and a shift towards evidence-based decision-making. In addition, a foundational learning community of practice has been formed to offer technical assistance on foundational learning policies and resource mobilization. Networks of organisations in Cameroon are coming together to share knowledge and set a common agenda for foundational learning, while in Malawi, new district-level data collection initiatives are piloting real-time dashboards, allowing for timely decision-making based on local needs.

How can the data ecosystem be strengthened across the three countries?

“The Kenyan universities, ministry directorates, and departments are now reaching out to co-create data collection tools, synthesize existing evidence, and in general strengthen the research functions. This is a good endorsement towards the long-term goal of evidence use in decision-making,” says Charles Gachoki, Research Manager, Evidence Synthesis and Translation, Zizi Afrique Foundation. To help strengthen this collaboration and put data into good use, creating champions and communities will encourage lateral learning for decision-making based on evidence.”

Building a central data repository will help in establishing a single open and accessible source of truth when it comes to connecting all data sources. Rigobert Pambe emphasises the need to establish a way to set up policies for data sharing, collection, and archiving. This unified, open-access platform for foundational learning data could streamline collaboration among stakeholders. While this could be a stronger solution, it needs an intentional and strategic investment in training and setting up digital systems that could help stakeholders collect, share, and analyze data more effectively.

There continues to be a call to create data sharing and archiving policies, in which clear regulations on data access, confidentiality, and use are put in place to build trust and increase data availability. There is an opportunity to learn from the other sector. For instance, in Malawi, the agricultural sector has successfully created a shared data portal linking donors, government agencies, CSOs, and academia. A similar model could be adapted for education and the stakeholders in Malawi are working on it, starting with building stakeholders’ capacity at the district level.

Moving Forward

To bridge the gap between data generation and usage, collaboration is key. Governments, researchers, and CSOs must work together to improve the quality of data, build trust and accountability, enhance accessibility, and ensure that data informs meaningful change in foundational learning. The Unlocking Data Initiative is tackling disconnected and underutilized data systems by mapping the education data ecosystem. Working with stakeholders in the countries of focus, Unlocking Data Initiative is working to connect partners, raise awareness about data sharing, and promote evidence-driven decision-making at all levels. By expanding access to education data and fostering a community of practice, UDI helps policymakers and researchers effectively use existing data to drive informed education reforms.

Did you miss the webinar? Follow the conversation here. 

Are you running a similar conversation? Are you looking for a space to share your insights?

Join our Community of Practice

Unlocking the Power of Data in Africa’s Education Sector

Posted on by administrator in Blogs
BY CHARLES GACHOKI AND NAFISA WAZIRI

In recent years, the open data movement in Africa has experienced remarkable growth. What started as a focus on government programmes and portals has expanded into a dynamic ecosystem where civil society, research institutions, and the private sector drive the demand for data. To offer some perspective on the growing interest and importance of this issue, the African Union has estimated that the economic benefit of open data could equate to around 1-2 percent of GDP in Africa. Rallying behind this call, initiatives like the Data Governance for Africa Initiative have invested over US$1 million in the last year alone. Despite this progress, Africa’s open data performance still lags behind the global average. 

At its core, the open data movement is about empowerment. By making public sector data accessible, citizens can better understand how their governments are performing and hold them accountable for unmet goals. In the education sector, the stakes are high. Data shapes narratives, and those narratives influence power, policy, and resource allocation. This underscores the core objectives of the Unlocking Data Initiative. Established in 2020, and with recent support from the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), this initiative has set out to strengthen education data systems and offer contextually responsive solutions to the challenges faced by researchers in Africa. 

Why Open Data Matters

As education reforms sweep across sub-Saharan Africa, the politics of data have become increasingly complex. Who controls access to data? Who decides how it’s used? And most importantly, how can data drive real change for learners, especially the most vulnerable?

Through the Unlocking Data Initiative, a consortium of Pan-African partners (eBASE Africa, EdTech Hub, ESSA, the University of Malawi’s Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT), and Zizi Afrique Foundation) are at the forefront of efforts to answer these questions. This initiative (active in Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi) aims to ensure that data becomes a powerful tool for educational transformation. 

To engage with partners and actors in the space, the Unlocking Data Initiative hosted a webinar on August 21, 2024, to launch the new phase of activities as part of the KIX grant. A wide range of organisations and participants including, representatives from the Ministries of Education in Cameroon, ⁠Mr TohMoh Joseph (Technical Advisor), Kenya, Mr Bartholomew Lumbasi (Director of Policy), and Malawi, ⁠Mr. Lanken Nkhata (Ag Head EMIS). These representatives joined researchers and education advocates through this interactive session to discuss data democratisation and explore ways of increasing access to and uses of education data. 

The Barriers to Unlocking Data

While the potential of open data is immense, early findings from the Unlocking Data Initiative research activities resonate with the experiences of stakeholders and partners. Simply put, significant challenges remain:

  1. Accessibility and Transparency: Many public datasets are difficult to access or not openly available, and the processes for requesting data can be opaque and bureaucratic. This includes a lack of clear metadata, original documentation, and contextual information to support the interpretation and appropriate use of the data. 
  2. Interoperability and Standardization: Data across different government agencies and programs often use different terminologies, formats, and definitions, making it difficult to aggregate and analyse data holistically. 
  3. Data Quality and Reliability: The quality of data collected is another critical issue. Inconsistent methods, outdated information, and political interference often undermine the reliability of evidence. For African nations to tell their stories and address challenges like learning poverty effectively, they need authentic, high-quality data that reflects their realities.
  4. Ethical Dilemmas in Data Sharing: Balancing transparency with confidentiality is a constant challenge. CSOs working with vulnerable populations must navigate ethical considerations, especially when data contains sensitive information about learners. Without proper anonymization and responsible use protocols, the risks of harm increase.
  5. Collaboration and Trust: Perhaps the biggest hurdle is the lack of collaboration between stakeholders. Mistrust, competing priorities, and unclear frameworks for data sharing create barriers that limit progress. For instance, while initiatives like Education Evidence for Action (EE4A) have made strides in fostering partnerships, much more needs to be done to bridge gaps and build trust.

A Path Forward

The Unlocking Data Initiative offers a promising model for change. By mapping foundational learning ecosystems, identifying gaps, and building capacity, this initiative is laying the groundwork for stronger, more collaborative data ecosystems.

Key strategies for success include:

  • Co-creation: Bringing together governments, CSOs, researchers, academics, and private organisations to design data tools and processes that are inclusive and responsive to local needs.
  • Digital Innovation: Establishing digital evidence hubs, such as the one proposed for Kenya’s Ministry of Education, to improve access and streamline data sharing.
  • Trust-Building: Developing clear policy frameworks and agreements to guide data sharing and ensure mutual accountability.
  • Capacity Building: identifying and plugging capacity gaps, especially with state actors and researchers, to not only be able to share data but also increase its usage in their decision-making.

By addressing these challenges head-on, Africa’s education sector can harness the full potential of open data to improve learning outcomes, reduce inequities, and drive sustainable change.

Join us!

Unlocking data isn’t just about technology or policy—it’s about collaboration, trust, and a shared commitment to the future of Africa’s learners. As the Unlocking Data Initiative and other efforts gain momentum, it provides a blueprint for how data can transform education systems and, ultimately, lives.

The question is no longer whether open data can make a difference but how we can overcome the barriers to make it a reality. Let’s continue the conversation—and the work—of Unlocking Data for a brighter future. Please visit our website and follow our partners CERT. eBASE, EdTech Hub, ESSA, and Zizi Afrique Foundation on social media. You are also invited to participate and contribute to this work by joining our community of practice and Unlock the potential of Data!

EVIDENCE USE – INCREASING USES AND USERS IN EDUCATION

Posted on by Charles Gachoki in Blogs

“Strategies implemented in schools to maximize student learning should be evidence-based.”-The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 

Evidence-based education is an approach to teaching and learning that emphasises using empirical research to guide classroom instruction decisions and practices. This approach aims to ensure that educational methods and interventions are effective, efficient, and aligned with the latest available scientific findings on how students learn and develop. 

Florio, (2016) traces the foundations of evidence-based education back to the success of evidence-based practices in other fields, such as medicine, healthcare, and management. The growing momentum of evidence-based education over the past three decades has been driven by the desire to move away from reliance on intuition, tradition, or personal experience, and instead base educational decisions on rigorous, objective, and replicable research.

Multiple sources of evidence

One of the key features of evidence-based education is the emphasis on using multiple sources of high-quality, rigorous scientific studies and empirical evidence to inform decision-making, teaching methods, strategies, and interventions researched and proven to be effective.

Evidence can come from a variety of sources, including randomised controlled trials, longitudinal studies, meta-analyses, and case studies.

Challenges in application

There is a lack of good-quality research evidence to tell us how to mobilise evidence into use in education.

Although the role of evidence in the education system is not currently in doubt, equally research also tells us that teachers rarely apply this evidence to inform their classroom teaching. While this pool of evidence exists ways and means are scarce of mobilising this evidence into usable bits for classroom use. Simply put a lot of innovative education interventions exist but only a handful are put to use due to a lack of awareness of their existence as well as application evidence on how to use them. 

According to the Glossary of education reforms, the debates about and around evidence use in education systems depend largely on the existence and actual use of the available evidence. For instance, policymakers at national and sub-national levels, teacher trainers, teachers and researchers sometimes argue that the body of existing evidence is too big a forest to mine what is useful, or even impossible, for schools and educators to act thoughtfully and appropriately on available evidence, given that it is not synthesised and therefore would classify it as unavailable. In other cases, governments, schools and school systems may largely or entirely ignore available evidence; subsequently, perpetually known school problems may go unaddressed on one hand, while effective, well-established teaching practices and innovations are never adopted and the system is plunged into a “rudderless mass” of evidence-informed policy initiatives. 

Increasing Use and Users of Evidence

So how can we increase the uses and users of education evidence in the education ecosystem? While this blog was not intended to answer this question it was intended to ignite other questions. While previously funders have supported extensive efforts to expand the production of evidence in education the wind is blowing from generation towards uptake of the evidence generated. Think of it this way: researchers and organisations have carried out research over several years whose results and learnings lie with them or the funder. Proponents of evidence-based practice propose platforms for knowledge sharing and collaboration generated through co-creation initiatives to synthesise such findings into one document or theme. Such platforms act as repositories of published research outputs, grey research as well as public goods such as ed-tech, guidelines and frameworks which go a long way, especially in making research products available, accessible and affordable. 

Platforms for knowledge sharing and collaboration generated through co-creation initiatives can synthesise findings into accessible documents or themes.

Such co-creation initiatives by different actors in the education ecosystem overcome the multiplicity of evidence generation. Tons of papers inform of student theses lie in libraries and occupy space in their online repositories while there is no chance that the findings lying there will ever be found and at least shared if not implemented. The immense evidence in those Masters and PhD theses does not become invalid just because they are unpublished or are published in “predatory” journals based on some classification. Evidence is evidence unfortunately the “fountains of knowledge” repositories do not communicate with each other. How do they even ensure the originality of the student’s work in the face of AI? How can we motivate the students and faculties to get their work published to enhance the visibility of the evidence generated? 

Barriers to evidence use

This blog cannot be complete without addressing the politics and gatekeeping in access to data which cuts across the data landscape. Even within the government different departments cannot share evidence and even when it is possible none is willing to use the other departments’ evidence-sometimes departments within the same organisation. Issues of the government not trusting the credibility of evidence generated by non-state actors demand co-creation. Where funders are involved, gatekeeping comes in the form of ownership of the evidence generated. A probable solution to this challenge apart from co-creation is establishing communities of learning where evidence generators and users share a platform to discuss the generation and use of evidence.

“Expanding the skill to recognise quality research is essential to help teachers and school leaders become better consumers of evidence.” ~Teacher Magazine

The assumption so far is that while evidence is available synthesised or otherwise, the users have the requisite capacity to use the evidence in their processes and decision-making. Far from it, evidence generators must ignite the demand for evidence users to utilise available evidence in education. The trend has been to address the supply side by making research findings as simple as possible and using different mediums to present the evidence. The demand side, however, requires equal attention to ensure we address the width and the breadth-increase the uses and users of the available evidence produced. The establishment of a community of learners as a platform for stakeholders to learn can be used as a platform to set research agendas that guide the whole country’s research compass towards demand-driven research and innovations.

Education system cultures that vary by jurisdiction may not be encouraging or seen to promote the use of evidence because teaching practice is heavily dependent on directions from respective ministries. A study of teachers in Australia showed that teachers sometimes view the adoption of external evidence as a way of taking away the teachers’ autonomy in the classroom. The issue of validation of proven innovations may affect the adoption of evidence especially where assessment data does not support the practitioners’ innovation. There is also observable affinity by the government to hold at a higher value and adopt external evidence compared to locally generated and assembled evidence.  For instance, Kenyan teachers in National schools may fail to adopt innovations from County and extra-county schools.

“In Australia, 83 percent of educators believe that using research will help improve student outcomes; 45 per cent believe that their schools do not support the use of research. 32 percent of educators do not feel confident to analyse and interpret research.” Monash University-Q project

What comes out clearly and shown by research is that mere accessibility to raw or synthesised research evidence is not generally an effective way of getting it used, even if that evidence is presented to users by knowledge-brokers, in short courses or workshops. What is more likely to work for both policy and practice is the packaging of high-quality evidence into a more usable format and presenting it actively or iteratively via a respected and trusted conduit, or through other mediums such as legislation. Having the users do the research is another promising approach. funders should require grantees to use evidence assembled in evidence hubs and libraries created using their grants in previous projects. This can be facilitated by a supportive evidence-use culture across the education ecosystem.

The Broken Spider Web: Navigating the Complex Education Data Ecosystem in Cameroon

Posted on by administrator in Blogs

WRITTEN BY RIGOBERT PAMBE

“Surrounded by data but starving for insight.”

In November 2020, Cameroon adopted the “National Development Strategy 2020-2030”, a reference framework for its development action over the next decade, making education a fundamental pillar for the development of the nation. Despite significant progress in improving access to education, issues revolving around quality and equity remain a major concern with over 77% of students learning-poor.

Unlocking education data can provide valuable insight into the challenges faced by the education system and inform policy and practices for the best routes to tackle these challenges and improve attainment. This is however a very daunting task considering the country’s complex educational system, as well as its diverse range of institutions, programs, and data sources. How can we make sense of the vast amount of data available and use it to improve educational outcomes for learners?

In this article, we explore the challenges and opportunities of navigating Cameroon’s educational data ecosystem. We build on the assumption that by understanding the connections between the key players, data sources, and tools available, we can make informed decisions and drive positive change in education. Specifically, we will discuss the role of government agencies, universities, and NGOs in collecting and analyzing data. By the end of this article, readers will have a better understanding of how to navigate Cameroon’s educational data ecosystem and use data to improve educational outcomes.

A – Complex education data ecosystem with a variety of stakeholders

Cameroon’s education data ecosystem is complex and diverse, with multiple actors and sources involved in the collection, management, and dissemination of information. Government agencies are the primary authority for education data in Cameroon, overseeing the collection and management of data from various educational institutions across the country. Six ministries oversee the education sector in Cameroon. These are the Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB), the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC), the Ministry of Higher Education (MINESUP), the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training (MINEFOP), the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Youth and Civic Education (MINJEC).

Each of these ministries is responsible for a particular subsector of the education landscape and is therefore collecting, analyzing and disseminating data solely for that sector. They all use different methods for collecting and compiling data, making it difficult to compare or aggregate their data. This is mostly due to the absence of a coordination mechanism at institutional levels. The Division of Education, Teaching and Research at the prime ministry could fill this gap, ensuring coordination between these ministries. However, they are understaffed and under-budgeted. One final state actor intervening in Cameroon’s education data ecosystem is the National Centre for Education at the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation with the mission of conducting research in the field of education and building the capacity of educational stakeholders. 

Other actors collecting, compiling, and disseminating education data In Cameroon include the National Institute of Statistics, universities, international organizations, local NGOs and actors from civil society. These stakeholders are all motivated by the desire to improve educational outcomes; however, they operate in silos, reducing the scope of their impact. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the creation of a holistic and inclusive education data network ensuring collaboration between actors for increased access, use and sharing of data.

B – MINEDUB and the premise of a functional Education Management Information System

The education data management system championed by the Ministry of Basic Education is by no doubt one of the most advanced in the country today. The Department of Planning, Projects, and Cooperation of the Ministry of Basic Education is responsible for drawing up and updating the school map; centralizing and processing statistical records; collecting data on various education systems; putting in place a databank; and normalizing the data collected. In order to achieve these tasks, they partner with various actors at central and decentralized levels including, regional and divisional delegations, the National Institute of Statistics and international agencies such as UNESCO or UNICEF, the latter providing technical assistance and support for education data collection and analysis. This synergy of actors produces useful and reliable educational data for decision-makers, donors, and other data users. However, data collected remains insufficient as it focuses primarily on broad outcomes like enrollment, attendance, academic performance, resources etc… There are invaluable educational data sources mainly coming from other actors within the data ecosystem which are available but unexploited.

Developing and maintaining a functional, inclusive, and sustainable education data ecosystem is essential for achieving predetermined educational goals. Data is crucial in providing a better understanding of the current situation, setting goals, elaborating benchmarks, and measuring success. In a context like Cameroon with multiple actors intervening in diverse education sectors, it is important to understand the role and capacity of each of these actors, establish a working relationship between them and build solid a network of partners working in tandem towards promoting data-driven decision making in education. Education data mapping stands out as the ideal strategy to achieve this aim. Beyond understanding what education data exists and is accessible, it will involve mapping the various actors, their skills, and experiences, and bridging the gap between them. We aim to do this using the methodology and conceptual framework developed by the Unlocking Data consortium. Case studies from Kenya, Malawi and Sierra Leone using this approach are a testament to the benefit of this process as shown in this guidance note. We look forward to sharing our experience of undertaking this approach in Cameroon with the whole Unlocking Data community.

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