DFID’s education programmes in three East African countries

Review

During the decade 2005-15, DFID spent over £1 billion of bilateral aid on education in three East African countries: Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania. This review assesses how well that money was spent. As a result of our findings this review has been scored amber-red.

Findings

This review found that DFID had focused on expanding access to basic education and had succeeded in boosting enrolment substantially. There had, however, been a lack of attention to learning outcomes and to the trade-off between increasing access and ensuring quality. As a result, the quality of education being provided to most children was so low that a large majority were failing to achieve basic literacy and numeracy. We were pleased to note DFID’s commitment to improving education outcomes but its strategies and approaches needed considerable improvement to rise to this challenge.

Recommendations

1. DFID should revise its 2010 strategy for education to ensure that learning outcomes are at the heart of its support through all levels of the education delivery chain.
2. DFID should revise its pilots on results-based aid by working with ministries of education to introduce a results focus into national funding for districts and schools.
3. DFID should continue to expand its support for communities to enable them to monitor and promote education, so as to encourage accountability, the widest possible participation and public debate.
4. DFID should strengthen its capacity-building in ministries of education to improve the value for money of their education systems. This should involve enhanced analysis (including tracking funds and comparing in-country unit costs and learning outcomes), evaluation, forecasting and application of international good practice.