Building a national early childhood measurement system in Rwanda
By: Noella Kabarungi, Senior Education Technical Specialist at Save the Children International Rwanda
USAID CATALYZE ECCE Together for Early Childhood Evidence (CATALYZE T4ECE) is an initiative implemented by Palladium through ECD Measure at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). CATALYZE T4ECE convenes government officials, researchers, and other stakeholders interested in pre-primary data and measurement. The consortium facilitates cross-country learning on how pre-primary systems can better use data to improve young children’s early learning experiences. CATALYZE T4ECE continues previous phases of the original T4ECE initiative launched under ECD Measure and UNMC in 2018. This blog series highlights the perspectives of ECCE research and learning stakeholders under CATALYZE T4ECE and the broader community. Learn more about CATALYZE ECCE here.
Our latest article features Noella Kabarungi, Senior Education Technical Specialist at Save the Children International Rwanda, and a member of the CATALYZE T4ECE Rwanda Task Force.
Introduction
Rwanda has been a member of Together for Early Childhood Evidence since the initiative’s inception in 2018. Over the last several years, we have seen Rwanda make considerable headway in its early childhood data and measurement activities. Recently, the Ministry of Education, in partnership with Save the Children Rwanda, conducted a national study of pre-primary student’s learning and development outcomes using the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA). Building on this national IDELA study, the Ministry of Education, members of the CATALYZE T4ECE Rwanda Task Force, and other local early childhood experts have worked to define country-level benchmarks for IDELA scores based on national early childhood development (ECD) standards. The benchmarks will allow decision makers in Rwanda to understand the proportion of children who are classified as “minimally on track.” Now that benchmarks have been created, the CATALYZE T4ECE Rwanda Task Force has identified the need to further test them to be able to generalize the benchmarks to the Rwandan population.
Over the next year, the CATALYE T4ECE Rwanda Task Force (comprised of the National Child Development Agency, Ministry of Education, World Vision, University of Rwanda, UNICEF, Save the Children, USAID, and other partners) will conduct a nationally representative assessment with IDELA to pilot these benchmarks. The study will determine the emergent numeracy, literacy, socio-emotional, fine and gross motor skills for children completing pre-primary school, including the proportion identified as ‘minimally on track’; and determine which factors of classroom quality are correlated with children’s school readiness. This project will also build the capacity of government officials including Ministry of Education, Rwanda Education Board, and National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), who will use IDELA tool as a national early childhood development measurement tool. Capacity building will support government officials in linking IDELA to existing government data systems and processes.
We recently interviewed Noella Kabarungi, Senior Education Technical Specialist at Save the Children International Rwanda, and a key member of the CATALYZE T4ECE Rwanda Task Force, as she reflects on Rwanda’s vision and progress towards institutionalizing and building government capacity to collect and use national ECD outcomes data.
What are you most excited about over the next year when it comes to the ECD data and measurement landscape in Rwanda?
The IDELA tool was previously adapted for the Rwandan context and used in the country. We are looking forward to the opportunity to utilize the IDELA tools once again to gain insight into the progress of Rwandan children in terms of early learning and holistic development. We are particularly looking forward to the upcoming National School Readiness Assessment, which will provide us with updated data on early learning outcomes in Rwanda. This data will be instrumental in helping us identify and address the disparities that hinder children from reaching important developmental milestones.
As part of this National Assessment, through collaboration with key partners including the government, we will carry out new methodological work to validate the IDELA benchmarks. We are convinced that this work will foster a culture of data-driven decision-making in the country. Improving the quality and accessibility of data will enable policymakers to make more informed decisions. By using solid data, we can develop and refine evidence-based policies and practices. For example, a recent effort from the government of Rwanda is focused on harmonizing ECD and ECE (early childhood education) standards, which will integrate ECD services and data across different sectors like health, education, and social services. This multidisciplinary approach will ensure that all factors influencing child development are considered; the new IDELA benchmarks will be crucial to guide these ongoing efforts.
What are current gaps when it comes to ECD data use in Rwanda?
Rwanda prioritizes evidence-based decision-making, yet there remains a data gap concerning school readiness and the performance of children in pre-primary schools. The current challenges in ECD data utilization in Rwanda stem from the limited availability of national data in general which are disaggregated by age, sex, geographical location, disability status, and other sub-groups in the population. Additionally, there is a lack of coordinated data in collection mechanisms among key ECD sectors and difficulties in data sharing and integration among stakeholders. There is also limited capacity for data gathering, analysis, interpretation, and utilization in policy and program planning and advocacy. Inadequate access to real-time data is also a concern, and there is no system in place to gather primary data on the quality of pre-primary classroom environment, teaching pedagogy, and children's outcomes to inform decision-making at various levels.
How will CATALYZE T4ECE help to fill in or address some of those gaps?
The IDELA tool has been valuable for generating ECD evidence in Rwanda. The tool has been used for evaluation and research studies and has contributed to advocacy, programming, and policy for ECD in the country. However, its use for monitoring purposes is limited due to difficulties in interpreting and communicating the scores to less specialized audiences whereby some are decision makers. To address this, in 2023, Save the Children collaborated with the government, pre-primary teachers, and various partners to establish country-specific benchmarks for identifying children with adequate development based on IDELA scores. However, due to budget constraints, the developed benchmarks were not tested. To expand on this initiative in 2023-2024, Save the Children, through support from Together for Early Childhood Evidence, will focus on enhancing how pre-primary education systems can effectively utilize data to enhance young children's early learning experiences. This will involve validating the IDELA benchmarks using nationally collected data, institutionalizing the IDELA tool, and ensuring that pre-primary data is utilized at both central and decentralized levels, right up to the classroom level. The benchmark process will also provide capacity building and buy-in to various stakeholders participating, including the government, which is important for sustainability.
How do you envision CATALYZE T4ECE supporting or being useful to countries beyond Rwanda?
Recently, we have seen a growing demand for benchmarked indicators of ECD, from both programs in Save the Children, and from external partners. For example, global monitoring indicators of ECD status such as indicator 4.2.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals or USAID supplemental indicator 1 for education programs, require measuring “the proportion of children developmentally on-track”. Rwanda, as the first country to initiate the IDELA benchmarking, will serve as a learning hub for other countries wanting to generate a country-relevant indicator of children developmentally on track. The methodology used in the benchmarking exercise is standardized and generalizable. It can be applied in any setting, provided there is national representative IDELA data, a group of ECD subject matter experts, and, ideally, an official pre-primary curriculum to frame the expectations about children’s learning and development at each grade. The results and experience of the benchmarking exercise in Rwanda will be shared with other countries for their use or adaptation to their specific contexts.
Cross-posted on the T4ECE website hosted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
This blog is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the Office of Education, Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of contract No. 7200AA19C00080, subcontract CATALYZE-Edu-CR-2023-0352. The contents are developed by the ECD Measure group hosted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
