Evaluation of the USAID-funded girls' education activity

Interim evaluation covers the period 1/98-6/01. Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) (primary) and the Academy for Educational Development (AED) are the implementing agencies. The bulk of project work has been undertaken since September 1999, and, while there are notable achievements, especially during the last 6 months, the results and quality are short of those intended in the project workplan. The most notable activities and outputs to date are: (1) the well- publicized establishment of the Better Education Through Innovation (BETI) Foundation as a Trust; (2) a study of private sector schools; (3) classroom-based participatory rapid appraisal/participatory learning appraisal (PRA/PLA) gender training for Bahraich District Primary Education Program (DIET) teachers; (4) the BETI website: and (5) participation in framing Uttar Pradesh's education policy. There are also some promising joint ventures between BETI and such partners as CARE and Catholic Relief Services (an early childhood development effort), the Janshala project (community mobilization in two urban wards of Lucknow), and AED/W and CISCO (the piloting of a gender module on information technology). However, much more is needed in terms of the quality and timeliness of deliverables. Serious implementation delays have occurred. There are complaints that the project is heavily dependent on external TA and that the cumbersome approval arrangements prevent quick responses. A lack of agreement on BETI's functions and priorities and inadequate understanding of the prerequisites for setting up a girls' education coordination center stem from the project implementation team's limited organizational development expertise. Unclear roles and responsibilities for key project staff in leadership, management, and decisionmaking have led to poor managerial efficiency and effectiveness. There are also concerns about the organizational capabilities of the center, with much of the decisionmaking power centralized at the top; the inadequate level of in-house technical expertise; poor utilization of participatory processes limiting professional and stakeholder inputs; and inadequate programmatic linkages with partners in the field. BETI's current set-up was seen as a major impediment. While BETI exists as an independent entity on paper, its structures and operations are in reality not distinct from the AED office and its personnel. Nor does BETI command a separate budget or dispose of an appropriate corporate strategic plan and effective organizational structure and management systems. Thus, despite unanimous agreement on the need for a girls' education coordination center and high regard for the current director of the DAI/AED/Lucknow office, BETI is perceived as having a limited ability to fulfill its program goals and objectives. The general view is that for BETI to become a center of excellence and an effective clearinghouse and catalyst for policy, research, advocacy, training, and alliance-building, the center should follow certain key guidelines of democratic governance and quality assurance: (1) BETI should have strong, independent technical and managerial leadership as distinct from the DAI/AED/Lucknow office. (2) The Chair of BETI's Board of Trustees should not also be the BETI's Executive Director. (3) BETI's management style should follow democratic principles, encouraging broad-based participation and transparency in decisionmaking. (4) BETI should develop a technically strong in- house capability and staff with a proven record in innovative work on girls' education in India and elsewhere. (5) BETI should set clear objectives, and pursue a strategic plan if it is to meet its overall goals. (6) BETI's sustainability is contingent upon its capacity to elicit its own funding independent from the AED contract, as well as on its possession of appropriate institutional and organizational structures and systems, strategic business planning processes, and strong in-house program leadership to define priorities and mobilize commitment and support to achieve them. The remaining few months of the project should be utilized to initiate the process of separating BETI from DAI/AED/Lucknow.