Twelve Point Programme outline

1 - Early Childhood Health

Basic health checks regularly for all children organised at school or clinic including BMI and under and malnutrition; diagnosis of disability; monitoring of health status; primary health care
Training of teachers to act as sentinels to recognise common health issues in children
School environment health audits and mandatory provision of clean water, sanitation etc
Development of circles of support around vulnerable children

Registration of all children with tracking cards to accompany child through school
Child seeking school and community activities to enrol every 6 year old child
Extension of pre-school at affordable cost to four and five year olds
Identification of vulnerable groups – e.g. those with disability, orphans, ultra-poor households, malnourished or undernourished children, girls, immigrants, pastoralists, fisherfolk etc. and design of appropriate interventions to match circumstances

Audit and track out of school children (drop outs/never attended); identify causal relationships; mitigate push factors (e.g. costs, relevance, corporal punishment, gendered violence; distance); teachers visit the homes of drop out children to enquire after them.
Incentives/actions to promote re-entry to schools in appropriate grade for age; develop child friendly and child seeking schools
Alternative provision of basic education where return to school is not viable
Expand access to lower secondary school and a full cycle of basic education; improve transition rates into secondary

Develop child tracking cards to monitor grade progression, age in grade, attendance, and learning achievement; develop protocols to support children at risk of drop out. (e.g. below 90% attendance, 2+ years over age, 2 years below attainment norms)
Adopt automatic promotion with support for learning of less capable to ensure smooth progression through early grades at appropriate ages; prioritise reading and number in early years
Provide support for improved pedagogy and teacher competence through training, mentoring, and enhanced learning environment; monitor teacher attendance; provide incentives for effective practice
Promote curricula relevance and the utility of learning; develop pedagogies that are effective and which make private tuition less attractive; link formative assessment to enrichment and remediation; develop multilevel learning goals linked to range of capabilities

Chart flows of children through primary and secondary school and analyse who goes to secondary school and who transits to higher levels of education and training
Link analysis of flows for children through the education system to the basic arithmetic of youth employment to highlight supply and demand issues in the labour market
Review curricula and tracking of children into different school types and different curricula option in the light of flows and labour markets
Plan and project how to achieve and sustain high levels of participation through to Grade 9 and beyond and identify critical inputs needed

Identify effective learning and teaching strategies through inventories of good practice, analysis of EMIS and performance data, and action research. Promote better practice.
Design, develop, pilot, evaluate new pedagogies where these promise and deliver large learning gains
Map schools, class sizes, and pupil teacher ratios et al; locate additional capacity in relation to need
Identify where multi-grade pedagogies are needed (small schools, multi-age enrolment) and where classes are oversize (urban slums, migrant schools); support curriculum development and training

Review building stock and demand for space/facilities; project forward and build capacity through appropriate mix of additional classrooms and new schools with quality/cost control of procurement
Review services, clean water, sanitation, infrastructure and act to meet national standards on all sites
Develop protocols for maintenance/rehabilitation to ensure safe and congenial learning space
Mobilise public and private sources of funding for construction and maintenance

Assess quality, availability, and costs of core books and learning materials for children and plan for a book per child per main subject or the equivalent;
Identify enrichment materials and other learning and teaching aids and plan provision
Adopt effective and efficient procurement and distribution of books and learning materials
Develop affordable and effective strategies for information technology evaluated independently

Assess the stock and deployment of teachers and project supply and demand. Audit distribution of teachers and pupil teacher ratios and act to meet norms and reduce variance
Review the teacher education system and reform to prioritise skills and competences linked to more effective learning; upgrade subject and pedagogic knowledge and skill; consider less emphasis on initial training and more on in-service support
Identify lost teaching time including absenteeism, manage incentives to increase time on task
Provide incentives for difficult postings including housing, promotion, subsidies of training and additional payments

Provide support for regular formative assessment in main subjects with feedback designed to identify learning problems and improve achievement; keep records of assessment for each child and review periodically; train teachers to diagnose misconceptions and learning difficulties
Invest in enhanced data collection and monitoring of schools using improved EMIS and more useful indicators of performance
Develop annual standardised monitoring assessments assist in managing performance improvement
Commission a rolling programme of analysis of aspects of system performance

Project costs of universal access in short to medium term for integration into MTEF; identify gaps in financing and methods of filling any such gaps
Review sub-sectoral allocations, unit costs, and other patterns of resource allocation with a view to enhancing access and equity and affordability
Identify necessary cost saving and efficiency enhancing reforms
Determine modalities of external financing within a multi donor framework

Identify strengths and weaknesses of key indictors of access currently in use
Develop and use age specific enrolment rates, on schedule completion rates, and appropriate indicators of equity in participation including gender, household income, location, social group
Develop goals and targets with stakeholders that are fit for purpose and are challenging but achievable
Link planning to desired outcomes which are more comprehensive and balanced than the MDGs and Dakar Goals, and locate these within a national development strategy