building professional competency for poverty reduction
TRANSCRIPT
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BUILDING PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY FOR POVERTY REDUCTION
An overview of the PRAM Initiative – a professional education program for agricultural development workers in Laos
The regional development challenges we face and the context of poverty reduction efforts in Laos
The developmental context
The challenges
� Widespread poverty still exists in Asian region despite rapid economic growth
� In some areas, levels of poverty now increasing
UNICEF press release, 14 Sep 2010
“We found extremely high levels of
malnutrition among children .... . In Attapeu,
one of three southern provinces covered by
the survey, 18.9 per cent of children aged 6 to
59 months were found to suffer from acute
malnutrition. This figure is almost 4 per cent
above the international definition for an
emergency situation”.
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The opportunities
� More attention being focused on poverty reduction
� Better understanding of sustainable development� More sustainable food production
� More sustainable energy production
� More sustainable economic growth
� The need to help people change and adapt for a new future
Prof. Yunus: “We must not leave the problem of poverty for the next generation to solve”Prof. Yunus: “We must not leave the problem of poverty for the next generation to solve”
Why is the situation getting worse?
� Increased vulnerability because of:– Climate change
– Environmental degradation
– Reduced food security
– Economic crisis, increasing energy costs
Prof. Yunus: “In the future there will be museums of poverty”Prof. Yunus: “In the future there will be museums of poverty”
Poverty in Laos
� 27% of population - less than USD 1 / day
� 74% of population – less than USD 2 / day
� Agriculture: 41% of GDP, 80% of employment
� National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy
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PRAM: Poverty Reduction and Agricultural Management – a capacity building program for agricultural extension working in Laos
Outline of the PRAM curriculum
PRAM Goals
� To make an immediate and measurable impact on poverty in southern Laos
� To build capacity of local government workers to reduce poverty
Four strategic aims of the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
� Achieve food security for the country
� Assist communities to develop agricultural production for cash
� Stabilize shifting cultivation to alleviate poverty
� Sustainably develop forests
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Approaching the challenge
� Requires two approaches
� Long term - gradual development of existing systems of professional training and education. Yield results in 10 years+
� Short-term – need new model for professional development (capacity building) that will help MAF respond to urgent national problems.
The immediate demand
� Greater effectiveness of district level government officers
� 3000 in seven southern provinces alone
� Urgent need to reduce rapid destruction of natural environment (deforestation, dam construction)
� Urgent need to mitigate impact of negative environmental changes
The immediate demand
� Students: mid-career district level extension officers with high school or vocational qualifications
� linked to official Ministry systems of staff promotion
� Courses taught near workplace four week blocks, after which students return to their stations
� Project-based learning, Problem-based leaning key for addressing linkages between environment and poverty reduction
� “Fitness for Purpose” approach to quality assurance
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PRAM Components
� A MAF perspective
Theory
Skill building
Community
assignments
What do Districts
officers need to
know?
What do
District
officers need
to do?
The developing focus of capacity building for
poverty alleviation
HRD emphasis
in the past
HRD emphasis
in the future
Knowledge-
based courses
Work-based
courses
Good skills
Good knowledge
Good attitude
+
+
Building competence
Good staff
for poverty
reduction
Assessment
PRAM
What do District officer need?
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Key attributes
� Reaching out to professionals – a degree program that targets District agricultural government extension officers from Southern Laos.
� Establishing regional standards –developing transboundary collaboration and establishing regional standards for agricultural extension and professional education for poverty reduction
� Providing a choice - of what, when and where they study. All students study part-time
� Increasing access to education – developing a harmonized approach to agricultural education, farmer extension and community development.
� Measuring “fitness for purpose” – students are assessed on the basis of their ability to reduce poverty in poor communities in the Districts they work both during and after their studies
Key attributes
� Students can study courses at any educational institutions which is a member of the PRAM Consortium
� Consortium members follow agreed norms and standards established for PRAM course delivery and assessment.
� Key components of norms and standards:� Problem-Based Learning
approach to teaching
� Fitness for Purpose approach to assessment
Curriculum structure
� PRAM curriculum still being developed.
� Alliance of educational institutions and development agencies responsible for developing curriculum agreed to three main types of courses:
� Orientation courses
� Core courses
� Elective courses
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PRAM curriculum structure outline
Composed of two Parts:
� All students need to take these courses before they begin the Core courses
� Students mid-career professionals who have wide range of backgrounds and professional experience
� Full time study to “immerse” students in a learning environment
Orientation courses(20 credits)
Core courses(20 credits)
Elective courses(20 credits)
Compulsory courses for registered students– Part-time study for students
– Practical assignments in workplace and community
– Basic competencies (knowledge + skills + attitude)
– General courses for poverty reduction and food security
Elective courses for registered and non-registered students– Project based learning
– Workplace teaching
– Impact on poverty required for course completion
Orientation course
� Part 1 (9 credits)
� Introduction to Agriculture
� English language
� Thai language
� Computer skills
� Introduction to Education
� Part 2 (9 credits)
� Science and Mathematics
� Environment and Society
� Communication Team Work and Facilitation
� Basic Accounting
Core courses
� Agricultural Communication
� How to work with communities
� Human relationships
� Mediation skills
� Negotiation skills
� Facilitation skills
� Health and Sanitation
� Food security
� International standards quarantine
� Public health and sanitation
� Notifiable diseases
� Animal management for good health
� Basic disease understanding and diagnosis
� Agro-Ecology
� Environmental management
� Biodiversity
� Conservation
� Pollution control management
� International conventions
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Core courses
� Agricultural Management
� Admin-management skills
� Policy and planning
� Planning methods
� Proposal writing
� Project management
� Donor liaison
� Natural Food Security
� Basic food productivities skills
� Food from natural recourses
� Food security
� Preservation
� Post-harvest processing
� Indigenous food knowledge
� Poverty Mitigation
� Dimension of poverty
� Poverty causes
� Poverty management
� Inequalities
� Poverty reduction policies
� Gender
Core courses
� Field Research Methods
� Field research design
� Statistics
� Research with communities and farmers
� Data analysis and presentation
� Report writing
� Data-Information management processing
� Agricultural Extension
� Extension approaches
� Techniques
� Rural leadership
� Rural finances
� Group formation
� TOT teaching
� PRAM Seminar
� Students present seminar based on a subject related to their work and poverty reduction.
Elective courses
� Series of graded community
development projects (PbL)
� Consortium able to provide a wide range of courses – students select
according to job requirements.
� Also available to district officers
without registering for the full degree program
� Students specialize in a subject area
(e.g. Animal Health, Fisheries).
� Requirement to achieve measurable
poverty reduction outcomes
� “Examiners” include farmers and poor families
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Developing a fitness for purpose approach to professional education for poverty reduction
Fitness for purpose
Measuring impact at the community level
� Did this course lead to a measurable reduction in poverty?
� A “fitness for purpose” approach to education
� Examples
� Increased availability of nutrients in diet
� Increased knowledge for treating goat health problems
� New crops planted
� New sources of protein (frogs, insects) farmed
Quality Assurance Board
� Comprising 2 – 3 members from all stakeholders
� Each PRAM course delivery institution has its own QA and curriculum development committee
� Two-way process
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PRAM poverty reduction framework
Providing Basic NeedsImproving
livelihoods
Employment
opportunities
Food
security
Schools and
education
Health and
sanitation
Housing and
clothing
Roads access and
communication
Community
participation
and action
Lao National Poverty Eradication Strategy
The 6 Basic Needs
Poorest Poor
Families with an
income equivalent
of >180,000 Kip
per person per
month
Families impacted
by student
activities will NOT
be used to
measure learning
success
Not poor
2020 Goal
Student indicators for learning success
Small but sustainable increases
in living standards of families
within 47 poorest districts of Laos
Measurable impacts on the
livelihoods and well-being of
poor families beyond the
provision of their Basic Needs
Measurable changes that can be
independently verified by local
communities and external
evaluators
Poverty Reduction Fund responsibility
MAF responsibility (with other Ministries/agencies)
The 6 Basic Needs
� Food security
� Enough food for basic requirements (2100KCal/person/day, importance of fat in diet of young children to absorb vitamins)
� Enough food for entire year
� Food supply not highly vulnerable
� Importance of building resilience in food supply to combat climate variation and climate change
� Importance of poor communities to recover food supply quickly from external “shocks” or disasters
� Focus of PRAM student projects
The 6 Basic Needs
� Health and sanitation
� Access to clean and safe water
� Access to health care services
� Importance of developing security to health care service access (ability to “pay” for family health care when there is a critical need)
� Health care “micro-insurance” through securing livestock health
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The 6 Basic Needs
� Schools and education
� Basic access to primary education
� Includes ensuring effectiveness of basic school education
� Includes non-formal education and training, access to new information and learning to ensure provision of Basic Needs
� Includes effectiveness of awareness raising and learning to exploit new opportunities for basic survival
The 6 Basic Needs
� Housing and clothing
� Ensuring families have basic shelter and sufficient clothing all year
� Importance of improving resilience to increasing climate variation. Shelter less vulnerable to flooding and storms
� Importance of families having a secure place to live
� Importance of having basic cooking and household equipment
The 6 Basic Needs
� Roads, access and communication
� The importance of developing reliable contact with the “outside” to reduce vulnerability
� Includes basic access to buses and having money to travel for emergencies (e.g. health)
� Developing effective access to basic government services
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The 6 Basic Needs
� Community participation and action
� Ensuring ability to effectively participate in development
� Developing opportunities to be innovative and creative (take small risks for improvements)
� Importance of ensuring communities and individuals are able to take responsibility for improvements
� The importance of the capacity for community mobilization and organization
Most Significant Change Technique
� MSC – participatory M&E process:� Facilitates program
improvement throughout program cycle
� Provides data on impact and outcomes.
� A process of collecting significant change stories from the field - systematic selection of the most significant by higher levels – reflection on change throughout all levels
MSC – Why Is It Useful?
� Identifying unexpected changes.
� Identifying (important) values that prevail in an organisation
� Encourages analysis as well as data collection� Build staff capacity in analysing
data and conceptualising impact.
� Deliver a rich picture of what is happening.
� Monitors and evaluatesbottom-up initiatives –tracking the unexpected
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Collecting Significant Change Stories
� Example of MSC story collection form
Selecting Significant Change Stories
Selecting Significant Change Stories
� What do they do?� Everybody reads the stories
� In-depth conversation about which stories should be chosen
� Decision which stories are felt to be most significant
� Reasons for the group’s choice(s) are documented.
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An overview of the lessons learned by the PRAM stakeholders over the last three years
Some lessons learned
The need for a local-level focus
� Savannakhet University
� DLF/MAF lead process, but difficult to coordinate
� Necessary for local coordination (local university)
� Local university issue degree
� Need to focus at lowest level of staff and poor areas
� Poor districts
� Jut Sum
� Technical Service Centers (TSC’s)
International partnerships
� The Wetlands Alliance
� AIT, CORIN-ASIA, WWF, World Fish
� Role changed, need to accommodate change
� Difficult to understand, complicated
� Thai agencies
� Local-local collaboration very effective
� MoU useful for administration
� Vocational vision very useful
� Easy to find good lessons for students and
information
� Language differences small (compared with English)
� Donor organizations
� Flexibility and understanding from Sida(supportive donor)
� PRAM designed for easy donor support
� International NGO approach different (project approach)
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Facilitating partnerships
� Important attributes
� Ability to identify new opportunities
� Neutrality, respected
� Informed, but independent
� Breaking with traditions
� “Technical” inputs not required
� Focus on establishing process not output
� Curriculum content locally derived
� Facilitation skills central importance:
� partnership development
� workplan development
� monitoring (Quality Assurance)
� goal/objective reinforcement
DLF perspective of PRAM institutional partnerships
DLFWAP National coordination
Savannakhet provinceWAP Provincial coordination for
Southern Laos
Northern provinceWAP Provincial coordination for
Northern Laos
Champasak
Provincial Authorities
Salavan Provincial
Authorities
Attapue Provincial
Authorities
Xe Kong Provincial
Authorities
Kammouane
Provincial Authorities
Bolikhamsai
Provincial Authorities
Savannakhet
Provincial Authorities
National University of
Laos/Savannakhet
University
Na Gair Agricultural
College
Pakse Agricultural
College
MAF Personnel
Department
Department of
Vocational Education
National and Regional coordination
MAF Planning
Department
Private Sector – CAAT
UDICAD
WAP Secretariat
International coordination
Luang Prabang
Provincial Authorities
Xieng Kuang
Provincial Authorities
MAF Bilateral donors
World Bank/ADBSEAFDEC
Department of
Agronomy
Pla
nned
Pla
nned
Supporting teaching development
� Opportunities� to test and develop new approaches
� re-evaluate learner needs
� Project/Problem-based learning� appropriate for (MAF) professional
development
� similar to development agency “capacity building”
� Developing confidence� Only one of the ways to do this
� Key element for effective development
� Importance underestimated
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Supporting QA development
� The need for regional/international certification/quality assurance
� Jointly developing “fitness for purpose” concept
� Development of a Quality Assurance Board (QAB)
� Facilitating continuous quality improvement
� Merging “development” QA with education QA
� Exams, student assignments, academic assesments
� Logical Framework (OVI’s)
� Most Significant Change (MSC)
Some ideas for developing the PRAM initiative and issues that need to be addressed for scaling-up
Future directions and challenges
Regional expansion
� On-going dialogue to establish PRAM-like programs in Philippines, East Timor, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam
� Cambodia
� Fisheries administration (part of MAFF)
will:
� Organize a national meeting to discuss how to initiate PRAM in Cambodia
� Open discussions with national universities to
develop collaboration of a PRAM initiative
� Draft PRAM project proposal and invite PRAM stakeholders from Laos to share ideas
and submit jointly to donors
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The challenge of learning from the past and each other
� How can students learn from past students?
� How can teachers learn from past teachers?
� How can we empower students, give them the 'big' picture - that there are others like them - how do you link them?
The challenge of information and records management
� What is the best way to collect and manage the
assessment information coming from teachers and
students?
� What is the best way to record and store
Significant Change Stories?
� How can pictures and videos best be stored and
shared?
� Where is the best place to keep student records?
� Where do we keep records of meetings and
agreements on approach and methodology?
The challenge of communication
� Teachers wish they had easier way to
contact students
� How can communication be improved
teacher-teacher, student-student,
teacher-student?
� Teachers were impressed by students
from different areas working together
on their projects
� How can teachers get more real-time
information from the students?
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The opportunity to empower and motivate
� A new innovative web-based platform for agricultural extension officers to communicate, share ideas and search for new information would really excite people!
� How can we change the context in which the student's and teachers work?
� We can't change their budgets or their living/work conditions, but we can take them 'virtually' out of their environment and into a context where they feel empowered and part of something big.
How could this work?
• Technical Service Centers
(community level development
centers) have Internet before
electricity
• Very close to seeing iPad
equivalents in Laos
• Almost everyone has a cell phone
with great coverage
The value of real-time data
� Melinda Gates - In development, the evaluation
comes at the very end of the project...by then it is
too late to use the data...I had somebody from an NGO once describe it to me as bowling in the dark.
They said, "You roll the ball, you hear some pins go
down. It's dark, you can't see which one goes down until the lights come on, and then you can see the
impact." Real time data turns on the lights.“
� Lesson learned from Coke – They take real-
time data and immediately feed it back into the
product
� A vision from Laos and Cambodia – “We
could see what is going on where and where the
gaps are. We could provide better focus and coordination for the many donors who want to do
capacity building”
Thank you