For example, RAP-DM recognized during the early phase of implementation that resources were being double-programmed for activities at the central and regional levels and not flowing to the regions as planned. In effect, there was no PISE financial plan. RAP-DM focused on this problem even though this meant considerable technical support to the central level and a delay in the startup of field activities. Without this measure, training support to the AEs and CAPs would have been less relevant.

Situational Analysis

RAP-DM undertook an extensive situational analysis during its first year. The AE- and CAP-level analyses looked at the operationalization of mission objectives, internal human resources organization and staffing issues, the definition of various elemental tasks and the tools used to achieve them, project qualifications, the information systems on which many activities were based, and the decision-making process for basic education system management planning. The analyses examined the implementation of the national education policy that has been devolved to the AEs, specifically regional coordination of education service delivery with local government entities and technical support to different actors at the local government, local community, and private education promoter levels.

The situational analysis also explored the relationship between the AEs and CAPs and school management committees, local governments, and other civil society actors. This analysis has made it possible to identify the specific areas where improvements can be made, notably comprehension of the roles and responsibilities of the different actors, and the nature and extent of support expected by the local governments in the different areas of education system management for which they are responsible.

Training Support

RAP-DM provides training support to AEs, CAPs, and Ministry of Education officials at all levels on a variety of topics. Training modules are developed or adapted from existing modules, with the support of specialized local and international institutions, based on the situational analysis. Training content is identified, prepared, and programmed throughout the RAP-DM for AE and CAP personnel in the following areas: education system planning, school mapping, project preparation, use of statistics and performance indicators, fund management and reporting on expenditures, operations and investment budget preparation and execution, human resource management, and textbook distribution planning and implementation.

The training strategy focuses on those competencies necessary for acceptable AE and CAP performance. Hands-on training and just-in-time training methodologies are preferred. The Ministry of Education capitalizes on the training materials’ accessibility by sharing them with national training institutions such as teacher training institutes and the university. Certain training modules are developed and/or implemented in close collaboration with training planned by other education-sector implementing partners.

RAP-DM organizes annual national-level seminars on the following themes:

• Training for AE directors;
• Training of AE personnel who disseminate training in strategic planning, budgeting, use of statistical data, monitoring the implementation of the action plans, and organizational development; and
• Evaluation of progress accomplished by the AEs and CAPs.

• Practical assessment, research, and evaluation (PARE) preparation and planning process;
• PARE budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting;
• Use of statistical and financial data in decision making and education management information system (EMIS) improvement; and
• Organizational development.

Training activities are designed to both train AE staff in planning and monitoring action plan and budget implementation and evaluate each year’s progress in key areas related to delegation of responsibility to the regions, as well as in decentralization to the local governments. Training also contributes to bringing staff into closer relations with local governments and helping them play a supportive technical assistance role, notably in the area of planning and implementation of education sector activities that are part of the communal, sub-regional, and regional action plans.