In partnership with UNICEF, the World Bank is developing impact evaluation of the ECCD pilot project in order to offer recommendations to policy makers on possible scaling up.
Background
Macedonia faces an important challenge in ensuring equal access to services and economic and social opportunities. Disparities in poverty levels across urban and rural areas indicate that rural areas may be in particular need of public interventions.
According to the poverty assessment undertaken in Macedonia during 1998, there has been a rise in the incidence of poverty from 4% in 1991 to 20% in 1996. The largest incidence of poverty was found among rural households headed by individuals with low educational attainment and in particular, households with three or more children were found to have the highest poverty rates relative to households of other family size and composition.
In Macedonia, poverty rates were higher for households in which children did not attend school, at the same time, enrollment rates remain low for the rural poor. This suggests that children of the rural poor may have an elevated risk of remaining in poverty in the future, and that low educational attainment in rural areas may lead to persistent poverty.
Project Implementation, Organization, Goals and Approach
Early child education is important because it assists children to get off the right foot in school by facilitating the development of cognitive skills, social and emotional intelligence, and overall school readiness.
The overriding goal of the pilot project, launched in 1999 has been to foster social cohesion within communities, between communities and across borders, with a special emphasis on inter-ethnic understanding and tolerance.
The pilot project supports the development of community-based learning centers that are staffed by trained personnel and parents of eligible children, from the age of birth until 5 years of age. The centers provide opportunities for small groups of women to learn about phases in their child's development and how to improve their parenting skills and the quality of the interactions between parent and child. Sessions are held twice per month for each group and focus on a particular aspect of the child's physical, social, emotional, or cognitive development.
The group settings enable parents of diverse ethnic backgrounds to participate both in learning experiences and to contribute simultaneously to the development of socially integrated communities. Parental involvement expands and improves community networks, thereby facilitating community development and social cohesion in communities where the social fabric has been frayed with the resettlement of refugees from the region.
There is also a possibility of improving the child's home environment through home-based visits to participating families. Staff associated with the project visit households twice per month and disseminate age-appropriate learning materials for the child to the participating family and confer with parents about the material and the child's development.
After the initial pilot project in 1997 involving 7 educators and 60 mothers, UNICEF obtained resources through the World Bank's post conflict fund to increase the coverage of its targeted population. The ECCD project was implemented in 32 municipalities in Macedonia, in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Roma, and Serb communities.
The regional coordinator is responsible for implementing activities in the region and for identifying community learning centers. The total number of educators and coordinators associated with the project across the municipalities is 135. Teams are composed of graduate\undergraduate pedagogues, psychologists, doctors, sociologists, social workers, caregivers, teachers and nurses.
Evaluation, Objectives of the Evaluation and Proposed Methodology
The follow-up evaluation of the second phase, undertaken jointly by the World Bank and UNICEF, will be conducted to estimate changes in beneficiary welfare that happened as a result from having participated in the project and control to the extent possible for pre-existing characteristics and conditions among the population that may have affected project outcomes. It will contain both a quantitative assessment components, and qualitative components that generate more specific findings.
When appropriate, the evaluation will also assess the potential indirect and spill-over effects that may have resulted at the household- and community-level. For example, women's participation in the centers and in home-visits fomented their acquisition of new skills and information about their roles as parents and members in the community.
To assess the impact of the early childhood education project and its potential for further scaling up, the evaluation is being undertaken to measure changes at three levels of the project, by measuring the impact of the project on: (i) children, with regard to the potential educational performance of children as measured by cognitive, emotional, and social development indicators; (ii) women, with regard to changes in empowerment within the household that occurred as a result from program participation; and (iii) communities, with regard to integration including household participation in community activities, as well as community involvement and participation (organization of events for children).
For the quantitative component, a household survey instrument will be used to collect information on relevant household and individual background characteristics and impact indicators, using random sampling of participating households, limited to households with children 4-5 years of age. The qualitative component will use a range of instruments and techniques to assess the impact of the project, the level of satisfaction among participants, and potential for the project's sustainability. Purposive sampling will be used. |
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