Subject Description
The report presents the findings of an external evaluation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s (SDC) Vocational Skills Development activities. The evaluation portfolio covered 10 projects and programmes in 9 countries (Albania, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Mali, Moldova, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru). The report is structured along the lines of the OECD DAC Evaluation Criteria.
Evaluation Methodology
This global-level sector analysis is based on information on ten projects. Four of these projects were reviewed on the basis of fieldwork, and six on the basis of documentary analysis. Four of the latter were executed as comprehensive case studies; for the remaining two, brief meta-evaluations of two to three pages were produced.
In the context of fieldwork, data for a complementary quantitative analysis were collected in three countries, where tracer studies were implemented. Quantitative data from surveys were primarily analysed in the form of descriptive statistics and statistical tests based on the comparison of means. For Burkina Faso, the simple comparison of means was complemented by propensity score matching. The four field studies were also based on qualitative data from two sources: firstly, documents such as credit proposals, previous reports etc. to which the evaluation team had access, and secondly, interviews with stakeholders who were associated with the VSD activities. Additionally, consultants conducted interviews with beneficiaries, who were generally selected from among those who had been interviewed for the surveys. Interviews with employers were also conducted in a similar way.
Findings and Conclusions
Overall, SDC’s VSD activities can be rated as ‘satisfactory’. The main strength of the programmes under review is their strong orientation towards the needs of their respective national and local contexts, with an awareness of labour market realities. Strong labour market-orientation is also the basis for the contribution to higher employment by SDC’s VSD activities, as well as for their achievements in the domain of more fundamental changes to VSD systems. The main weakness of activities under review is that target populations are not always being reached, particularly when it comes to socio-economically disadvantaged people and females. In a similar vein, evidence from this report shows that many of the activities are not contributing to higher incomes in a significant way. As we have seen, achieving impact remains a challenge, even more so if a long-term perspective is adopted. In order to continue to achieve satisfactory results, it will therefore be important to focus on the key strengths of SDC’s VSD activities, i.e. the strong context orientation and the efforts to involve representatives from the world of work (notably employers and self-employed) in planning and delivery of training. In order to improve performance, however, the team believes that it will be important to increase efforts to constantly and holistically monitor the effects of interventions, not only at the level of individual projects, but also across regions.
Recommendations and Lessons Learned
The evaluation recommended that:
· A more comprehensive and differentiated VSD strategy needs to be developed, that makes explicit reference to secondary and higher education and also conceptualises VSD as a contribution to economic change.
· A more realistic and sustainable approach to the dual model, as well as a more differentiated approach to qualifications frameworks, needs to be developed.
· In the case of non-formal VSD programmes that support beneficiaries’ access to self-employment, not only by offering training but also by providing necessary equipment and/or financial capital, funding for these additional benefits must not be provided at the cost of reducing outreach. Under such circumstances, promotion of micro-credit schemes seems to be particularly promising.
· When pre-vocational training is being supported, it should be ensured that representatives of the respective economic sectors (co-) finance equipment and consumables.
· Project design, implementation and evaluation processes need to be more streamlined.
· Access of women to VSD programmes needs to be ensured.
· SDC should insist on the formulation of exit strategies as early as at the credit proposal stage.
· Comprehensive inception phases are important. These should more systematically consider political-administrative structures and existing training cultures, and assess the underlying motivations of key stakeholders to engage in fundamental changes to VSD systems.
· Lastly, it will be important to strengthen the networks in charge of VSD.
