Luvent conducted the mid-term evaluation of the “Programme d’appui à l’enseignement fondamental au Mali” (PROF), with the aim of elucidating whether it is strengthening the Malian primary education system.

With an implementation period of 66 months, the PROF intended to respond to the priorities set out in the Interim Education Sector Recovery Programme of the EU. The programme was not geographically targeted but complemented existing interventions by other partners, including scaling up a number of positive activities and having a broad-based effect on the system. The specific objectives (SO) of the PROF are: i) Improving the quality of basic education; ii) Strengthening the decentralized management of the basic education system; and iii) Improving access for children who are out of school. To date, four contracts have been conducted for the implementation of the PROF, including a programme estimate for the achievement of SO1, a subsidy contract with the Ministry of National Education for the achievement of SO2, a grant contract with the Stromme Foundation for the achievement of SO3, and a service contract for technical assistance in support of PD implementation and coordination.

The programme was assessed on the basis of the five OECD DAC standard criteria:

• Relevance of the intervention objectives to the beneficiary needs and the local context;
• Effectiveness of the action and its effects;
• Efficiency in realizing the activities and expected results of the initial planning;
• Sustainability in terms of beneficiary satisfaction and project results; and
• Impact on different actors in the immediate and long-term.

In addition, two evaluation criteria specific to the European Union were examined:

• The European added value of the programme; and
• The coherence of the programme itself, in relation to the strategy pursued by the European Union in Mali and that of the Member States.
• The final output was a report to the EU and various stakeholders of the PROF evaluating the progress of the programme towards the expected results, and the necessary measures to achieve its proposed objectives.

• Conducted initial data collection and analysis
• Prepared the structure of the evaluation
• Collected data and verified hypotheses in Bamako and other Malian cities
• Analysed and assessed comments from key stakeholders
• Formulated the overall assessment, conclusions and recommendations
• Presented key recommendations to DUE and local stakeholders