evaluation of etf activities in egypt may 2008 · 2.2. the general tvet context in egypt 17 2.3....

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ETF activities in Egypt placed within the general context of HRD/VET and LM reforms in Egypt during the period 2000-2007

Evaluation of ETF Activities in Egypt

May 2008

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ETF activities in Egypt placed within the general context of HRD, VET and LM reforms in Egypt during the period 2000-2007

An ETF funded project

The Evaluation Partnership & Gruppo Soges are the contractors of this evaluation.

Two EU experts, Mr Ton FARLA (Team leader, and evaluation specialist), Mr Ali DASTGEER (international expert) and two Egyptian experts, Mrs Ghada AMIN (local expert 1) and Mrs Heba NAIEM (local expert 2) comprised the external evaluation team and prepared this report.

The views and opinions expressed in the report are those of the evaluators and, as such; do not necessarily reflect those of the European Training Foundation. The European Training Foundation does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use.

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TABLE OF CONTENT 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6

LIST OF ABREVIATIONS 7

RELEVANCE, ADDED VALUE, EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT 9

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10

1.1. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION 10

1.2. BACKGROUND OF THE EVALUATION 10

1.3. METHODOLOGY 10

1.4. SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS 11

1.4.1 THE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS 11

1.4.2. THE OVERALL EVALUATION 13

1.4.3. RECOMMENDATIONS 15 2. INTRODUCTION 16

2.1. OVERVIEW OF ETF ACTIVITIES IN EGYPT 16

2.2. THE GENERAL TVET CONTEXT IN EGYPT 17

2.3. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION 19

3. METHODOLOGY 20

3.1. OVERVIEW 20

3.2. EVALUATION TOOLS 21

3.3. EVALUATION ACTIVITIES 21

3.3.1. DESK WORK 21

3.3.2. INTERVIEWS 22

3.3.3. CASE STUDIES 22

3.3.4. THE ANALYTICAL PHASE 22

4. THE ASSESSMENT 23

4.1. THE EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS 23

4.1. P1. MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING FOR SME GROWTH WITHIN THE MEDA CONTEXT 23

4.1. P2. CONFERENCE ON INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING STANDARDS IN THE MASHREQ REGION” 24

4.1. P3. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION, FORMULATION AND CONTENT MONITORING 26

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4.1. P4. DRAFTING OF THE POLICY STATEMENT ON THE REFORM OF TVET28

4.1. P5. COUNTRY OVERVIEW ON LABOUR MARKET POLICIES IN EGYPT 30

4.1. P6. HRD OBSERVATORY FUNCTION (OF) 32

4.1. P7. THE ‘COUNTRY ANALYSIS 2005’ OF EGYPT 34

4.1. P8. THE ‘TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION TO WORK’ PROJECT 35

4.1. P9. FINANCING OF VET SYSTEMS PROJECT 37

4.1. P10. INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN TEACHER AND TRAINER TRAINING IN THE MASHREQ REGION 39

4.1. P11. PATTERNS OF MIGRATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ISSUES 40

4.1. P12 NATIONAL QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK IN EGYPT 43

4.1. P13. CAREER GUIDANCE POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN EGYPT’ 44

4.2. CASE STUDIES 47

4.2.1. THE OBSERVATORY FUNCTIONS 47

4.2.3. COORDINATION WITH OTHER DONORS 47

4.3. OVERALL EVALUATION 48

4.3.1. RELEVANCE 49

4.3.2. EFFECTIVENESS 50

4.3.3. EFFICIENCY 52

4.3.4. IMPACT 53

4.3.5. ADDED VALUE 55

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE EVALUATION56

6. ELABORATION ON RECOMMENDATIONS (POST-ETF DEBRIEFING) 64

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1. Terms of reference

ANNEX 2. Matrix of ETF activities 2001-2007

ANNEX 3. Case studies on Observatory Function and Donor cooperation

ANNEX 4. List of persons and organisations consulted

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report draws on the results of extensive deskwork visits to ETF in Turin, and field visits within Egypt. During the evaluation, the evaluation team interviewed a large range of Egyptian stakeholders, all of whom have been willing and helpful contributors.

The team would like to thank the staff of ETF for their open and constructive approach to the questions and challenges we have posed to them, and for the practical assistance they have provided to us by making available project information, annual work programmes, activity plans, mission reports, project documents and other relevant information and documentation. Moreover, ETF supported the evaluation team in compiling a list of stakeholders and experts it had worked with during the period 2000-2007.

In particular, we would like to thank Outi Karkkainen and Elena Carrero Perez for their continuous support and efforts.

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LIST OF ABREVIATIONS

BCTC Building and Construction Training Council

CAPMAS Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics

CBC Cross Border Cooperation

EC European Commission

EETEO Egyptian Education, Training and Employment Observatory

EFT Egyptian Federation for Tourism (The official Initials are ETF)

EFBC Egyptian Federation for Building and Contractors

EMIS Education Management Information System

ERSAP Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment Programme

ET Evaluation Team

ETCP Egyptian Technical Colleges Project

ETF European Training Foundation

EU European Union

GoE Government of Egypt

GTZ German Technical Cooperation

HRD Human Resource Development

IB Institution Building

IC Italian Cooperation

IDSC Information and Decision Support Centre

ILP Innovation and Learning Project

ITC Industrial Training Council

ITF Italian Trust Fund

LDV Leonardo da Vinci

LLL Life Long Learning

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LM Labour Market

MEDA Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

MoE Ministry of Education

MET Management and Entrepreneurship Training

MTI Ministry of Trade and Industry

MoMPeI Ministry of Manpower and Immigration

MS Member States

OF Observatory Function

OFN Observatory Function Network

PIP Project Implementation Plan

PVTD Productivity and Vocational Training Department

SDP Skills Development Programme

SME Small & Medium Sized Enterprise

SWAP Sector Wide Approach

SWOT Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats

TAP’s Technical and Administration Provision

TTC Tourism Training Council

ToR Terms of Reference

TVET Technical Vocational Education and Training

USAID US Agency for International Development

WB World Bank

WP Work Plan

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RELEVANCE, ADDED VALUE, EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT

Five key evaluation criteria have been applied to the assessment of ETF interventions in Egypt: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, value added and impact. The ET assessed:

The relevance of ETF activities to the country’s needs and priorities and to the EC objectives

Relevance has been interpreted as the extent to which the intervention’s objectives are consistent with beneficiaries’ requirements, partners’ needs and priorities and EC policies and in line with the new ETF recast Regulation functions. It relates to the original design of the activities as well as to adjustments made in response to changing circumstances (e.g. in politics, policy, institutional, economic, social and environmental settings). It also seeks to ascertain if programme implementation was flexible enough to adapt to problems and challenges faced.

Effectiveness in terms of how intended outputs and results were achieved

Effectiveness had been interpreted as the extent to which the intervention’s objectives were achieved, taking into account their relative importance. It is measured by how much the intended beneficiaries actually benefited from the programmes, products or services; assessing the extent to which the programme’s results were achieved or their potential benefits were realised.

Efficiency in terms of how economically ETF resources were converted to results

Efficiency has been interpreted as the extent to which the project finances and human resources produced the intended results, added greater value or impact; to what extent ETF donor-coordination contributed to economies of scale and complementarities of the use of ETF resources in Egypt.

However, it should be noted that the ETF was not able to provide the evaluation team with the details of human resources and budgets expended for individual projects which undermines the assessment of efficiency.

The value-added of ETF compared to possible alternative options of implementing ETF activities

Value added has been interpreted as the extent to which the setup of ETF as an Agency (specialised expertise, know-how, stakeholder involvement, networks and flexibility) delivering its services and activities benefited the HRD/TVET reform. Simply, to what extent do the stakeholders perceive an added-value of the ETF? To what extent co-funding with other donors brought added-value to the ETF initiatives.

The intended and unintended impact of the ETF role, activities and presence in Egypt

Impact has been interpreted as the positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by the intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. Assessing the extent to which benefits received by direct beneficiaries had a wider overall effect and, on a wider scale, in the sector, the region or the country. It addresses the relationship between the project purpose and the overall objective. Such analysis also takes into consideration that the project is one of a number of influences contributing to the wider outcome.

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

S1 The aim of the evaluation is to provide ETF with an objective assessment of its activities in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and added value as regards Egyptian system level HRD/TVET reform. The evaluation also pays attention to ETF’s contribution to policy development and the policy learning process.

S2. The evaluation focuses on the period 2000-2007 and the recommendations aim at further improving ETF's current and future contributions in HRD policies in Egypt as well as in North African & Mediterranean countries.

1.2. BACKGROUND OF THE EVALUATION

S3 The draft final report was prepared in accordance with the requirements of Framework Contract CON/06/ETF/0031/32/33, assignment number 5 project number WP07-02 between the Evaluation Partnership and the European Training Foundation. An objective assessment of ETF activities in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, added value, and impact as regards Egyptian system level HRD reform and adoption of education, training and related employment policies was conducted. (The Terms of Reference can be found in Annex 1).

S4 ETF started working in Egypt in 2000 when the ETF carried out a project to identify opportunities within three MEDA countries (Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan) for improving management and entrepreneurial training, Since 2001, ETF has supported the EC through various support actions such as the design and launch of a 33M € MEDA TVET reform programme, the production of a draft Policy Statement for the reform of TVET, an overview on Labour Market Policies in Egypt and the implementation of the ETE regional MED project.

S5 ETF also implemented its own information and analysis, capacity building and networking projects in Egypt such as the setting up and development of a HRD Observatory Function (OF), the ‘Country Analysis 2005’ of Egypt, the ETF initiative on ‘National Qualification Framework’ in Egypt, the ‘Transition from Education to Work’ project, a country report on ‘Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt’, and the 2007 report ‘Migration Patterns & Human Resource Development Issues in Egypt.

1.3. METHODOLOGY

S6. The ET conducted the evaluation in three phases. (1) An inception phase included deskwork and interviews with concerned ETF staff. (2) An implementation phase in which the ET continued deskwork and conducted interviews with the main Egyptian Stakeholders and EC Delegation. (3) An analytical phase in which the ET analysed and synthesised the findings from the deskwork and interviews in the final report.

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S7. The ET collected and analysed documentation and data on ETF activities in Egypt including mission reports, project documents, ETF publications and other relevant documentation. Based upon the analysis, the ET compiled a narrative report of ETF activities in Egypt placed within the general context of HRD/TVET and LM reforms in Egypt during the period 2000-2007 (reproduced as Annex 2).

S8. One visit was made to Turin from 26-27 November 2007 during which ETF staff, who previously dealt or are currently dealing with Egypt, were interviewed. The ET made a short presentation in a workshop to concerned ETF staff on work done and preliminary findings and discussed proposed detailed evaluation questions and checklists to be used when interviewing local stakeholders and EC staff. The list with the main stakeholders within the sector was discussed and agreed with ETF (please see Annex 7).

S9. A series of interviews were conducted from 14-23 January 2008 with most of these stakeholders in Egypt. Before the interviews, questionnaires were sent to the interviewees with the request to return these to the ET; the response rate was 75%. All interviewees have been willing and helpful contributors. It should be noted that the relatively small sample (of respondents to the questionnaire) does not necessarily represent the stakeholders and accordingly the responses to the questionnaire were used as guidelines during the conducted interviews.

S10 The analytical phase of the project consisted of two parts: (1) An overall assessment providing a broader view of the ETF activities in the country and (2) an assessment of individual projects and initiatives in the concerned period. The analysis has given particular attention to the impact of ETF’s role, activities and presence in Egypt.

1.4. SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS

1.4.1 THE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS

S11. The evaluation dealt with thirteen different accumulated interventions or activities. Each individual project was assessed separately according to the five evaluation criteria. The evaluation was carried out on the basis of: project documentation and materials available, evaluation and monitoring reports, information collected during the interviews with ETF, Egyptian stakeholders and EC Delegation and other background material and publications.

S12. Overall, ETF interventions have been consistent with beneficiaries’ requirements, partners’ needs and priorities and the European Commission policies. Over half (54%) of the respondents thought that ETF activities were very much correct at targeting the requirements of the Egyptian government to assist it in its HRD, TVET and LM related reforms. Meanwhile, the rest of respondents (46%) viewed these activities as somewhat appropriate in this respect. Of the stakeholders, 24% indicated that ETF activities corresponded very much to the needs of their organisation, whereas 62% indicated that ETF activities somewhat corresponded to their needs.

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S13. Of the respondents 52% believed that ETF activities somewhat complemented the work already undertaken by bilateral and international donor community such as the World Bank, while 35% viewed these activities as very much complementary. Meanwhile, none of the respondents (0%) indicated that ETF activities duplicated activities undertaken with other donors in his/her institution.

S14. ETF has focussed on activities which were highly relevant to Egypt: VET reform, guidance & counselling, provision of forums for key stakeholders to gather and share information regularly such as the establishment of the observatory function and national qualification framework, as well as focussing on topics such as skills and migration which is a concern for Egypt and surrounding countries. By focussing on relevant topics of the day, the value of ETF in the eyes of the Egyptian authorities has been enhanced and they have increasingly started to rely on its work.

S15. It was noted that 57% of the respondents indicated that the results of ETF activities contributed very much to the availability and accessibility of relevant information for their organization, and 57% found the various reports on Egypt e.g. on HRD, TVET, LM, produced by ETF very much useful. During the interviews some stakeholders described ETF reports as "descriptive" rather than "analytical". Moreover, some indicated that recommendations of the reports should be more tangible, specific and applicable.

S16. Only a few, of the main stakeholders, referred to the good dissemination of ETF reports and studies. The majority of persons interviewed indicated they were not aware of the availability of ETF studies and report on the internet. In addition, it was requested by almost all the respondents that there is an urgent need to translate ETF reports into Arabic especially those related to Egypt and the region. Also a few of them requested that the reports for the Maghreb region (produced in French) should also be translated to English and Arabic to enable exchange of information and experiences.

S17. Several respondents mentioned that they were not properly consulted during the early stages of some projects’ designs; examples quoted were the ETF 2007 report "Patterns of Migration & Human Resources Development Issues in Egypt" and the study on "Transition from Education to Work". However, for the migration report, it was mentioned, during the interviews, that this report was very beneficial, since it is closely connected to the state's strategy of employment reform and increasing job opportunities based on dovetailing the two major sectors; migration and education. Nevertheless, one of the stakeholders mentioned that neither the aim nor the targeted groups of this project were clearly understood by them in the beginning.

S18. Stakeholders involved in the ETF supported projects or activities improved their level of understanding, expertise and willingness to cooperate because of such involvement. Examples mentioned included implementing a National Qualifications Framework, the Observatory Function, and Career Guidance Policies and Practices. It was noted that the establishment and maintenance of inter-institutional dialogue was very important to have the reform measures endorsed by the decision makers.

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1.4.2. THE OVERALL EVALUATION

S19. The overall conclusion is that the work of the ETF in Egypt has been relevant with respect to the Egyptian TVET reform process, national priorities and EU policies. ETF acted as a link between EU policies and national developments in areas of HRD and in particular TVET with specific projects such as Career Guidance and Counselling, National Qualification Framework and streamlining developments and policies through advice, projects and continuous assistance. ETF covered areas that were not addressed and or for which the right expertise was not available elsewhere.

S20. Overall, ETF can be said to have performed highly satisfactorily in Egypt since its presence in the country. It has focussed on cross cutting themes which matched the needs of the Egyptian authorities and its economic development instead of undertaking a whole array of diverse activities in an ad-hoc and piecemeal manner. The provision of assistance coincided with Egypt’s own attempts to overhaul its TVET system as well as the initiation of a number of projects such as the establishment of the Industrial Training Council and the Egyptian Technical Colleges Programme. The support of ETF was thus timely.

S21. ETF intervention’s objectives supported regional cooperation and establishment of partnerships. Successful examples are the conference on "Innovative Practices in Vocational Education and Training Standards in the Mashreq Region", the Observatory Function Network (OFN), the ‘National Qualification Framework’ and “Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt”. Rather than only transmitting knowledge and expertise, ETF is becoming more and more an organiser and facilitator of policy learning, in line with the proposed ETF recast regulation.

S22 Despite its own limited resources, ETF was able to generate relatively high impact from its interventions by collaborating with other donors, using local and regional expertise, using peer review methodologies and linking its activities to strategic organisations such as the IDSC to host the observatory. ETF has been able to achieve very good coordination with the Italian Cooperation and WB as detailed in the case study (paragraph 4.2.3.).

S23. 50% of respondents believed that ETF very much helped in facilitating exchanging information and experience between Egypt and the EU and Egypt and other MEDA countries. However, there still is need for more international experience and best practices exchange. It was also mentioned that models presented should be better selected in order to be more applicable.

S24. ETF managed in most interventions to successfully involve stakeholders in the design, conceptualisation and implementation of the activities. This contributed to sustainable institutional capacity which enhanced ownership and commitment, better results and acceptance of recommendations at the policy level. Nevertheless, there is a need for stronger support to organise and facilitate policy learning processes in the country. A stronger presence in the country and further capacity building activities are needed to develop the local policy development capacity.

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S25. Raising awareness of ETF activities in Egypt was among the common demands mentioned by the majority of interviewees and this was very much correlated to the request of integrating ETF activities. Several stakeholders suggested that the ETF might have a local office in order to facilitate interacting with the Egyptian HRD/VET community and to have a stronger presence in Egypt

S26. The impact of ETF has included the government looking to the observatory as one of the future key sources of information on the labour market and the introduction of guidance and counselling in technical schools. Given its limited resources, ETF’s impact so far has been highly satisfactory. The IDSC (the OF host) has over the years increased its ownership of the observatory as can be observed by its increasing channelling of funds to the latter for the financing of various activities.

S27. The value addition of ETF has included a forum in the form of the observatory function for the first time in Egypt providing all relevant stakeholders with a place to exchange ideas and information, coordinate their activities as well as raise the profile and visibility of TVET in the country particularly within government, Value addition has also included undertaking studies never attempted in Egypt such as on migration and skills and performing stock taking in critical areas such as qualification systems.

Responses from all stakeholders

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1.4.3. RECOMMENDATIONS

The ET has produced recommendations (as elaborated in section 5 in the main section of the report) on three different levels; on the institutional level, on the level of ETF's strategic partnership with Egypt and on the level of activities. All these recommendation aim at enhancing performance on the five key evaluation criteria that had been applied to the assessment of ETF interventions in Egypt; relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, value added and impact.

At the ETF institutional level

At the ETF institutional level recommendations address external as well as internal issues. On external issues, the ET recommends that the ETF should further strengthen its institutional relation with the European Delegation in Cairo, strengthen collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, create more awareness of ETF's position and credibility as an agency of the European Union and promote ETF as a centre of expertise supporting capacity building and policy learning processes. On internal issues the ET recommends that the ETF uses more rigorous project cycle guidelines based upon the logical framework; procedures for the disbursement of funds should be simplified and the organisation’s information and data system be improved.

At the strategic partnership level

Recommendations at the strategic partnership level include establishing a stronger presence in the country; emphasizing Egypt's ownership of the reform process; facilitating the streamlining of activities in the country; enhancing donor cooperation and coordination; remaining at the forefront of developing innovative activities and methodologies; focussing on capacity building activities; supporting national and regional networking and targeting a broader range of stakeholders in its dissemination activities.

At the level of ETF activities

Finally, at the level of ETF activities recommendations include enhancing stakeholders' ownership and commitment to ETF activities through involving them from the design to finalisation of those activities; securing the sustainability of ETF activities through capacity building and institutional development; exposing stakeholders' to carefully considered regional and international experiences; making clear practical recommendations that help policy development and development of concrete action plans.

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2. INTRODUCTION

2.1. OVERVIEW OF ETF ACTIVITIES IN EGYPT

S28. Established in Turin, Italy, in 1994, the European Training Foundation (ETF) assists its partner countries in developing high quality systems for human resources development. The ETF’s role is to share expertise and advice on policies in education and training across regions and cultures. Working on behalf of the European Union, the ETF helps its partner countries to support the policy learning process, the development of people’s skills and knowledge to promote better living conditions, active citizenship and democratic societies that respect human rights and cultural diversity.

S29. ETF worked in Egypt from 2000 when it carried out a project to identify opportunities within three MEDA countries (Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan) for improving management and entrepreneurial training, Since 2001, ETF supported the EC through various support actions such as the design and launch of a 33M € MEDA TVET Reform Programme, the production of a draft Policy Statement for the reform of TVET, an overview on Labour Market Policies in Egypt and the implementation of the ETE regional MEDA project.

S30. ETF also implemented some of its own information and analysis, capacity building and networking projects in Egypt such as the setting up and development of a HRD Observatory Function (OF), the ‘Country Analysis 2005’ of Egypt, the ETF initiative on ‘National Qualification Framework’ in Egypt and the country report on ‘Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt’. In addition ETF undertook Innovation and Learning Activities, such as and the ‘Transition from Education to Work’ project and the 2007 report ‘Pattern of Migration & Human Resource Development Issues in Egypt.

S31. The current evaluation covers the period 2000-2007. Within this timeframe, the ETF activities in Egypt can be divided into two periods. A first period runs from mid 2000 to mid 2003, characterised by support to the European Commission (EC) in diverse ways. A second period starts from end of 2005 up to date still characterised by continued support to the EC but combined with bigger number of ETF’s own Work Programme activities more oriented towards policy advice issues.

S32. In practice, ETF provided support in the following three categories of activities:

a) Support to the European Commission

b) Provision of Information & Analysis and Capacity Building

c) Development Projects/Innovation & Learning

S33. Since 2005-2006, the ETF‘s work has shifted more towards policy advice and capacity building. The recast regulation defines the following functions for ETF:

a) Provide information, policy analysis and advice on human resources development issues and their links with sector policy objectives in the partner countries;

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b) Support relevant stakeholders in partner countries to build capacity in human resources development;

c) Facilitate the exchange of information and experience among donors engaged in human resource development reform in partner countries;

d) Support the delivery of Community assistance to partner countries in the field of human resources development;

e) Disseminate information and encourage networking and exchanges of experience and good practice between the European Union and partner countries and amongst partner countries on human resources development issues;

f) At the Commission's request, contribute to the analysis of the overall effectiveness of training assistance to the partner countries;

2.2. THE GENERAL TVET CONTEXT IN EGYPT1

S34. The complexity of the VET system in Egypt results partly from the fact that several ministries and agencies are involved. Though by far not easy to change, this is an issue of institutional organisation inherited from the past system of a centralised economy.

S35. The absence of private-sector involvement accounts for the system’s lack of labour market relevancy, consequently, proposals for a reform of the system - apart from improving quality of delivery so as to increase internal institutional efficiency - focus on rationalising governance and provision with a view to improving external efficiency, on the one hand, and on strengthening private sector involvement to increase relevancy, on the other.

S36. The establishment of the Supreme Council for Human Resource Development in 2000 indicates that there is increased awareness for better co-ordination, although so far the two key Ministries of Education and Higher Education appear to play a minor role in the work of the Council. The further development of the Council into a national tripartite policy formulation body is still at its initial stage and current discussions include a wide variety of future options, ranging from it becoming a basic ministerial policy co-ordination body to a more powerful National Training Authority.

S37. The main complexity of the system relates to the economic structure of the country. The Egyptian economy is composed of different sub-economies: the large monopolistic state-owned enterprises, competitive export-oriented companies (private and public), SMEs catering for local markets, and a large informal sector of small and micro craft and trade

1 Rather than presenting another detailed description, the ET provides in this section some of the main features of the Egyptian TVET system and reform priorities as documented in ILO, Mikhail, Marianick and Watanabi, the ETES report, ETF-WB report reforming Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Middle East and North Africa - experiences and challenges and Country overview on labour market policies in Egypt & ETF Labour market report

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companies. Each of these sub-economies has developed their own particular way of securing the skills and qualifications that they need. All these sub economies are currently undergoing change in response to liberalisation of markets but each is facing different constraints and different opportunities.

S38. A VET reform strategy has to be designed in such a way that it can contribute to private sector development instead of simply relying on it. It also has to be comprehensive and include all existing VET sub-systems instead of counting on the - unrealistic - benefits of a company-based training sub-sector. That leaves a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders of education policy analysts and policy makers.

S39. Under the present conditions, it is inevitable that the Government should take the lead. No longer can the Government alone develop education and training policy, nor can that be done at the national level only. Private sector development takes place at the local and regional level; it will be at that level that vocational education and training institutions will have to develop a response. National regulatory frameworks are needed, however, to secure consistent quality standards, nationally and internationally, concerning inputs, processes and desired outputs.

S40. The TVET system’s centralised nature; the inherited involvement of many line ministries with their own supply-driven training infrastructures; low involvement of the private sector in governance, funding and delivery means the institutional framework for vocational training is extremely fragmented and atomised. So far there is not yet in place an effective instrument for coordination, although some of the existing instruments appear reinforced in the new Labour Law. The VET system has, despite a quantitative expansion, become victim of a vicious circle of low quality, low efficiency, low esteem and low relevance of VET, both among parents and among enterprises.

S41. One of the key factors behind this development is the inner drive towards higher education explicitly supported by current education policies. There is a clear tension between labour market and education objectives within many VET institutions; non-integration of academic and vocational subjects and poor integration of theoretical and practical learning.

S42. The VET system has been unable to develop a flexible and high quality response to the different qualification needs (in particular levels 2 and 3) of the various economic sub-sectors or sub-systems needed by a growing private sector for effectively coping with the challenges of international competition on foreign and local markets. Problems include the existence of outdated curricula, teaching methods, textbooks and equipment; academic background of teachers and lack of updated practical work experience of teachers and instructors; an overproduction of higher education graduates who lack practical skills and competencies; a high variation of output and qualification standards and serious gaps between formal and real qualifications.

S43. There is general agreement about the need for substantial reform of the education and training system in view of Egypt's drive to secure sustained economic growth by liberalising the economy and integrating it into regional and global markets. The reform of the VET

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system is a Government priority but there is as yet no clear overall strategic education and training reform concept. Different ministries have initiated education sub-sector reform debates and strategies including in basic education, teacher training and higher education.

S44. A comprehensive and coherent national VET reform strategy aiming at fundamentally improving the conditions for the production, employment and further lifelong development of a skilled workforce, balancing effective response to individual learner needs of VET students and emerging needs for skilled labour on the labour market is still to be developed. Several important and successful reform initiatives are implemented at both local and national levels aimed at securing a well-educated and trained workforce at the intermediate level. Elements of a training system reform based on the ETES2 report are being implemented by the Social Fund for Development and focus in particular on the VTCs.

S45. The Egyptian Government focus on system-wide3 reform does not pay sufficient attention to the particularities of the system-deep dimension. It has been suggested that the traditional TVET system could and should be replaced by another one, such as can be found in some developed market economies. While the deficiencies of the VET system have received ample attention, an analysis of the economic and labour market environment for VET has led some to have considerable doubts as to the readiness and ability of the private sector to play a decisive role in abolishing these shortcomings.

S46. Recent major developments have included the formation of the Industrial Training Council or ITC under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The council is mandated with coordinating a wide variety of VET activities being undertaken in the country, which includes amongst others, the EU TVET Reform Programme, the World Bank SDP Project, the PVTDs and training related to the Federation of Egyptian Industries. Other developments include the establishment of the Building and Construction Training Council or the BCTC within the Ministry of Housing and Construction and preliminary discussions to establish a similar council within the Ministry of Tourism. Further, the HR Development Unit within the Ministry of Tourism was recently allocated around LE 70 million for the provision of training to the sector.

2.3. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

S47. The aim of the evaluation is to provide ETF with an objective assessment of its activities in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and added value as regards Egyptian system level HRD/TVET reform. The evaluation addresses the adoption of education, training and related employment policies and ETF’s contribution to policy development and the policy learning process. The evaluation focuses on the period 2000-2007.

S48. The recommendations aim at further improving ETF current and future contributions in HRD policies in Egypt as well as in North African & Mediterranean countries.

2 Education, Training and Employment Sub-committee established by the Prime Minister 3 System-wide reform includes a clear definition of relationships, including transitions and pathways, between the different education and VET sub-sectors within a perspective of providing lifelong learning opportunities for all.

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3. METHODOLOGY

3.1. OVERVIEW

S49. The ET conducted the evaluation in three phases. (1) An inception phase included deskwork and interviews with concerned ETF staff. (2) An implementation phase in which the ET continued deskwork and conducted interviews with the main Egyptian Stakeholders and EC Delegation. (3) An analytical phase in which the ET analysed and synthesised the findings from the deskwork and interviews in the final report.

S50. In line with the TOR, five key evaluation criteria are applied to the assessment of ETF interventions at the country level: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, added value, and impact. The evaluation team used both structured and unstructured tools during the assignment.

S51. The ET collected and analysed documentation and data on ETF activities in Egypt including mission reports, project documents, ETF publications and other relevant documentation. Based upon the analysis, the ET compiled a narrative report of ETF activities in Egypt placed within the general context of HRD/TVET and LM reforms in Egypt during the period 2000-2007. The ET also identified the main stakeholders within the sector.

S52. One visit was made to Turin from 26-27 November 2007 during which ETF staff, who previously dealt or are currently dealing with Egypt, were interviewed. The ET made a short presentation in a workshop to concerned ETF staff on work done and preliminary findings and discussed proposed detailed evaluation questions and checklists to be used when interviewing local stakeholders and EC staff.

S53 In consultation with the ETF Country Manager for Egypt, a list of main Egyptian stakeholders were identified; the final list included ministries' officials on policy level as well as operational levels, federations, institutions and organisations active in the field of HRD, the EC Delegation, and others. A series of interviews were conducted from 14-23 January with these stakeholders in Egypt. Before the interviews, questionnaires were sent to the interviewees with the request to return these to the ET; the response rate was 75%. All interviewees have been willing and helpful contributors.

S54. The analytical phase of the project consisted of two parts: (1) An overall assessment providing a broader view of the ETF activities in the country and (2) an assessment of individual projects and initiatives in the concerned period. The analysis has given particular attention to the impact of ETF’s role, activities and presence in Egypt.

S55. The ET decided to include two case studies of typical projects in the areas of policy advice, information provision and capacity building. The two case studies are the Observatory Functions and Coordination with other Donors (in particular; the WB and Italian Cooperation/Italian Trust Fund).

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3.2. EVALUATION TOOLS

S56. The main evaluation tool included a matrix of ETF activities, which reconstructs the intervention logic applied by ETF in Egypt and demonstrates the link between the strategic objectives formulated in the ETF work programme and the objectives of specific ETF projects along with activities undertaken towards reaching them, indicators of success, assumptions and risks. The matrix shows the main outputs and indicators of success. (See Annex 3 for the matrix of ETF activities in Egypt). In most of the cases the indicators of success and main expected outputs were reconstructed ex-post by the evaluation team.

S57. A structured tool namely a quantitative closed-question questionnaire was then used with a broad sample of ETF partners in Egypt in order to assess the levels of satisfaction, value-addition and usefulness of ETF’s engagement with them. The ET analysed the completed and returned questionnaires to ascertain the degree of depth to which issues and topics had to be further explored. This was followed by a modification of a checklist questionnaire or scheme which was then administered in an unstructured manner in interviews, meetings and focus group discussions.

S58. The purpose behind this was to ascertain the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind key issues which had been identified by the ET from the answers to the structured questionnaire, meetings with ETF in Turin and review of literature. Interviews were undertaken in Cairo.

3.3. EVALUATION ACTIVITIES

3.3.1. DESK WORK

S59. Five key evaluation criteria are applied to the assessment of ETF interventions at the country level: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and added value, which in the context of this evaluation had the following interpretation.

(1) Relevance – the extent ETF activities addressed the priorities of Egypt in the field of HRD, TVET and related LM reforms and been consistent with EC policies.

(2) Effectiveness – the extent to which the intervention’s objectives are achieved, taking into account their relative importance

(3) Efficiency, the extent to which the project finances and human resources produced the intended results,

(4) Impact – the positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by the intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended

(5) Added value – the extent to which the setup of ETF as an agency benefits the reforms in Egypt and did stakeholders perceive an added-value of ETF.in Egypt.

S60. The ET continued deskwork during the implementation phase to complete the information base developed in the first phase and to further feed the analysis.

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3.3.2. INTERVIEWS

S61. During the implementation phase, a series of interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in Egypt and concerned staff of the EC Delegation. The interviews and interview schemes served as important information sources and assisted in determining the reasons behind key issues identified by the ET from the answers to the structured questionnaire.

S62. In total 27 interviews were conducted with staff from the EC Delegation, the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Egyptian Federation for Building and Contractors, Egyptian Technical Colleges Project of the Ministry of Higher Education, Italian Cooperation, World Bank, Social Fund for Development, GTZ-Mubarak-Kohl project, TVET Reform Programme, Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, Technical Education Sector within the Ministry of Education, Egyptian Education Training and Employment Observatory and the Egyptian Federation for Tourism. All interviewees have been willing and helpful contributors.

3.3.3. CASE STUDIES

S63. The ET decided to include two case studies of typical projects in the areas of policy advice, information provision and capacity building. After consultation with the main stakeholders, the following were selected: (1) The Observatory Functions and (2) Coordination with other Donors, in particular WB and Italian Cooperation. The two case studies have been analysed and assessed in depth.

S64. The case study on donor coordination has been undertaken because it provides examples of good practice which could be replicated. Too often donors are accused of having their own agendas leading to pulling a government in different directions and duplicating efforts leading to wastage of resources. The case study demonstrates how cooperation between ETF and the two donors developed, what have been the outcomes of this cooperation and what the lessons are that can be learnt from this experience.

S65. The case study on the Observatory Function (OF) has been undertaken because it provides a good example of transferring ownership of an ETF initiative to Egyptian hands where the needed human and financial resources are made available. The funding for the observatory from the IDSC budget is constantly increasing. Policy planning will benefit from such regular regional exchange of experience and international comparison.

3.3.4. THE ANALYTICAL PHASE

S66. The analysis phase of the assignment consisted of a twofold approach. The ET team evaluated the individual projects and initiatives according to the standard evaluation criteria: relevance, added value, effectiveness and impact. The outcomes of the individual projects and initiatives are then related to the ETF contribution to the HR and TVET reform of Egypt in what is called the ‘overall evaluation’.

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4. THE ASSESSMENT

4.1. THE EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS

4.1. P1. MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING FOR SME GROWTH WITHIN THE MEDA CONTEXT Basic project information

1. Management and Entrepreneurship Training for SME growth within the MEDA context

Objectives

To provide recommendations for training providers, including agencies and institutions providing support to SMEs on key areas for SME management and entrepreneurial training to promote their growth within the MEDA context The study serves as a tool for policy makers and organisations involved in the field of management training and SME development in the MEDA countries.4

Main results The production of country report and country analysis on MET was prepared in consultation with national stakeholders

The production of a cross country analysis was undertaken

Recommendations were made at both country and regional level, for training providers, institutions, policy makers, and donors

Period 2000

ETF Role Team Leader (team of 3 experts), provision of short term experts (one local and one international), Participation in producing the final report.

Relevance

The first activity for ETF took place in 2000, when the ETF carried out a project to identify opportunities within three MEDA countries (Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan) for improving management and entrepreneurial training in order to stimulate the growth of SMEs and thereby help to prepare these countries for the establishment of a free trade area between the EU and MEDA partners. The project provided recommendations for policy makers, training providers and intermediaries. It emphasized the need to formulate a clear strategic vision for supporting and promoting the growth of SMEs in a coordinated way by the various government ministries with a direct stake in the economic development of the country and developing policies and incentive systems which encourage owners and managers of growing SMEs to invest in MET.

Effectiveness 4 Terms of Reference: "Management and Entrepreneurship Training for SME growth within the MEDA context"

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The report was produced and the need to develop occupational standards for owners and managers of SMEs using the methodology of the national skills standards project has been acknowledged. However the effectiveness of the study in Egypt is almost negligible due to the fact that the results and recommendations of the report were never officially disseminated.

Added Value

The report had solid recommendations in the area of MET, new key areas were identified for management training in SME and the importance highlighted of building capacity at the local level through supporting and accelerating the growth of corporate status among suppliers of training, encouraging individual freelance trainers to form stronger, more formal networks; supporting the development of professional norms, standards and bodies in order to strengthen their growth capacity; and promoting management training to become an integral part of a firm’s HRD strategy

Efficiency

Possibilities of forming strategic alliances and networks of training providers across the region were explored as well as linking provision of credit to entrepreneurship training and portraying management training as an investment rather than a cost. The benefits of training and the risks of not training were highlighted and innovations in training methods encouraged. However, the potential to develop the alliances and regional mechanisms underpinning quality assurance and professional standards were not further materialised.

Impact

The impact of the report has been minimal due to the fact that the results and recommendations of the report were never officially disseminated. Thus recommendations both at the country level and across the three countries for training providers, intermediaries, policy makers and donors in the region on how to improve managerial and entrepreneurial training as an instrument to promote SME growth did not lead to policies and incentive systems which encourage owners and managers of growing SMEs to invest in MET.

4.1. P2. CONFERENCE ON INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING STANDARDS IN THE MASHREQ REGION”

Basic project information

2. Conference on Innovative Practices in Vocational Education and Training Standards in the Mashreq Region

Objectives

• To identify and discuss different approaches and methodologies for standards development, based on experiences from EU and Med countries;

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• To develop a common understanding between countries in the region on the minimum requirements for vocational education and training standards and the role played by them in encouraging the transparency of qualifications and comparability of certificates.

• To develop policy advice on the process and methodologies for vocational education and training standards design, definition, development, implementation and evaluation.

Main results Cooperation between countries in the region has been initiated

Exchange of best practice in vocational education and training standards was undertaken

Period Two days

ETF Role Organiser and facilitator

Relevance

This activity follows the Valencia and Marseilles conclusions on the need to improve regional cooperation. Given the significant integration of labour markets and the relatively high mobility of workers between countries in the region the need for transparency of qualifications is highly felt.

The EU objective to establish a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area will probably increase this trend and bring new constraints linked to quality requirements in the production of goods and the qualifications of the labour force.

Effectiveness

The involvement of the countries in the preparation and design of the conference was a key factor to its success. The preparation started with an initial research to analyse the current situation in terms of VET standard development, which led to a selection of themes and finally to the definition of national case studies to be presented. All this was done in co-operation with the Foundation’s Advisory Forum representatives that acted as contact points for each country. Overall, the different stakeholders were willing to cooperate and to exchange information. The project encouraged cooperation between countries in the region and exchange of best practice in vocational education and training standards

Efficiency

The conference was well organised and structured to include discussion formats: plenary sessions, round tables, working groups, and national discussion groups.

Added Value

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The conference organised in Cairo was the first ETF regional activity in the Mashreq on innovative practices in VET standards and was attended by around 80 participants from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, PNA and Syria, representatives from international organisations and bilateral donors (including EU Member States), with active support and participation from the EC Delegation in Egypt. This conference demonstrated the value added by an external body such as the ETF in encouraging co-operation and exchange of experiences among the countries in the region.

Impact

Although it may be assumed that stakeholders benefited from the exchange of information, no evidence was found that the conference had a sustaining impact on the level of cooperation between countries in the region and in the further exchange of best practice in vocational education and training standards

4.1. P3. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION, FORMULATION AND CONTENT MONITORING


1.3. MEDA TVET Reform programme Egypt

Objectives

Identification and formulation of a programme that would improve labour market oriented TVET in Egypt in one segment or component, for the benefit of enterprises, public and private organisations, and students/trainees.

The overall objectives are to improve the competitiveness of Egyptian enterprises, strengthening regional economic development.

Main results Project Identification Report was discussed with and approved by AIDCO

Programme formulation was undertaken: project feasibility, project appraisal and financial proposal. National Stakeholders acceptance of the formulated programme, approval of the Med Committee of the formulated programme

The Egyptian government has decided support the formulated programme and decided to match the EU funding

Technical and Administrative Provisions (TAPs) for the Draft Financing Agreement were produced

The establishment of the ETP for the ready made garments done by the end of 2006

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The establishment of 4 ETPs for furniture, building materials, food processing and engineering industries to be done by the end of 2007

Seven more ETPs in the tendering process and to be established in 2008

Period 2002-2003

ETF Role Provision of short term technical assistance (local and international experts)

Participation in missions and project identification and formulation.

Relevance

From 2001 to 2002 ETF designed a 33M € MEDA TVET reform programme for Egypt at the request of the EC. This project was designed in parallel with the Skills Development programme (SDP) of the World Bank.

TVET reform is a priority for the government of Egypt and thus the project was timely in its initiation. The country suffers from high mismatch between supply and demand of skills; the type of skills taught in vocational institutions and what the labour market requires. The extent to which the project design was perceived as relevant to the Egyptian government is reflected in the government's decision to make a matching contribution of 33 Million Euros for the implementation of the project.

Effectiveness

During 2001 and 2002 ETF carried out the identification, feasibility and project appraisal phases for the programme “Support to the Reform of the Technical Vocational Education and Training system (TVET) in Egypt”, which ended with the approval of the Med Committee in June 2002. ETF also prepared, in close collaboration with EC services, the Technical and Administrative Provisions (TAPs) for the Draft Financing Agreement that was eventually signed by the EC and the GoE.

The Project Identification Report was discussed with and approved by AIDCO. Moreover, the programme formulation: project feasibility, project appraisal and financial proposal was agreed and approved by the national stakeholders and Med Committee.

Efficiency

The Egyptian government financially supports the formulated programme. ETF drafted the Technical and Administrative Provisions (TAPs) for the Draft Financing Agreement, which was eventually signed by the EC and the GoE.

ETF’s expertise in designing the TVET programme was very much appreciated by the EU as is evidenced in the fact that the Delegation then asked ETF to undertake regular content monitoring of TVET in Egypt. ETF accepted this assignment and allocated resources for it to be

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carried out in principle during 2006 and then, in agreement with the Programme and the EC services, it was postponed to early 2007. The first monitoring was undertaken in 2007 and the second is foreseen to be conducted mid of 2008

Added Value

The project was designed to provide relevant lessons for the reform of the Egyptian TVET system. The programme is built on local (or decentralised) partnerships between enterprises and TVET institutions (ETPs), aiming at developing and/or strengthening a demand-driven approach for the formulation and provision of training services to the productive sector.

These partnerships are supposed to link the public and private sector so that reforms which address the needs of the labour market can be undertaken in a coordinated manner.

Impact

The TVET reform programme was officially launched in December 2005. In February 2006, and following discussion with ETF regarding its support to EC services, the EC Delegation in Cairo sent a request to the ETF to carry out a regular assessment on the progress of the TVET in Egypt and the direct impact of the contribution of the project thereto.

The project unfortunately has charted off course over the years. Where it was expected to introduce new strategies and policies for the Egyptian government to consider, it has, till now, focused on the provision of short term courses which did not extend beyond basic levels in sewing aiming at meeting the immediate needs of enterprises for hiring new workers having basic sewing skills. ETF was not involved in the implementation of the programme.

4.1. P4. DRAFTING OF THE POLICY STATEMENT ON THE REFORM OF TVET


Drafting of the policy statement on the reform of TVET

Objectives

The production of a draft Policy Statement for the reform of TVET in Egypt, which would serve as a policy umbrella for reform processes to be implemented by the EU funded TVET Reform programme and the Skills Development Programme of the World Bank.

Main results The production of a draft Policy Statement for the reform of TVET in Egypt was undertaken

Endorsement by the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development of the policy statement was made

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National stakeholders acceptance of the formulated policy statement occurred

Period 2002

Relevance

In parallel with identifying and designing the TVET Reform programme, the ETF was asked by the EC to work jointly with the World Bank to support the GoE in the production of a draft Policy Statement for the reform of TVET in Egypt, which would serve as a policy umbrella for reform processes to be implemented by the EU funded TVET Reform programme and the Skills Development Programme of the World Bank.

The absence of an overall integrated strategy for Human Resources Development in Egypt has always been a critical obstacle in the success of reform initiatives. Therefore the need to develop an umbrella policy for both the EU TVET programme and the World Bank SDP became obvious during the formulation process of both projects.

Effectiveness

This policy statement was approved by the GoE in March 2002 and endorsed by the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development in June 2002. Although a need for an action plan for its implementation was identified, no further action on strategic development was undertaken.

The policy statement provided the basis for launching a comprehensive strategy for reform of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and employment systems in Egypt that adheres to the new economic challenges, and hence sets a basis for a dialogue between the Government of Egypt and the donor community for cooperation in its implementation.

Efficiency

A one day high-level session, organised by the EC Delegation (through the ETF) and the World Bank in September 2006 was attended by 5 ministers (International Cooperation, Economic Development, Trade and Industry, Social Solidarity, and Education) as well as high level representatives from other Ministries, Social Fund for Development, Federation of Industries and representatives of a number of donor agencies active in the TVET field in Egypt to discuss TVET reforms in Egypt. One of the main outcomes was stakeholders' consensus, that the Policy Statement provides a valid strategy and is a good foundation for advancing reforms in the Egyptian TVET sector.

Added Value

The produced policy statement identified four main pillars as the main components of the reform. Each of these pillars encompasses a subset of key issues and measures to be

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developed as regards establishing a quality Qualification System fostering the principle of lifelong learning, establishing a TVET system responding to labour market needs; establishing new legal, institutional and governance, frameworks for TVET institutions and establishing labour market policies that enhance the mobility of labour

Impact

The lack of an action plan for the implementation of the policy statement, as highlighted in the session conducted in September 2006, has hindered the impact of this policy statement. It did however act as the umbrella under which the TVET project could operate. It facilitated the acceptance of the TVET Reform programme (and the SDP) by the Egyptian Parliament

4.1. P5. COUNTRY OVERVIEW ON LABOUR MARKET POLICIES IN EGYPT


1.Country Overview on Labour Market Policies in Egypt

Objectives

The preparation of a country overview on Active Labour Market policies and institutional settings in Egypt, with particular emphasis on Technical Vocational Education and Training as main tool to pave the way for entering/re-entering the labour market.

Main results • Updated overview and analysis on the main characteristics of the labour market, as well as on existing active labour market policies and programmes were undertaken

• Updated overview and analysis of the situation of TVET in Egypt (including main challenges) as key active labour market instrument occurred

• Improved presentation of the links and synergies between TVET and other ALMP and labour market settings were brought together in the same report

Period 2002-2003

ETF Role Provision of short term technical assistance including international and local experts

Direct involvement of the country manager and other ETF staff in the field visit and the production of the report

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Relevance

The 2003 report ‘Country Overview on Labour Market Policies in Egypt’ was prepared following a request by the European Commission (Europe Aid B4) to provide an overview of the Labour Market system, trends and policies in Egypt, which could be used as a basis for future programming decisions.

Effectiveness

The report described the main trends in the Egyptian labour market and undertook an analytical description of the institutional and legal framework for labour in the country, including its most recent legislative changes. It looked at the main human resources development and labour market policies and strategies in the country, including employment strategies and the vocational education and training system.

Efficiency

Some co-ordination among donors to avoid duplication and bring synergy did take place, although this should be further strengthened by including donors such as GTZ. Although not resulting from the labour market report, it may be argued that the Observatory Function is an effective response to the need to improve the capacity to produce quality data and labour market information using capacities and tools already existing within the Egyptian institutions (See case study Annex 4)

Added Value

The report provided a set of solid recommendations on establishing a reliable information system for existing Active Labour Market programmes capturing amongst other issues, efficiency of the targeting of the programmes, information on costs and on impact and the setting up of mechanisms to increase sustainability in Active Labour Market programmes in order to avoid donor dependency and strengthening of the capacity of the private sector to play an active role in Active Labour Market Policies in e.g. skills needs identification and formulation, training design, delivery and financing

Impact

The Country Overview on Labour Market Policies in Egypt was supposed to feed into EU programming but has not appeared to have done so. Therefore the impact of the project was low. Awareness creation of existing weak implementation capacities in certain areas of the public sector did take place, but the labour law still is in a need for new systemic reform elements.

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4.1. P6. HRD OBSERVATORY FUNCTION (OF) Basic project information

HRD Observatory Function Network (OFN)

Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to build an efficient human resources information system that is adequate to provide decision makers in the public and private sectors with reliable information on the supply and demand sides of human resources.

Main results 2001 - A first stocktaking report was produced on "Structures and mechanisms for information and needs forecast on training, qualification and employment: Observatory Function in Egypt".

2005 - Main authorities and stakeholders were identified who are involved in producing and using information on training, qualification and employment. A kick off seminar organised for launching the observatory function involving national authorities and main stakeholders. The task force identified which would be responsible for setting priorities as regards information needs.

2006 - List of Observatory function partners were made available including key stakeholders from VET and labour market and who are contributing to information network activities. Staff were trained on information collection, development and application for policy making. Joint initiatives between countries were carried out (i.e. study visits, written exchange of information). Work-plans and strategies were made available and agreed among stakeholders followed by joint implementation

Period 2001-2007

ETF Role Provision of short term technical assistance including international and local experts, study visits

Relevance

The Observatory Function is an effective response to the need to improve the capacity to produce quality data and labour market information using capacities and tools already existing within the Egyptian institutions. The national authorities recognise the observatory function's potential to become the main source of information within human resources development, TVET and labour market needs as well as analysis, recommendations and policy advice for economic reforms with a view to the free-trade zone 2010. Policy planning will benefit from regular regional exchange of experience and international comparison in particular through cooperation with MEDA-ETE/Component 2/Euro Med Observatory and MEDSOC (Eurostat-production of social statistics). Transparent and comparative information shall be available for cooperation in

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free-trade zone area 2010. In 2009-2010 focus will be on policy advice for overall socio-economic reforms, namely the free trade zone 2010.

Effectiveness

The networking of the Egyptian observatory with other observatories in the region was found to be useful by observatory members and especially the experts from Jordan were cited as enabling in the strengthening of the observatory function in Egypt. A regional seminar, funded by ETF, was held in Cairo to share experiences and 110 participants from Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt attended. Observatory members also undertook a study visit to France in September 2006 where they gained knowledge on career guidance and methods of data collection amongst other topics. A website of the observatory function has been developed by the IT department of the IDSC.

Efficiency

The Information and Decision Support Centre was chosen as the home of the observatory. This has been highly applauded by its members. It is well-resourced, has the requisite facilities, is professionally sound and is directly under the Prime Minister’s Office is a key government institution. It also has the relevant experts for data collection. The government is currently looking at the observatory as the key source of employment data.

Financially, the Egyptian Observatory is becoming more and more dependent upon the IDSC budget, with some contribution from the ETF and the Italian Trust Fund. IDSC states that it feels there are a lot of bureaucratic actions related to the funding procedures of the observatory and that more flexibility and freedom should be given to IDSC in relation to how to spend resources ETF resources provided to it. This freedom should also extend to the choosing of experts, the identification of training programs etc. It further states that ETF relies on 3rd parties for the implementation of its work plan and the contracting of these external consultants leads to complexity and unevenness of the work done with IDSC

Added Value

Although the preparatory work for this project was conducted in 2001, when ETF produced a first stocktaking report on "Structures and Mechanisms for Information and needs forecast on training, qualification and employment: Observatory Function in Egypt", the actual launch, by ETF, of the Egyptian Observatory Function in Egypt was in December 2005. In the following two years, with the support of the hub organization (IDSC) and the well selected steering committee (from the main stakeholders within the TVET and LM), the project has moved from the "drawing board" to a pilot phase focusing on the greater Cairo region and the textile industry in the region of Gharbiya Governorate.

The extent to which the objectives of this project are found to be consistent with the beneficiaries’ requirements, needs and priorities is reflected in the transfer of the project ownership to the hands of the Egyptians, where the funding for the observatory from the IDSC budget is constantly increasing. The observatory function is almost universally appreciated by all stakeholders who attend its monthly meetings. They state that it enables regional sharing as experts are drawn in by ETF from other countries.

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The funding for the observatory from IDSC is constantly increasing enabling more activities to be undertaken through national resources. Especially since 2007, IDSC has started steering the process. The observatory function has been described as having a systematic approach and a very active steering committee with a clear action plan.

Impact

ETF has provided, through the support extended to the observatory function, the government with the skills in how to collect data on TVET and the labour market, and how to present & analyse information. Under the observatory, statistics between available jobs and the unemployed are collected. These labour market indicators are updated quarterly.

At the moment, the Observatory is the only forum in the country where different key stakeholders from industry, the government and technical centres can meet and exchange ideas.

4.1. P7. THE ‘COUNTRY ANALYSIS 2005’ OF EGYPT


1.The ‘Country Analysis 2005’ of Egypt

Objectives Production of a report on recent developments in Egypt in the field of Human Resource Development, qualification and training with special emphasis on Vocational Education and Training.

Main results A country report was produced including quantitative information & statistical data on new relevant developments with regard to policy, financing and the social situation related to HRD, VET, qualification and training.

Period 2005

ETF Role Provision of short term local technical assistance; participation of the ETF Country Manager in the field visits.

Relevance

Ever since the Identification Report for the TVET Reform Programme, there has not been a study prepared which provides the Foundation with sufficiently updated information on recent developments in Human Resource Development (HRD), Vocational Education and Training as well as information on relevant qualification, training and employment issues.

This report was prepared in the first quarter of 2005 and focused on stocktaking of the new developments with regard to policy, financing and the social situation related to HRD, VET, qualification and training; the relevant changes within the legislative, regulatory, administrative

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and financing framework; systems architecture and institutional set-up; and an update on donor activities in the relevant field.

Effectiveness

Stakeholders advised that the report does not reflect the situation of the Egyptian HRD, VET, qualifications and training and should not be used to feed into EU programming for the following reason: most of the data used goes back to the 1990s, 2001 and 2002. A stronger involvement of the main stakeholders in developing the Terms of Reference as well as a reference group to support the study would have provided better quality and acceptance of the report.

Efficiency

A stronger involvement of the main stakeholders in developing the Terms of Reference as well as a reference group to support the study would have provided better quality and acceptance of the report

Added Value

The report failed to elaborate on important initiatives such as the National Skills Standards Project and to do a comprehensive stock taking of all the initiatives in the sector.

Impact

ETF prepared the country analysis 2005 in order to be sufficiently prepared for the launching of an observatory function in Egypt by the end of 2005, the delivery of a country report for DG Relex and other initiatives undertaken under its 2005 work programme. The report was supposed to feed into EU programming but has not appeared to have done so. Therefore the project cannot be attributed any impact.

4.1. P8. THE ‘TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION TO WORK’ PROJECT


1.The ‘Transition from Education to Work’ project

Objectives To analyse the transition from education to work in some ETF partner countries in order to better understand the links between education, training and labour market integration of young people. In particular, to analyse the process of how young people develop their skills and how they integrate into the labour market.

The activity was developed by the ETF on the basis of the results of the MEDA-ETE activity on Transition from School to Work and as part of ETF's Innovation and Learning Activities.

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Main results A conceptual and analytical framework on the topic of transition from education to work was prepared

A methodology for a school leaver survey to be implemented in ETF partner countries was developed

Country report on the transition from education to work in Egypt was developed

National workshops were organised to discuss country reports and results from school leaver surveys

Integration of inputs of the national workshop held in 2006

Final conference to disseminate project results among main international and local stakeholders.

Period 2006

ETF Role Provision of short term local and international experts

Organisation of national workshops

Relevance

In 2006, following the MEDA-ETE project on transition from education to work in Europe which was undertaken in 2005, the ETF, commenced a new project on “Transition from Education to Work" involving three countries from different regions (Serbia, Ukraine, and Egypt). The project aimed to analyse the process of how young people develop their skills and how they integrate into the labour market. The length and nature of the transition from education to work, as well as the types of jobs and contracts obtained at the end of the process vary significantly between different countries. Thus the same policy intervention is unlikely to be equally effective in different national systems.

This project is a further elaboration of the CATEWE framework, applying it in the three ETF partner countries: Egypt, Serbia, and Ukraine. The project is one of the family of ETF’s “Innovation and Learning Projects”, launched in 2006 to promote the development of new approaches in education and training in the ETF partner countries. National steering committees for this project were appointed in the three countries by the Ministries of Labour and Ministries of Education or their equivalents. These committees support the project implementation, acting as an entry point for information for local experts, commenting on draft country reports and supporting the organisation of national workshops.

Effectiveness

The report described challenges but did not really give any recommendations. Further, it was not translated into Arabic language so its value could not be optimized. The presentation at the experts’ meeting was also described as not useful as it was merely a re-presentation of the

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report. Effectiveness was also reduced because the Egyptian government was not involved in the design of the terms of reference/report.

Efficiency

The report was initiated in June 2006 and was completed in December 2006. It was based on the results of the MEDA-ETE activity on Transition from School to Work. However, the ministry believes that there are a number of other projects which could have been assessed and also included in the report. The design of the report was done without consultation with the relevant Egyptian ministry i.e. that of Manpower & Migration nor was the TOR shared with it.

In November 2006, the report was shared with a limited group of around 25 to 30 participants, mainly from different units within the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration. There was very limited representation of the education system and the commercial and industrial sectors.

Added Value

Egypt does not at the moment follow people after they graduate, are drop-outs or made redundant and thus this report was required to provide an overview of the situation. Further, people are not trained in the skills they need to do their jobs properly.

Impact

The report was perceived as being descriptive and not analytical. It was urged that there should be a second phase to undertake better analysis. Impact was reduced because the Egyptian government was not involved in the design of the terms of reference/report.

4.1. P9. FINANCING OF VET SYSTEMS PROJECT Basic project information

1.Financing of VET Systems Project

Objectives

To support the modernisation of funding of VET systems in selected MEDA countries as an underpinning factor to increase the quality of VET provision.

Main results Existing financing policies and mechanisms in four MEDA countries were reviewed.

Increased awareness raised amongst policy makers and social partners, especially those who were directly involved in the project, on alternative VET financing models

Period 2005-2006

ETF Role Two peer review visits to partner countries and two study visits to EU

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Member States

Draft of overall comparative report related to TVET financing in the region

A regional conference on financing of TVET

Relevance

In the MEDA region, demand for VET is increasing and training is becoming ever more expensive. National education and training budgets have reached unsustainable levels. Without a reform of current financing mechanisms, VET systems in the region are unlikely to become more relevant to the needs of individuals and the business sector.

Additional resources required to meet the demands of a modern VET system for the knowledge economy will have to come from diversified sources of financing. In terms of sources of funding, the bulk of financing for training comes from direct budget allocations from the treasury to the training authorities. In addition, several countries in the region collect training levies from enterprises. In some countries training levies are earmarked to finance the public provision of training, while in other countries training levies go to the treasury.

Effectiveness

The project is a multi annual project that started in 2005 with a stocktaking phase. It continued in 2006 via a series of policy learning events that included exposure to different financing models in the region and in the EU. 2006 also promoted regional dialogue and discussion between peers in the region on the issue.

Efficiency

The stocktaking and regional conference on financing of TVET provided an opportunity to exchange opinion on suitable models for financing systems, to extrapolate lessons learnt and formulate recommendations on most relevant issues for VET financing reform.

Added Value

The project offered opportunities to policy makers to understand better the main characteristics of current financing mechanisms in the region and be exposed to alternative models so as to identify relevant and viable strategies for the reform of financing systems. It led to increased understanding of problems faced by MEDA countries in the reform of financing mechanisms

Impact

None of the interviewees made reference to the comparative report on financing TVET and conference. Despite prompting, interviewees were not able to recall the report therefore we conclude that impact must have been limited.

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4.1. P10. INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN TEACHER AND TRAINER TRAINING IN THE MASHREQ REGION


1 Innovative Practices in Teacher Training in the Mashreq Region

Objectives

Production of a synthesis of six national reports from 6 countries that focuses on Innovative Practices in Teacher and Trainer Training in the Mashreq Region.

Main results Production and finalisation of six national reports from 6 countries occurred.

Production and finalisation of the synthesis report "Innovative Practices in Teacher and Trainer Training in the Mashreq Region" occurred.

Period 2003

ETF Role Provision of short term technical assistance

Relevance

Today’s fast changing world and its economies demand greater responsiveness from training institutions and trainers, who need to become more customer-focused. This requires that these training institutions and trainers are up to date and continuously refreshing their skills base, including new methods of training. This necessitates a considerable challenge in many of the Mashreq countries as their systems have largely been in place from a time when things were more stable and a managed economy was in place.

The report builds on the many development initiatives already underway in each of the participating countries, which will constitute the foundation of an effective teacher and trainer training system.

Effectiveness

Apparently the report has not been widely disseminated, and thus the stakeholders' awareness of this report is very low, which has certainly limited the effectiveness of the study.

Efficiency

In 2003, Egypt was one of six countries benefiting from an initiative supported by ETF for the production of national reports and a synthesis of these reports on Innovative Practices in Teacher and Trainer Training in the Mashreq Region.

This report looked at pre and in-service training, at curricula, pedagogical methods, and evaluation. It also looks at the present funding arrangements and the contribution of

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international donors. The quality and relevance of the current training of teachers and trainers is considered and, finally, the report examined the potential strategic orientations and development of the systems of teacher and trainer training in each of the countries.

Added Value

The synthesis report describes the current VET strategies and the position of the training of teachers and trainers within these strategies. The types of trainers within the system, and their conditions of employment, including qualifications, status and training tracks to become a trainer, are also considered. Training institutions are presented, including their missions, organisation, training environment, staff, etc. The report included all types of vocational training in each of the countries, including public or private, technical or otherwise. However, it is focused on the main training providers.

Impact

The national reports and the synthesis report aimed at helping the six countries by encouraging and reinforcing reform, identify the priorities for change and take the necessary decisions. As mentioned above, the report has not been widely disseminated; none of the interviewees made any reference to the report and, despite prompting, were not able to recall the report. It is therefore concluded that impact must have been limited.

4.1. P11. PATTERNS OF MIGRATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ISSUES


Patterns of Migration and Human Resources Development Issues

Objectives

To investigate the links between migration, and education and training systems in four countries (Albania, Egypt, Moldova and Tunisia) followed by Morocco and Ukraine in 2007. In particular, the project will provide input to:

Knowledge building and information for the development of EU migration policies

Future programming of the EC

Policy instruments/measures: i) on circular and return migration; ii) on recognition of qualifications and the use of transparency tools for the skills, of migrants, acquired at home and abroad; iii) on mitigating the adverse effect of brain drain

The study was initiated as part of ETF's Innovation and Learning

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Activities.

Main results Awareness raising among the national stakeholders occurred

Data analysis and 4 country migration profiles was produced

Final report on Patterns of migration and Human Resources Development Issues was completed

Validation events (1 per country) took place with relevant national stakeholders

Recommendations for follow up activities were agreed during the validation event

Period 2006-2007

ETF Role Provision of short term experts (local and international); Participation in producing the final report; Validation Events; Dissemination event in Brussels; ETF final dissemination event; Publication

In 2007, ETF supported the production and validation of a report on ‘Patterns of Migration and Human Resources Development Issues in Egypt", as part of a pilot study which commenced in 2006 on the links between migration, the education and training system, and the labour market. Egypt was one of five ETF partner countries where this study was undertaken.

During the validation event which took place in September, the discussions among the different stakeholders resulted in sixteen recommendations.

Relevance

The study was of relevance not only to Egypt as an exporter of migrants but to other countries in the Middle East and Western Europe which are importers of Egyptian migrants. Unskilled and illegal migration causes a number of problems both for the governments faced with it and the migrants themselves.

However the involvement of the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower and Emigration, in the early stages of the project could have enhanced its perception of the project's relevance and matched it to the Egyptian government’s priorities.

Effectiveness

The government was not involved in the design of the project nor was the TOR of the study shared with it. The government was however involved in the final review of the country report, the validation event, and the formulation of the final recommendations.

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This non-involvement at the first stages of the project also led to poor communication and other problems including the researchers not being able, initially, to obtain authorization for the use official data.

The Egyptian government, realising the need to decrease the skills gap for potential migrants, has requested that further support is provided in conducting skill needs analysis in selected economic sectors which are important for migration to the EU. This is now being undertaken through a collaborative effort between the ETF, World Bank, the Italian Cooperation and the government.

Efficiency

During the last phases of the project and as a result of the consultation with other donor organisations active in the field of migration, a preliminary agreement was reached between the ETF, the World Bank and the Italian Cooperation office in Egypt to cooperate in the implementation of the project outcomes.

Added Value

No such study on migration had been done before so it gave new insights into this issue.

The report brought new information to light including where migrants went and in what sectors they became employed. The Arabic version of the report was completed early 2008 and should be widely disseminated.

Impact

The government now intends to open migration offices in governorates. This will be started in 4 governorates as a pilot.

A steering committee of the World Bank, Italian Cooperation, the ETF and the Ministry of Manpower and Migration has been formed. This will look at skill needs analysis in selected economic sectors, important for migration to the EU as well as the training needs of potential and returning migrants in 4 sectors: agriculture, construction, catering & tourism, and mechanical.

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4.1. P12 NATIONAL QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK IN EGYPT


1National Qualification Framework in Egypt

Objectives

The objective of the project (2007-2010) is to support the participating countries to develop fully, or partly, a qualification framework. In 2010 it is expected that all 4 countries will be implementing one form or another of a qualification framework in compliance with a validated policy paper.

Main results The establishment of the Egyptian working group happened. It consists of 14 members (representatives from the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development, ministries, the federations of tourism and construction, labour unions, NGOs, the Industrial Training Council, the EU TVET project, the Mubarak-Kohl Initiative and the Arab Contracting Company).

At the end of 2007, a concept paper on NQF was completed with the assistance of ETF which secured funding for it from the Italian Trust Fund (Italian Cooperation).

Period 2007-2010

ETF Role Provision of both local and international short term technical assistance, steering of the working group, facilitation of the dissemination seminar, study visits, peer review visits to MEDA countries, participation in missions.

Relevance

As part of the implementation of MEDA ETE subcomponent 2.3 activities on National Qualification and Recognition Frameworks, the NQF project started in 2005. The project aimed at creating a technical platform involving all key stakeholders in order to develop recommendations at the policy level for building a qualification system at country level on the basis of current initiatives. In 2007, a working group for the development of a concept for National Qualification Framework has been set up supported by ETF under the patronage of the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development SCHRD. ETF support the development and implementation of a qualification framework in Egypt in compliance with a validated policy paper as a tool for relating learning and employability in Egypt.

Effectiveness

A preparatory mission was conducted by ETF, in February 2007, to identify and agree on 2007 activities. It has also promoted for a technical platform involving all key stakeholders that would

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come up with policy recommendations on how such a qualification system could be further developed in the country, on the basis of current initiatives.

Egyptian participants from the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Education and the TVET Reform Programme of the Ministry of Industry and Trade were given the opportunity to exchange experiences with other MEDA countries, as well as being exposed to current EU NQF systems, through two study visits (Ireland and Hungary). All key stakeholders were invited to the conference held to share the concept paper on NQF. It enabled the exchanging of ideas.

Efficiency

Currently peer reviews have been completed for Jordan and will be undertaken in 2008 for Egypt and Morocco.

It was stated that the engagement was long overdue and that tremendous exposure has been achieved from it.

Added Value

ETF has provided the government of Egypt with a senior expert on NQF who is also assisting in the revival of the Supreme Council for Human Resource Development. Along with the Working Group established on NQF, he reviewed the existing qualification system, undertook analysis and offered advice. Subsequent to this, peer reviews have begun for the 4 countries for information-sharing. This is being deemed a useful exercise.

The stock-taking mentioned above was finished in 2006. It had never before been undertaken in Egypt.

Impact

The project on NQF is still ongoing so it is too early to talk about impact. In 2008, it is planned to build on what has been achieved under the National Skills Standard Project which is a 5-year project of the SDF.

Work will also be done on establishment of an accreditation body under the Prime Minister’ Office and to start identification of descriptors for learning outcomes.

4.1. P13. CAREER GUIDANCE POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN EGYPT’


1.Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt’

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Objectives The wider objective of this assignment is

• To support Egypt in the design of relevant technical and vocational education and training policies that can contribute to promote employment and counteract unemployment

The specific objective of this assignment is:

• To support the MoE and MoMP in Egypt, to further develop policies and practices for career guidance in a joint effort and approach through establishing a National Task Force

More specifically, local technical assistance to be provided to the Task Force in developing a Concept Paper on career guidance (with focus on VET) followed by a draft outline proposal for a donor funded project

Main results Production of a concept note on a modern career guidance system and services in Egypt occurred

Consultation on the draft concept paper at both national and regional (governorates) levels was conducted and the production of a draft outline Project Proposal on funding of key priorities was undertaken.

Period 2007

ETF Role Support to the task force through the provision of short term technical assistance; facilitation of dissemination event.

Relevance

As part of the implementation of MEDA ETE subcomponent 2.2 activities, a country report on ‘Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt’ was developed as part of a comparative analysis on career guidance in 10 partner countries. The country report describes the current efforts to develop some of the components of what would be a career guidance system in Egypt, identifies the key challenges and provides recommendations that address key stakeholders (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Manpower and Emigration, Training Providers, employers, workers' organisations, NGOs, media, donors, international technical cooperation, etc.) to assist in developing the anticipated system and improve current services.

With more than 2.2 million students enrolled and around 600,000 graduates annually, technical education (agricultural, commercial – including hotel and catering, industrial and other specific fields), represents the highest enrolment share in secondary education. At present, the only criteria for admission to technical education schools as well as the selection of branch and specialty of study, is the total percentage of grades in the basic education certificate. Policy makers in Egypt are aware that this issue deserves more attention and appropriate mechanisms need to be created that take into account the students' interest and aptitude. However, developing such mechanisms goes currently beyond the capacity of staff of the MoE.

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Effectiveness

At the request of the MoE, the results of the ETF career guidance review in Egypt were disseminated at the 2nd National TVET conference in Egypt in February 2007. This event was attended by the Minister and video-conferenced with more than 8000 staff concerned in all governorates of Egypt. One of the 15 main recommendations of the conference was devoted to career guidance, and it called ministries responsible for education, training and employment to cooperate in developing a National Scheme for Career Guidance.

In order to realize higher levels of effectiveness, the project needs to reach out beyond the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration, to other stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Housing and Construction, and others.

Efficiency

There is a need to link the outcomes of the career guidance activity with other ETF activities in Egypt (in particular the OF & NQF development) and other current developments (e.g. SCHRD, support to TVET Strategy & EU MEDA VET programme).

Added Value

The study visit in September 2006 and the international conference in April 2007 were deemed to be very useful and the participants returned with number of ideas on how to implement career guidance and counselling in Egypt. Links are still maintained with the career guidance experts in Scotland. Following the dissemination event for the Egypt country report, in a high-level ETF event attended by 30 policy makers from the MoE and MoMP in Cairo in January 2007, the undersecretaries and general directors present at this event agreed to launch a joint initiative of the MoE and MoMP aiming to further develop the career guidance policy and system in Egypt and accordingly, a National Task Force on Career Guidance was established in February 2007. ETF was officially asked to provide support to this process by both the Minister of Education and the Minister of Manpower in spring 2007.

Impact

Career guidance was an activity being undertaken within the ETE context. It has since become a mainstream ETF activity in Egypt, which the Ministry of Education is planning to pilot in 2008 in a number of the schools.

Through the ETF review of career guidance in Egypt, awareness was raised amongst high level policy makers, an opportunity was made available for many stakeholders to focus in-depth on this topic and to bring together the main concerned institutions. The Ministry of Education, directly as a result of ETF’s efforts, will include career guidance from the first grade in its 3-year technical schools. Currently the Ministry is preparing the curricula for it. This is one of the most notable achievements of ETF in the country. However, the ministry states it needs technical assistance & material on career guidance.

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The Ministry of Manpower decided to target those enrolling in employment offices, vocational training centres under it and those seeking employment abroad. A note has been drafted for the Minister’s approval. Further as a result of the national report on career guidance, a task force was created consisting of 50 volunteers from the ministries of education and manpower. The task force assisted the national expert to develop the concept paper on career guidance.

4.2. CASE STUDIES

4.2.1. THE OBSERVATORY FUNCTIONS Donor initiatives, even those with very limited budgets, could achieve high levels of impact and local ownership, once the relevance of the project to the country needs is fulfilled; partner organisation(s) carefully selected; active participation from main stakeholders is encouraged; capacity building activities at all levels are extended.

The case study on the Egyptian Observatory, an ETF initiative, demonstrates how such initiatives could progress and become part of the countries national priorities within a short period of time.

See Annex 4

4.2.3. COORDINATION WITH OTHER DONORS Donor coordination within countries often remains one of the great unsolved issues which is difficult to address. Part of the reason is donors have their different agendas and do not necessarily see eye-to-eye on many issues. Another reason is donors want their money to make their brand visible and pooling resources together dilutes that objective. Even amongst the donor countries of the EU, for example, often poor mechanisms exist for cooperation between member state and member state and between member state and the EU.

ETF has been quite successful in initiating and strengthening cooperation in Egypt with two donors; the World Bank and the Italian Cooperation/Italian Trust Fund. This case study will explore the evolution of those partnerships and the lessons that can be learnt for future similar endeavours.

See Annex 4

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4.3. OVERALL EVALUATION

Basic information

ETF

MIS

SIO

N

The ETF mission, as stated in the annual reports of the earlier years (1998 – 2000), was to support the reform of vocational education & training and management training in partner countries. From 2001 onwards, the principal role of the Foundation was to respond to requests for support from the European Commission. This included support to the programming, identification, monitoring, evaluation or dissemination stages within the context of project cycle management.

The ETF founding regulation is being recast at the time of the evaluation and it is expected that the ETF’s official mandate will change in 2008 from focusing solely on vocational education and training (VET) to encompassing the whole of human resources development in a wider perspective. This includes taking up a role in policy advice and analysis – shifting from providing technical advice via individual projects to influencing policy-making in HRD.

ETF

OB

JEC

TIVE

S

2000-2004 ETF activities were designed to support the EU policy objectives for the region and focused mainly on assisting the different services of the European Commission. At the same time, ETF developed a limited range of actions to deepen and reinforce available intelligence and enhance the national capacities of Mediterranean partners to steer and develop their vocational education and training systems in the context of labour market development in and support of economic development and social balance in Mediterranean societies.

2004-2006 ETF activities focused on the implementation of the early stages of the Education and Training for Employment (ETE) regional programme as well as continuing to respond to requests to provide advice on policy development and capacity building to EC Delegations and their beneficiaries before and during the design and implementation of interventions related to HRD based upon relevant information and analysis.

2007- ETF activities continue to support the delivery of Community assistance to partner countries in the HRD field. In addition, they assist to increase capacities in policy formulation and implementation and identifying and disseminating lessons on the contribution of policies and strategies to modernisation and reform.

Evaluation period

2000-2007 - In line with the ToR, the evaluation focuses on the period 2000-2007 and in particular on ETF’s contribution to the HR and TVET reform process.

ETF main partners The Commission services, Egyptian Ministries responsible for HRD and TVET

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4.3.1. RELEVANCE

S67. ETF helped to identify the real problems and needs of the main stakeholders in Egypt by undertaking preparatory activities such as identifying and designing an intervention in TVET in Egypt, drafting a policy statement on the reform of TVET, drafting a Country Overview on Labour Market Policies, feasibility studies, peer groups learning events, seminars such as for example National Qualification Framework and Migration and Skills and study visits for example on Career Guidance.

The provision of assistance coincided with Egypt’s own attempts to overhaul its VET system as well as the initiation on a number of projects such as the Egyptian Technical Colleges Project. The support of ETF was thus timely.

S68. ETF activities responded to initiatives and requests of the EC Delegation, such as design of the MEDA TVET programme and for its own initiatives. Overall, ETF activities were designed, planned and developed in close relation with the agenda and priorities of the EC Delegation and main stakeholders. It is clear that ETF’s advantages are complementary to the needs and capacity of EC Delegation and are recognised accordingly. They should be capitalised on more by ETF but this requires a clearly defined strategy to promote them effectively.

S69. ETF's activities targeted the right beneficiaries at all levels. It mainly targeted actors at the national level, social partners in different sectors and, to some extent, the regional and local levels in the country. ETF is very important for Egyptas it p rovides assistance in developing a comprehensive TVET policy and strategy through expertise input and guidance on HRD and TVET policy development and action planning. ETF opened the discussion on TVET reform in Egypt and brought the different ministries and TVET and labour market related organisations together which is rather new for the country.

S70. ETF has focussed on activities which were highly relevant to Egypt: VET reform, career guidance & counselling, provision of a forum for key stakeholders to gather and share information regularly in the form of the observatory and focussing on topics such as the migration and skills which is a concern for Egypt and surrounding countries. By focussing on relevant topics of the day, the value of ETF in the eyes of the Egyptian authorities has been enhanced and they have increasingly started to rely on its work.

S71. Over half (54%) of the respondents5 thought that ETF activities were very much correct at targeting the requirements of the Egyptian government to assist it in its HRD, TVET and LM related reforms. Meanwhile, the rest of respondents (46%) viewed these activities as somewhat correct in this respect. 52% of the respondents believed that ETF activities somewhat complemented the work already undertaken by bilateral and international donor community such as the World Bank, while 35% viewed these activities as very much complementary.

5 Percentages are based on a sample of 27 interviews/questionnaires.

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S72. The majority thought that ETF activities corresponded to the needs of their organizations; 24% indicated they corresponded very much whereas 62% indicated they somewhat corresponded. Almost half of the respondents (49%) viewed ETF activities as somewhat relevant, while 31% viewed them as very much relevant.

Response from the private sector Response from the public sector

4.3.2 EFFECTIVENESS S73. Overall, ETF can be said to have performed highly satisfactorily in Egypt since its

presence there. ETF has focussed on a few cross cutting themes which matched the needs of the Egyptian authorities and its economic development. Some projects that had started on a regional or multi country basis have flexibly changed to adopt targeted country approaches thereby increasing the relevance of those interventions. Examples of these are the "Migration and Skills" project and "Guidance and Counselling".

S74. ETF effectively supported institution building in the field of human resources development in Egypt. ETF enhanced the capacity of main stakeholders involved in the ETF supported projects or activities and improved their level of understanding, expertise and willingness to cooperate. ETF has been able to bring the Egyptian ministries of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Manpower and Emigration & Ministry of Education closer together and to work in a more coordinated manner. This is acknowledged by both ministries and other stakeholders.

S75. ETF has been in Egypt for a number of years which has enabled it to convey consistent messages and build trust. It has not exited and re-entered the country over and over again thus preventing the causing of breaks and interruptions both in its influence and in the effectiveness of its work.

S76. 57% of the respondents indicated that the results of ETF activities contributed very much to the availability and accessibility of relevant information for their organization, and 57% found the various reports on Egypt e.g. on HRD, TVET, LM, produced by ETF very useful.

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S77. Only some of the stakeholders referred to the good dissemination of ETF developed reports. The majority of persons interviewed indicated they were not aware of the availability of ETF studies and report on the internet. Some of the ETF initiatives were not even known to have been conducted; this included the project "Innovative Practices in Teacher Training in the Mashreq Region" and the project on "Financing of VET Systems".

S78. Over half (52%) of the respondents thought that the overall design of ETF activities was highly satisfactory. Though the majority of the interviewees generally appreciated ETF projects, several respondents mentioned that they were not properly consulted during the early stages of some projects’ designs; examples of which were the ETF 2007 report "Patterns of Migration & Human Resources Development Issues in Egypt" and the study on "Transition from Education to Work". However, it was mentioned, during the interviews, that the migration report was very beneficial, since it is closely connected to the state's strategy of employment reform and increasing job opportunities based on dovetailing the two major sectors; migration and education. Nevertheless, one of the stakeholders mentioned that neither the aim nor the targeted groups of this project were clear to them at the beginning. This could be contributed to the fact that these projects were developed as part of ETF's Innovation and Learning Activities, which usually look at multiple countries. Such activities aim at addressing a priority theme, programme or policy area with the objective of broadening the ETF's, the EC’s and the partner country's understanding of how particular issues have an impact in partner countries.

S79. Some stakeholders viewed ETF reports as "descriptive" rather than "analytical". Moreover, some of them indicated that recommendations of the reports should be more tangible, specific and applicable. In addition, it was requested by almost all the respondents that there is an urgent need to translate ETF reports into Arabic especially those related to Egypt and the region. Also a few of them requested that the reports for the Maghreb region (produced in French) should also be translated to English and Arabic to enable exchange of information and experiences.

S80. The ET observed that news about ETF activities did not filter deep and broadly within the key stakeholder organisations. However, there is little ETF can do about this.

Response from private sector Response from the public sector

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4.3.3 EFFICIENCY

S81. Although the ETF was not able to provide complete financial data/budgets for the ET to accurately assess efficiency, still the majority of the interviewees generally appreciated the efficiency of ETF projects. This was referred to during the interviews and confirmed by figures in the questionnaires. 53% of the total respondents thought that ETF activities are very much efficient and 32% viewed them as somewhat efficient. According to the interviewees, 61% of ETF activities undertaken by their institution were completed on budget, whereas 28% stated they were somewhat efficient.

S82. ETF concentrates on cross cutting themes that contribute to overall reform and links with EU. None of the respondents indicated that ETF activities duplicated activities undertaken by their institutions or by other donors with their institutions.

S83 Despite its own limited resources, ETF was able to generate relatively high impact from its interventions by collaborating with other donors, using local and regional expertise, facilitating peer reviews and by carefully identifying institutions to host its initiatives, such as IDSC which is currently hosting and supporting the observatory function.

S84. A small percentage of the stakeholders felt that there is a lot of bureaucracy related to the funding procedures of some ETF activities and that more flexibility and freedom should be given to national partners in relation to how to use financial resources from ETF. This freedom could also extend to the selection of experts, the organisation of seminars and workshops, etc. ETF relies on 3rd parties for the implementation of it work plan and the contracting of these external consultants leads to complexity and unevenness of the work done with national partners, it was felt.

S85. ETF has helped foster closer coordination between institutions such as WB and Italian Cooperation both of which work on TVET albeit targeting different groups. ETF’s efficiency however may have been dampened because, while it integrates its efforts very well with the World Bank and Italian Cooperation, coordination exists to a lesser degree with other donors such as for example GTZ (German Technical Cooperation).

S86 Over time there have been attempts to reduce the number of study visits for individuals concentrating instead on the strengthening of task forces which have been observed to be more effective. Similarly, ETF has moved from drafting the Egyptian Government’s policies to animating amongst the different players responsible for policy development.

S87. The need for more international experience and best practices exchange was raised during the interviews. It was also mentioned that models presented should be better selected in order to be more applicable. Foreign countries selected for international experience should share with Egypt basic features such as population size, economic, social and political conditions etc.

S88. Raising awareness of ETF activities in Egypt was among the common demands

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mentioned by the majority of interviewees as was the request for integrating ETF activities. Several stakeholders suggested that the ETF might have a local office in order to facilitate interacting with Egyptian HRD/VET community and have a stronger presence in Egypt. It was mentioned several times during the interviews that there is a need for further efforts to be exerted in the area of networking and integration in the area of HRD/VET.

S89. The Delegation predicted that overtime the EU’s sense of ownership of ETF would increase and one way of facilitating this would be for high level contacts to be instituted between the ETF Director and the Head of Delegation on a regular basis. It further stated that ‘if this is what they (ETF) are doing with limited resources, they are doing a very good job.’

4.3.4. IMPACT

S90. The ETF impact is clearly felt in:

1) The government starting to look towards the observatory as one of its future key sources of information on the labour market

2) The introduction of guidance and counselling in technical schools.

3) The IDSC over the years increasing its ownership of the observatory as can be observed by an increased channelling of funds to the latter for the financing of various activities

4) The redirection of the TVET reform programme (EU) back to track through the content monitoring exercise which was undertaken by the ETF in 2007.

Given its limited resources, ETF’s impact so far has been highly satisfactory.

S91. During the interviews, the HRD Observatory Function (OF) was one of the most praised ETF activities. The Observatory was described as having a good and systematic approach with a clear action plan. The steering committee of the Observatory was described as an active and cooperative group enjoying notable political support. Nevertheless, and in spite the Observatory role as a networking body, the majority of interviewees raised the need for exerting further efforts in the area of networking and establishing linkages between different ETF activities and the Egyptian HRD/VET community in general.

S92. At policy level, ETF’s efforts enabled Egyptian stakeholders to better grasp the concept of TVET reforms and the reasons behind them, as well as the capacity to undertake such reforms. ETF supported activities had a positive influence on policy development and assessment processes at national level. However, ETF activities were not decisive in terms of TVET policy development. ETF contributed to MEDA TVET programme, national

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strategies and programmes on Human Resources Development. ETF also contributed to the National Qualification Framework.

S93. Over the years, the relationship of ETF with the Delegation has become stronger as evidenced by the Delegation’s invitation to the ETF to conduct content monitoring of TVET in Egypt. The report, according to the Delegation, was highly appreciated. Regular contacts between the two institutions are maintained by visits to the Delegation by ETF. Content monitoring by ETF of TVET reform programme at early stages of the implementation has enabled the project to come back on track.

S94. The Delegation has also appreciated the technical expertise that the ETF drew from abroad in e.g. setting up the Observatory Function as it had set up similar functions in other countries. It stated that complimentarity between the two was high citing the example of the work on migration that ETF does which the Delegation does not.

S95. 50% of respondents felt that ETF helped very much in facilitating exchanging information and experience between Egypt and the EU and Egypt and other MEDA countries. Personal contacts, networking, facilitation and fostering exchange of experiences can be seen as real value added by ETF in the majority of projects. ETF responded well to identified needs ETF approach being described as logical and systematic.

S96. 65% of the respondents felt that ETF somewhat contributed to capacity building in human resources development and TVET related labour market information analysis capacity in Egypt. However, it was also requested by several interviewees that the ETF may give more attention to the capacity building and institutional development in order to secure the sustainability of their activities.

S97. ETF's impact in the country was reduced due to limited circulation of essential materials, studies and reports beyond those directly interacted with ETF. Not all reports are translated to Arabic.

Response from the Private sector Response from the Public sector

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4.3.5. ADDED VALUE

S97. A consistent theme from this evaluation is that ETF’s main strengths are perceived by its stakeholders to lie in a package of expertise that includes networking, facilitation, continuity of expertise, and ETF’s corporate memory of VET reform and labour market policies in EU and countries in the region, and Commission policies and procedures. It is for these strengths that ETF is most valued, more than purely technical VET expertise.

S98. Egyptian stakeholders appreciated ETF’s input. In particular, the local knowledge and continuity of expertise is an ETF asset appreciated by the EC Delegation as well as by stakeholders. Projects and activities implemented in the country are interlinked; feed into each other well and build on achieved results. In this way, the efficiency of each particular intervention enhances.

S99. A number of studies undertaken by ETF or with its assistance were pioneering ones in that a consolidation & analysis of such data on TVET had previously never been undertaken in Egypt e.g. the Country Overview on Labour Market Policies in Egypt, the ‘Transition from Education to Work’ project, the study on "Patterns of Migration and Human Resources Development Issues" and "Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt". These studies contained immense information, which provides useful insights into the state of TVET and associated issues in Egypt. In some cases, more specifically in the case of projects within the Innovation and Learning Activities, the stakeholders were not consulted in the design and or involved in the implementation which the ET considers a missed opportunity as these studies were of lesser benefit for the stakeholders.

S100 The value addition of ETF has included a forum in the form of the observatory for the first time in Egypt providing all relevant stakeholders with an opportunity to exchange ideas and coordinate their activities as well as raising the profile and visibility of TVET in the country and with government, undertaking studies never both attempted in Egypt such as on migration and performing stock taking in critical areas such as qualification systems. Again, this had never before been undertaken in Egypt.

S101 The majority of the respondents (57%) believed that the ETF had somewhat benefited the HRD/VET and LM reforms in Egypt. 59% believed that the ETF had somewhat built upon previous work undertaken, and its work could be groundwork for successive projects or activities.

Response from the Private sector Response from the Public sector

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5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE EVALUATION 102. In accordance with the Terms of Reference Contract CON/06/ETF/0031/32/33,

assignment number 5 project number WP07-02 the evaluation team used criteria developed by the OECD Development Assistance Committee and applied by the European Union: relevance, added value, efficiency, effectiveness and impact.

Relevance of activities Conclusions and recommendations

Are ETF intervention’s objectives consistent with beneficiaries’ requirements, partners’ needs and priorities and the European Commission policies and in line with the new ETF recast regulation?

Conclusions

1. A key lesson from the ETF’s work during the past years has been that the sustainability of assistance is stronger when projects are placed in an overall policy perspective. This is well understood by ETF acknowledging that many of the problems faced by Egypt are interrelated and need to be addressed in an integrated way.

2. Vocational education and training is only a single element in a mix of policies that contribute to country’s human resources. Other features include employment measures, access and inclusion programmes, SME development and links between the business community and the education system more generally. The EU’s new instruments will provide greater support to develop policy frameworks that integrate these elements.

3. Government policy for the human resource sector, comprising education, training and the labour market, is expected to contribute to goals that are part of national development strategies. This reflects a mutual concern of the EU and partner country governments to improve the results of assistance expenditure by focussing resources on the priorities stated in national strategies or similar documents. The new instruments therefore link assistance to nationally defined policy priorities.

4. ETF has responded well and places its activities in education and training in an overall perspective of human resources that connects education and training to the contribution that employment policy makes to growth and social development.

5. Egypt ownership of the reform process is of paramount importance and underlines that capacity development is an endogenous process that should be led by the Egyptian government itself. The government’s capacity to develop policies, strategies and actions for leading the reform process and coordinating donor support is weak.

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Recommendations at the Institutional Level

R1.1 Higher visibility, better coordination and more awareness on an institutional level of how ETF could contribute to activities such as TVET, would strengthen the EC approach as well as ETF’s position and credibility as an Agency of the European Union rather than as an organisation providing technical support to HR and TVET reform. (Further elaboration in section 6)

R1.2 The ETF needs to further strengthen its institutional relation with the European Delegation in Cairo, which would strengthen the ETF’s position and credibility as an Agency of the European Union rather than as an organisation providing technical support to HR and TVET reform. (Further elaboration provided in section 6)

R1.3 The ETF to strengthen its relationship with high ranking policy decision makers within the Ministry of Trade and Industry which “currently” has a considerable role and influence on the TVET reform in the country.

R1.4 ETF to strengthen its institutional relation with the newly established training councils within different ministries. (further elaboration in section 6)

Recommendations at the Strategic Level

R1.5 The ET emphasizes that Egypt ownership of the reform process is of paramount importance and underlines that capacity development is an endogenous process that should be led by the Egyptian government itself.

R1.6 ETF capacity building support to the government should focus on further organising and facilitating the policy learning process and policy action in the country rather than only providing technical know-how and expertise although that remains important as well.

Recommendations at the Activities' Level

R1.7 While designing new interventions, ETF needs always to involve stakeholders and beneficiaries from the conceptualisation to the design and implementation of the activities. Experience with projects in Egypt has shown that this is the only way to effectively contribute to sustainable institutional capacity, creating full ownership and commitment and acceptance of recommendations at the policy level leading to actions. Tailor made approaches need to be used based upon real needs as identified by the country itself offering a broad perspective of coordinated support interventions by donors.

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R1.8 ToRs of projects need to be shared with the competent Egyptian authorities and other key stakeholders or ideally the ToRs should be composed in close consultation with them. They should remain involved in the entire process of the activity so that relevance can be enhanced, even for projects undertaken as part of the Innovation and Learning Programme, which usually target several countries and aims at addressing a priority theme, programme or policy area with the objective of broadening the ETF's, the EC’s and the partner country's understanding of how particular issues have an impact in partner countries. (further elaboration in section 6)

Effectiveness of ETF support Conclusions and recommendations

Did ETF achieve the interventions’ objectives taking into account their relative importance?

Conclusions

1. ETF has been most effective where stakeholders were involved in the design, conceptualisation and implementation of the activities. This resulted in ownership and commitment, better results and acceptance of recommendations at the policy level. Successful examples are the Observatory Function (OF), the ‘National Qualification Framework’ and ‘Career Guidance Policies and Practices in Egypt’.

2. The close links and the cooperation with the Italian Cooperation Office in Cairo/the Italian Trust Fund contributed to the effectiveness in relation to the Observatory Function, the National Qualification Framework, and the Patterns of Migration and Human Resources Development project. Collaboration with it and the World Bank has been a notable feature of ETF’s work in Egypt. Also the housing of the observatory function in the well-resourced and professionally run IDSC enabled limited resources to go further.


R2.1 Strengthened collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry which currently plays a major role in the TVET reform through; managing both the TVET the reform programme (Co-funded by the EU and the GoE) and the Skills Development Programme (Co financed by the GoE and a WB loan) in addition to having the a huge training capacity within the PVTDs, particularly it's Industrial Training Council which was established to serve as an umbrella coordinating TVET activities within the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

R2.2 ETF needs to strengthen its presence in the country and provide high response to stakeholders (further elaboration in section 6)


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R2.3 Specific capacity building activities are required to support policy learning, policy action in view of the life long learning policies.

R2.4 Further efforts can be made by ETF to support national and regional networking and integration of the Egyptian HRD/TVET system to facilitate free trade in MEDA.

R2.5 Cooperation with other donors in the field of policy and strategic development should be enhances such as with GTZ


R2.6 Exchange visits to models of international experience and best practices exchange should be better designed in terms of outputs from participants to be more effective. Foreign counties selected for exposure should share with Egypt basic features such as population size, economic, social and political conditions.

R2.7 Key documentation produced should be translated into Arabic as it is the working knowledge of Egypt.

Efficiency Conclusions and recommendations

The extent to which the project finances and human resources produced the intended results, evidence of greater added value or impact of the ETF activities

Conclusions

1. None of the respondents indicated that ETF activities duplicated with activities undertaken with other donors in his/her institution.

2. Despite its own limited resources, ETF was able to generate maximum impact from its interventions by collaborating with other donors, using local and regional expertise.

3. The ETF concentrates on cross cutting themes that contribute to overall reform and strengthening of relations with the EU, such as qualification frameworks, financing, decentralisation, migration and skills recognition, and the continuing capacity development of stakeholders.

4. The ETF uses a range of tools such as higher level networking in partner countries, policy dialogues, and peer learning and review to maximise the impact of national developments among partner countries through the sharing of expertise between policy makers from different countries.

5. There are certain observations of IDSC whereby it states that ETF procedures for the disbursement of funds are overly complex and that more flexibility and authority should be given to it in relation to how to spend funds including in the choosing of experts and training programs. Further that as ETF relies upon other parties during the different activities, this leads to complications.

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6. During the last years, ETF improved its internal management system and information on projects and support activities became better structured. However as regards the first years, the data situation was not optimal despite the fact that much information was available.


R3.1 ETF managers to use more rigorous project cycle guidelines based upon the logical framework as a primary set of project design and management tools, this will ensure a more systematic and standardised approach.

R3.2 Financial management information system of ETF at project level should be improved and financial data should be more readily available

R3.3 ETF procedures for the disbursement of funds should be simplified and more flexibility and authority should be given to projects how to spend funds including in the choosing of experts and training programs.

R3.4 ETF should become more realistic in finding the balance between resources available and planned outcomes.


R3.5 Based upon the existing cooperation with the Italian Trust Fund and WB, it is recommended to further explore cooperation with both organisations.

R3.6 While donor cooperation with the WB and ICF is sound, it could be enhanced with others such as GTZ which works not only on curriculum development and implementation, but also on policy & strategy development

R3.7 ETF should pursue having a role in the HR subcommittee of the Donor Assistance Group (DAG) to enhance coordination with other donors and reduce duplication


R3.8 ETF should involve government officials in the implementation of projects during the undertaking of activities whenever applicable, even though they are represented in the working groups.

The impact of ETF role and activities

Conclusions and recommendations

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The positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by the intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. Are there any new VET policies and strategies developed resulting from the VET projects?

Conclusions

1. It appears that currently certain essential material has limited circulation beyond those ETF directly interacted with and is less known

2. ETF had a positive impact on the reform of TVET in Egypt. The Supreme Council for Human Resources endorsed the Policy Statement for the reform of TVET in Egypt, drafted by ETF jointly with the World Bank.


R4.1 ETF activities should be part of a planned dissemination and valorisation strategy that focuses on how ETF can best support the capacity building process and facilitate the policy learning process.

R4.2 ETF documentation should coherently demonstrate how its various activities have led to the achievement of any given objective.


R4.3 ETF should strengthen its role as organiser and facilitator of reform and policy learning processes in addition to providing technical expertise in HR and TVET reform areas.

R4.4 Impact could increase if ETF documents its success stories better and disseminates them widely in Arabic language; both as a publicity tool and as a learning device for others.

R4.5 In the future, dissemination has to be targeted not only at the key involved ministries but also at a broader range of TVET related institutions and NGOs.

R4.6 It is important to engage ETF in the implementation phases as monitors and/or evaluators enabling ETF to make sure that what it has designed has been executed properly


R4.7 It was also requested by several interviewees that the ETF may give more attention to capacity building and institutional development in order to secure the sustainability of its activities.

R4.8 Impact will be greater if the stakeholders are actively involved in the conceptualisation and design of ETF interventions and drafting the Terms of Reference of projects.

R4.9 Reports, studies or projects should include clear practical

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recommendations that help policy development and development of concrete plans of action.

Value-added of ETF support Recommendation

Has the setup of ETF as an Agency (specialised expertise, know-how, stakeholder involvement, networks and flexibility) delivering its services and activities benefited the HR/TVET reform.

Conclusions

1. The EC Delegation and Egyptian stakeholders confirmed that ETF recommendations had added value in some essential aspects of human resources development.

2. Stakeholders involved in the ETF supported project or activities improved their level of understanding, expertise and willingness to cooperate.

3. At the moment, the observatory is the only forum in Egypt where different main stakeholders from industry, the government and technical centres can meet and exchange ideas.

4. ETF’s capacity to produce specialist reports based upon both the local and EU expertise has been successful and should serve as a model of good experience in developing analytical capacity building and networking to support the reform process. The report on patterns of migration and HRD issues shed light on new information where migrants went and in what sectors they became employed. The national qualification framework stocktaking had never been undertaken before in Egypt and the career guidance activities were deemed to be very useful.


R5.1 ETF should further develop its strategy and actions to become more an organiser and facilitator of policy learning, in line with the proposed ETF recast Regulation which contributes to the effectiveness and impact of ETF support in Egypt.

R5.2 The observatory could also direct the partnerships, the 12 ETPs of 12 different industries, of the TVET Reform programme to develop and strengthen a demand-driven approach for the formulation and provision of training services to the productive sector.


R5.3 The ET recommends that ETF should continue to remain at the forefront of developing innovative activities such as the observatory function and innovative methodologies such as peer reviews in its work plans.

R5.4 Capacity building and institutional development activities are important to sustain the activities developed and undertaken.

R5.5 Streamlining activities in the country, through assisting the country in

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developing a comprehensive action plan for the reform of the TVET sector.

R5.6 ETF should continue to focus on a few cross cutting themes and try to integrate these activities better towards to the needs of the government and its economic development agenda.

R5.7 Accepting ETF limited resources, ETF should actively pursue opportunities for cooperation with the international donor community as part of the strategy to promote ETF as a centre of expertise to other bodies, and as a means of building the expertise of its staff and the organisation as a whole and to seek additional funding to increase its resources.

Recommendations at the Activities' Level R5.8 ETF should continue to produce specialised reports using international

and local expertise as it contributes to the development of analytical skills and local, regional and international networking.

R5.9 Reports should move beyond giving descriptive assessments to focusing on analysis and recommendations that support local capacity building.

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6. ELABORATION ON RECOMMENDATIONS (POST-ETF DEBRIEFING) 103. In response to ETF's request during the debriefing meeting that took place in April 2008, at

the ETF premises in Turin, further elaboration and potential alternative of a number of recommendations that has been selected by ETF were produced by the ET and were added to the final evaluation report.

It should be noted that the following alternatives are only provided as a "food for thought" to initiate further evaluations and discussions within the ETF.

Recommendation R1.1 Higher visibility, better coordination and more awareness on an institutional level of how ETF could contribute to activities such as TVET would strengthen the EC approach as well as ETF’s position and credibility as an Agency of the European Union rather than as an organisation providing technical support to HR and TVET reform.

To achieve this recommendation, the ETF can pursue the following actions:

1. ETF needs to develop and document a comprehensive communication strategy both for internal and external communication. Specifically,

o For internal purposes, mechanisms need to be developed so that lessons learnt and good practices being adopted in one country or region can be demonstrated to country managers and other ETF staff working in other countries or regions.

o For external purposes, while it is useful to disseminate ETF’s achievements widely to the general public and interested parties, particular attention needs to be paid on how to keep the Commission informed on ETF’s achievements.

2. The website of ETF needs to be revamped so that lessons being learnt, good practices

being adopted because of ETF & ETF’s achievements are more prominently visible and accessible. ETF has till now been modest in promoting the achievements it has made in target countries and in attributing changes in priorities and policies there to itself. The same recommendation is made for ETF newsletters which should be disseminated more widely in ETF partner countries.

3. ETF should facilitate interaction between the Commission and beneficiary governments so

that the Commission can learn first-hand from the beneficiaries of how ETF has facilitated improvements in VET and LM policy reforms and in improving understanding of VET and LM issues. This interaction could be in the form of ETF organising visits to the Commission of select beneficiaries from concerned countries or by organising visits to beneficiary countries of EU officials.

4. ETF could organise an annual or bi annual "Egypt TVET event" to review activities,

developments and future prospects. Invitation could be extended to local stakeholders, donors and the European commission. The benefits could include the following:

o Putting the EC Delegation as the main sponsor/a co-owner of the event would strengthen ETF's institutional relationship with the EC Delegation.

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o The event would boost ETF visibility in the country o Inviting donors to participate in different capacities as speakers, presenters of their

own initiatives or mere participants, would eventually lead to higher ETF visibility with donors and possible cooperation with donors in the future

o Through its participation in the event, the European Commission would be able to learn-first hand from the beneficiaries of how ETF has facilitated improvements in VET and LM policy reforms.

o Inviting a selective group from other MEDA concerned countries, with the objective of enhancing cooperation with these countries on specific topics/activities could also be considered.

o Inviting high ranking policy decision makers in the country would assist in building an enabling environment for policy reform and enhancing their knowledge & capacities

Recommendation R1.2 The ETF needs to further strengthen its institutional relation with the European Delegation in Cairo, which would strengthen the ETF’s position and credibility as an Agency of the European Union rather than as an organisation providing technical support to HR and TVET reform.

This could be achieved through:

1. Developing, institutionalising and maintaining high level contacts between the ETF Director and the Head of Delegation on a regular basis.

2. Beyond the main liaison person within the Delegation, efforts should be made to inform other Delegation officials of ETF’s presence in Egypt, the sort of activities it carries out and the achievements it has so far made. This could be undertaken in the form of regular annual orientation briefings in which Delegation and Egyptian government officials, whose work has directly benefitted from ETF interventions, are invited. This would provide an opportunity for the Delegation to learn directly from beneficiaries regarding the value they attach to ETF’s work and how ETF efforts are influencing policy and strategic decision making in Egypt.

Recommendation R3.1 ETF managers to use more rigorous project cycle guidelines based upon the logical framework as a primary set of project design and management tools, this will ensure a more systematic and standardised approach.

The Logical Framework Approach is a core tool used by the EC since 1993 in Project Cycle Management. It is used during the identification stage of Project Cycle Management to help analyse the existing situation, investigate the relevance of the proposed project and identify potential objectives and strategies; During the formulation stage, the LFA supports the preparation of an appropriate project plan with clear objectives, measurable results, a risk management strategy and defined levels of management responsibility; During project/programme implementation, the LFA provides a key management tool to support contracting, operational work planning and monitoring; and During the evaluation and audit stage, the Logframe matrix provides a summary record of what was planned (objectives,

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indicators and key assumptions), and thus provides a basis for performance and impact assessment. If the ETF can identify a better tool which it can use in the cycles of project management, it should adopt that otherwise it is recommended to use the LFA as required by the EC. A properly planned project addressing the real needs of the beneficiaries cannot be achieved without an analysis of the existing situation. Thus, the development of the logframe should be preceded by an analysis phase where a problem tree is created and then converted into an objective tree. The final stage of the analysis phase would be the undertaking of a strategy analysis. As most ETF staff may not be familiar with these steps, it is recommended that in the beginning the development of LFAs be undertaken with the assistance of competent facilitators. The use of the LFA is important for ETF because at the moment while it is more clear what activities will be undertaken and what outputs they will lead to, it is less clear what the results of those outputs will be. From workshops and study tours, for example, does ETF expect participants to merely have enhanced knowledge or does it want that that increased knowledge leads to changes in policies and if so, in which policies, how many and by when. ETF does use the logframe in its Project Implementation Plans but in the plans seen by the ET so far, the construction of the logframes is poor. Thus, it appears that knowledge about how to use the logframe within ETF is poor.

Recommendation R1.4 ETF to strengthen its institutional relation with the newly established training councils within different ministries. (including the Industrial Training Council, Building and Construction Training Council and the Tourism Training Council (to be established)

Different options for the attainment of this recommendation are:

1. Relevant persons from the various training councils could be invited to participate in the meetings of the Observatory Function

2. ETF should engage the various training councils further in the different activities it carries out in Egypt including dissemination events, seminars & workshops, study visits and design of various activities. It should also involve them in the development of policy & strategy papers.

3. These newly established training councils could benefit from the ETF's expertise. It is therefore possible that ETF could extend its support to these training councils, through institutional development, capacity building, exposure to international experiences, etc.

Recommendation R2.2

ETF needs to strengthen its presence in the country and provide high response to stakeholders.

There are several options for ETF to achieve a stronger presence in the country, which includes assigning a local ETF Expert in the country, establishing an ETF office in the country,

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dispatching a junior ETF staff to the country or dispatching a senior ETF staff to the country. The ETF needs to evaluate the pros and cons of each of these options, in view of the tasks that need to be undertaken in order to strengthen ETF's presence in the country, which includes:

• Providing for a local contact point • Developing and implementing dissemination activities and assisting ETF in promoting its

success stories • Participating, on behalf of ETF in various national and donor seminars, events and

workshops in the country. • Extending follow up activities to local stakeholders • Keeping an up-to-date knowledge of developments in the HRD and LM

Recommendation R1.8 ToRs of projects need to be shared with the competent Egyptian authorities and other key stakeholders or ideally the ToRs should be composed in close consultation with them. They should remain involved in the entire process of the activity so that relevance can be enhanced, even for projects undertaken as part of the Innovation and Learning Programme, which usually target several countries and aims at addressing a priority theme, programme or policy area with the objective of broadening the ETF's, the EC and the partner country's understanding of how particular issues have an impact in partner countries.

The Innovation and Learning Projects usually look at multiple countries, and aim at addressing a priority theme, programme or policy area with the objective of broadening the ETF's, the EC’s and the partner countries' understanding of how particular issues have an impact in partner countries. Even then, there should be a level of flexibility in the design of the terms of reference to allow the involvement of beneficiary countries from the start i.e. from the design stage in any activities ETF undertakes so that such activities effectively contribute to sustainable institutional capacity, creating ownership and commitment and acceptance of recommendations at the policy level which would then translate into concrete actions.

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Annex 1. Terms of Reference

TERMS OF REFERENCE

EXPERT PROVISION

Framework Contract CON/06/ETF/31/32/33 Assignment number: 5

SUMMARY TABLE

Project number: WP07-02 Project title: Evaluation Assignment: Evaluation of ETF Activities in Egypt Start/end date of the Activity: 12 October 2007 – 30 April 2008 Maximum Budget: Euro 71.700 ETF persons in charge: Outi Kärkkäinen

1. BACKGROUND

Generic Background

Established in Turin, Italy, in 1994, the European Training Foundation (ETF) provides advice and assistance to the European Commission and 29 Partner Countries that receive support from the EU's external relations programmes for the modernisation of human resource development policies. The EU’s external assistance programmes help developing and emerging economies achieve sustainable economic and social development through greater integration into the world economy and the reduction of poverty. The ETF was originally created to support implementation of the PHARE external assistance programme in the vocational training field. However, following three consecutive amendments to its founding Regulation, the ETF has acquired an extended geographical scope also covering the countries of the previous TACIS, CARDS and MEDA programmes. As from 2007 these programmes have been replaced by new external relations policy instruments, mainly the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) and the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). The introduction of these new external relations policy instruments marks a significant further step towards a policy-driven, rather than a programme-driven, approach to external assistance within a sector-wide perspective. These instruments are designed to help partner countries achieve home-grown reforms in different sectors.

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In recent years education and training policy in the EU has switched from considering the different sectors separately to embracing a lifelong learning (LLL) perspective involving a holistic view of education and training as part of an entire learning system encompassing primary and secondary education, higher education, initial and continuing VET, and further and adult education. In line with theses developments, the ETF’s thematic remit is being broadened by a new revised Council Regulation being adopted to cover human resources development (HRD), in particular education and training in a lifelong perspective, as well as related labour market issues The ETF functions are defined by the revised Council Regulation are the following:

• providing information, policy analysis and advice on human resources development issues and their links to sector policy objectives in the partner countries;

• supporting relevant stakeholders in partner countries to build capacity in human resources development;

• facilitating the exchange of information and experience among donors engaged in human resources development reform in partner countries;

• supporting the delivery of Community assistance to partner countries in the field of human resources development;

• disseminating information and encouraging networking and exchanges of experience and good practice between the European Union and partner countries and amongst partner countries on human resources development issues;

• at the Commission's request, contributing to the analysis of the overall effectiveness of training assistance to partner countries.

For further information on ETF activities, please see www.etf.europa.eu

Specific Background The ETF mandate in Egypt started in 1999, similarly as the rest of the Mediterranean region. Two periods of more intensive presence of ETF in Egypt can be identified. A first period runs from mid 2000 to mid 2003, characterised by support to the European Commission (EC) in diverse ways. A second period starts from end of 2005 up to date, characterised for continued support to the EC but combined with bigger number of ETF’s own Work Programme activities more oriented towards policy advice issues. During the first period, ETF started its activities in Egypt with a study on management and entrepreneurship training for SME growth and the holding in Cairo of a regional seminar for Skills Standards development. Right after that, from the 2001 to 2002 ETF designed a 33M Euro MEDA TVET reform programme for Egypt at the request of the EC (and supported the launch of it). This project was designed, at the request of the EC, in parallel with the Skills Development programme (SDP) of the World Bank. ETF interacted with the World Bank for the behalf of the EC and jointly with the WB supported the drafting of the 2002 Egyptian policy statement on the reform of TVET adopted by the Egyptian Government. In addition, a report on labour market policies in Egypt and its implication for skills development issues was drafted between 2003 and 2004 at the request of the AIDCO. During 2004-5 Egypt was also one of the countries included in the joint ETF-WB regional analysis of vocational training in economies marked by large informal sectors. This project culminated wit the publication of a joint analytical report “Reforming Technical Vocational Education and training in the Middle East and North Africa: experiences and challenges”, which was presented in a major regional seminar held by both institutions in Cairo in September 2006

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with attendance of more than 100 policy makers and experts in HR, as well as donors from all over the Mediterranean region. With occasion of that, a policy seminar focusing on the situation of TVET reform in Egypt and the strategic development (“Egyptian Day”) was held also by the EC (supported by ETF) and the World Bank with attendance of five Ministers. This was followed by a joint proposal by the EC and the WB to support Egyptian strategy development of the TVET sector, where ETF was involved on behalf of the EC.

The second on-going period since end 2005 and 2006-7 is marked by a more policy advice oriented ETF activities, financed by the ETF Work Programme but without losing the role of support to the EC. In 2006 ETF received a request from the EC Delegation in Cairo to assess the progress of TVET reform in the country and the impact of the MEDA TVET Reform programme. This exercise was postponed at the request of the EC until 2007, having been implemented in the last months. The TVET programme has taken into account in its new programming phase the recommendations made in the ETF report. During 2005 and 2006, ETF provided input also for the EC for the definition of country and action plans within the framework of European Neighbourhood Policy. In 2006 the Egyptian Observatory function was set up with representatives from all relevant institutions. The Task Force is hosted by the Cabinet of the Prime Minister (Information and Decision support centre) and continues its activities successfully owned by the GoE during 2007. Egypt was also included in the ETF Innovation and Learning Projects (ILP) on the implications of migration for VET and transition from education to work. A national seminar for analysing the implication of the migration report is to be held in Sept 2007 under the patronage of the HE the minister of Manpower and Migration (MOMM). In 2007, and as a spin off effect of the participation of Egypt in the Education and Training (ETE) regional project, that the ETF implements on behalf of the EC, ETF received a new request from MOE and MOMM in Egypt to support a national taskforce to develop a concept for Egypt for career guidance. A similar request has been received from the Minister of Manpower to support the reestablishment of the Supreme Council for HRD (SCHRD), the main policy body for HRD reform in the country. Also during 2007, a working group for the development of a concept for National Qualification Framework has been set up supported by ETF under the patronage of the SCHRD. This build on work undertaken both by the country and by the ETF in the precedent years and it is foreseen to continue in the following two years. In addition to all the nationally oriented activities, Egypt participates in all the regional activities implemented by ETF such as the support to DG Enterprise for the implementation of the EuroMed Charter of Enterprise and the above mentioned ETE programme. Further more detailed information on ETF activities in Egypt will be provided to the contractor at the beginning of the assignment.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The objective of these Terms of Reference is to carry out an evaluation of ETF activities in Egypt in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and added value.

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3. EXPECTED RESULTS Useful findings and recommendations supporting the ETF in its future planning for:

• ETF Egypt Country Plan and approach • ETF regional approach for MEDA ENPI •

within the framework of the new ETF Council Regulation and EC HRD policies in the external programmes. 4. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

• Narrative report on ETF activities in Egypt 1999-2007 • Inception Report including narrative part, preliminary findings, detailed evaluation

questions and planning for the field visit • Final evaluation report on the ETF Activities in Egypt 1999-2007 • Draft article on evaluation findings and recommendations reflected against the latest

developments in HRD policies within the EC external programmes

5. ACTIVITIES

The basic approach of the evaluation will consist of: • Collection and analysis of data (both quantitative and qualitative) • Definition of detailed evaluation questions against the evaluation criteria • (Semi-structured) interviews and observation supported by a questionnaire

Five key evaluation criteria will be applied to the assessment of ETF intervention at the country level: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and added value. The emphasis will be on the activities of ETF in support to EC action in the country, continued throughout the years and in the value of the ETF policy oriented support to the country.

A detailed list of evaluation questions will be defined during the first phase of the evaluation between the evaluation team and the ETF (please see below). The following is an indicative list of questions to be addressed by the evaluation: 1. Assess the relevance of ETF activities in Egypt to the country’s needs and priorities and to the EC objectives • To what extent have ETF activities addressed the priorities of the country in VET and

related LM reforms? • To what extent have ETF activities been consistent with EC priorities and policy in the

country? 2. Assess effectiveness in terms of how intended outputs and results were achieved • To what extent have the ETF expected results at the country level been achieved and/or are

they expected to be achieved? 3. Assess efficiency in terms of how economically ETF resources (funds, expertise and time) were converted to results? • Is there evidence of greater added-value or impact of the ETF activities that mobilised most

of the resources?

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4. Identify and assess the intended and unintended impact of the ETF role, presence and activities in Egypt

• To what extent if any has ETF contributed to the improvement of information on VET and related LM issues in Egypt? To what extent if any has ETF facilitated the exchange of information and experience and networking between Egypt and the EU and among donors engaged in human resources development reform in Egypt?

• To what extent if any has ETF contributed to the capacity building in human resources development in Egypt?

• To what extent if any has ETF contributed to the VET and related LM reforms in Egypt? To what extent if any of the HRD policy changes having taken place 1999-2007 can be attributed or partially attributed to ETF?

• To what extent if any has the ETF activities generated any of the above in a sustainable way?

• To what extent has ETF contributed to the planning and delivery of relevant Community assistance in Egypt? To what extent if any have ETF small scale activities lead to the initiation of larger scale EC projects?

5. Assess the added value of ETF as an EU Agency and centre of expertise?

• To what extent through outsourcing to the ETF, expertise and know-how on Egypt has been accumulated?

• To what extent the expertise and know-how accumulated (if any) through outsourcing to the ETF is accessible to and found useful by the EC Delegation and Egyptian stakeholders?

• To what extent do the EC and Egyptian stakeholders perceive an added-value of ETF? • To what extent if any through outsourcing to the ETF, stakeholders are more effectively

involved and there is greater proximity to final beneficiaries? FIRST PHASE

Deskwork (October)

• ETF provides the evaluation team with documentation and data on ETF activities in Egypt. These documents include budgetary data, mission reports, project documents, ETF publications etc.

• The documentation is analysed by the evaluation team and compiled into a short narrative report of ETF activities in Egypt (10-20 pages) placed within the general context of HRD/VET and LM reforms in Egypt during the period 2000-2007. The narrative report is sent to ETF following which the ETF project manager will give green light for ETF visit.

ETF visit (November) • Evaluation team gathers further information on ETF activities in Egypt. • Evaluation team meets with and interviews all the project and country managers who

previously dealt or are currently dealing with Egypt (interviews should be prepared beforehand on the basis of documentation received and analysed)

• Evaluation team formulates the details of the next phase, i.e. field visit and questionnaire/s

• Evaluation team makes a short presentation in a workshop to concerned ETF staff on work done until know, preliminary findings if any, plan for the next phase of the evaluation and to discuss first proposal of detailed evaluation questions.

Inception Report (November)

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Evaluation team will prepare an Inception Report that includes among others:

• narrative part of ETF activities in Egypt • financial and other data on the activities • detailed evaluation questions per evaluation criteria defined on the basis of

analysed data, ETF interviews and the inception workshop in Turin • questionnaires and checklists for the field visit interviews based on the evaluation

questions • a plan for field visits to Egypt, including a list of stakeholders to be met • possibly (to be decided later) feedback questionnaires to different groups of

stakeholders in Egypt and list of feedback questionnaire receivers in Egypt Following the approval of the Inception Report by ETF the evaluators will be asked to start preparing the second phase.

SECOND PHASE (November-January)

Field visit preparation: Local stakeholders to be met and interviewed will be contacted and meetings fixed as much as possible before the mission. ETF will provide the evaluation team with an official letter to help contacting relevant stakeholders. It is expected that the local experts support the organisation of the mission to a great extent.

Field visits:

• Evaluation team will meet the relevant stakeholders and ETF project beneficiaries and collaborators (Ministries, EC Delegation, Employment Agencies, trade unions, employer’s organisations, etc.6). The meetings will cover the questions in the feedback questionnaire/checklists or the interviewed will be asked to fill in the questionnaire after the interview.

• The feedback questionnaire is possibly sent to Egyptian stakeholders that were not met during the field mission for some reason.

THIRD PHASE (January-March) A draft final report will be produced by the evaluation team within 15 days after the end of the field visit. An indicative structure of the report is in Annex 1.

• ETF will provide comments on the report as soon as possible and in a maximum of 15 days after which the evaluation team should draft a revised report if necessary as soon as possible and in a maximum of 10 days.

• Evaluation team will visit the ETF to hold a feedback seminar on the evaluation findings and recommendations. The feedback seminar will include presentation by the evaluation team and open floor discussion in-between the ETF participants and the experts.

• Evaluation team will integrate a note on the feedback seminar as an Annex to the Final Report.

• Evaluation team will draft an article on evaluation findings and recommendations reflected against the latest developments in HRD policies within the EC external programmes and the HRD in Northern African Mediterranean countries and in particular

6 The list of stakeholders to be interviewed will be defined in the first phase of the evaluation.

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Egypt. This article should use Egypt as a case study but reflect upon strategies in HRD for the region in general.

6. EXPERT/S INPUTS( INDICATIVE WORKING DAYS)

Team Leader Category I Expert (evaluation specialist)

International Category II Expert (HRD and/or LM specialist)

Local Category I Expert for Egypt (HRD and/or LM specialist)

Local Category II Expert for Egypt (HRD and/or LM specialist)

The HRD and LM expertise of the team members are to complete each other.

The following is an indication for the required person-days needed to complete the assignment.

Team Leader

International Expert

Local Expert

Local Expert

EXPERT (Category I) (Category II) (Category I)

(Category II)

TASK Deskwork and First Report 2 2 2 ETF Visit 3 3 3 Inception Report 2 3 3 2 Field Visit Preparation 1 1 2 3 Field Visit Egypt 12 12 12 12 Draft Final Report 3 3 3 3 Revision 1 1 1 Feedback Seminar ETF 1 1 1 Final Report & Draft Article 2 3 3 Total Person-Day 27 29 30 20

INDICATIVE TOTAL PERSON-DAYS: 106

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7. PROFILE OF THE EXPERT/S

The profile of experts described here forms the basis for evaluation and selection of CVs.

In addition to the qualifications and general professional experience (minimum requirements) as described in the Terms of Reference (Annex A) of the Framework Contract for each expert category, the following specific expertise is required from the evaluation team members:

TEAM LEADER Category I (with over 10 years of experience)

• Extensive experience in conducting interim and ex-post project, programme, country and thematic evaluations

• Excellent knowledge of EC and international standards and methodology in evaluation • Excellent knowledge of PCM based monitoring and evaluation and Logical Framework

• An excellent understanding of EC external programmes, especially related to ENPI and the Meda region

• Experience in the fields of HRD, in particular education and training in a lifelong perspective, as well as related labour market issues

• Sound experience in MEDA countries, preferably in Egypt • Experience in similar assignments an asset

• Excellent analytical, writing and editing skills in English • Knowledge of Arabic an asset INTERNATIONAL EXPERT Category II (with at least 5 years of experience)

• Extensive technical professional expertise in HRD, in particular education and training in a lifelong perspective, as well as related labour market issues, with particular reference to transition country reforms

• A sound understanding of EC external programmes (MEDA and ENPI), in particular in the field of HRD, education and training in a lifelong perspective, as well as related labour market issues

• Sound experience in MEDA countries, preferably Egypt • Experience in similar assignments an asset

• Excellent analytical, writing and editing skills in English • Knowledge of Arabic an asset LOCAL EXPERT Category I (with over 10 years of experience):

• Extensive technical professional expertise in HRD as well as related labour market issues in Egypt

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• Experience in other countries of the MEDA region • Good understanding of EC external programmes (MEDA and ENP) in particular in the field

of HRD and/or LM • Excellent networking capacities in the country • Experience in similar assignments an asset • Excellent analytical, writing and editing skills in English • Fluency in Arabic LOCAL EXPERTS Category II (with at least 5 years of experience):

• Some professional experience in HRD and/or LM policies and practices • A good understanding of EC external programmes (MEDA) • Good organisational skills • Good networking capacities in the country • Experience in similar assignments an asset • Good English and fluency in Arabic 8. BUDGET & PAYMENTS

The maximum total budget available including fees, reimbursable and direct costs for this activity is Euro 71.700 Payments will be divided as follow:

• 10% advance payment upon receipt of a correct invoice/request for payment • 30% upon approval of the Inception Report and receipt of a correct

invoice/request for payment • 60% upon approval of the final evaluation report and receipt of a correct final

invoice/request for payment and all the required supporting documents (including complete expert time sheets)

N.B. 1. The use of contingencies must be approved in writing beforehand by the ETF. 2. For expert travel/missions: In the case of expert travel outside of the place of residence, the contractor must provide ETF with proposed travel schedules and price, indicating the number of per diem this would imply, for ETF to give its approval before travel takes place. (Calculation of the number of per diem to which experts are entitled is decided by ETF based on the number of nights spent away from the place of residence for the purpose of the assignment.). Travel claims must be accompanied by relevant supporting documents: invoice/boarding pass/proof of payment.

9. REPORTING AND CONFIDENTIALTIY

Regular communication should be kept with the ETF by phone and email during the evaluation exercise, as necessary to ensure clarity on the progress of the assignment.

The first narrative report, the Inception Report and the (Draft) Final Reports are to be submitted to the ETF.

All the data received from ETF and/or other stakeholders for this assignment are to be used by the evaluation team only for the purpose of this evaluation and are not to be circulated.

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The opinions of the interviewed stakeholders will be treated confidentially, and will not be attributed specifically to any particular interviewee.

11.CONTACT PERSONS AT THE ETF Project Manager: Outi Kärkkäinen

Tel: +39-011-630 2221

Email: [email protected]

Assistants: Aleksandra Falcone

TEL: +39-011-630 2218

Email:[email protected]

Barbara Olent

Tel: +39-011-630 2201

Email:[email protected]

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Annex1: Indicative Final Report Structure

Executive summary (length: 6 pages maximum)

• Purpose of the evaluation • Method • Analysis and main findings • Main conclusions • Main recommendations

Introduction

• Short introduction to ETF. • Objectives of the ETF intervention, logical links between activities and expected results

and impacts, connected policies, conditions and risks • Brief analysis of the political, economic, social and cultural context of the intervention • Purpose of the evaluation: presentation of the evaluation questions and of how they

permit to assess the intervention as a whole Methods

• Detailed evaluation questions for each evaluation criterion agreed with ETF • Indicators related to each criterion • Data collection process actually implemented and limitations if any • Analysis approach actually implemented and limitations if any

Main findings, conclusions and recommendations Three distinct chapters:

• Answers to each evaluation question • Overall assessment of the intervention covering the main evaluation criteria • Recommendations which have to be clustered and prioritised, preferably in the form of

options with benefits and risks Annexes

• Diagram(s) displaying the ETF intervention logic • Methodology of the evaluation • Informants met • Documents used • Terms of Reference • Statistical data and context indicators • List of the projects and programmes specifically assessed + budgets • Project assessment fiches, case study monographs if any • Questionnaires and survey reports if any • Acronyms and abbreviations

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ANNEX 2. Matrix of ETF activities 2001-2007

Project title-Information Year ETF role ETF HR Project Objectives Indicators of success Assumptions and risks

Management and Entrepreneurship Training for SME growth within the MEDA context

Multi country activity involving Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan

2000 Team Leader for a team of 3 experts

Provision of short term experts (one local and one international)

Participation in producing the final report.

ETF Country Manager, Elena Carrero

To provide concrete recommendations for training providers, including agencies and institutions providing support to SMEs on key areas for SME management and entrepreneurial training to promote their growth within the MEDA context The study will also serve as a tool for policy makers and organisations involved in the field of management training and SME development in the MEDA countries.7

Completion of the country reports including analysis

Identification of key areas for management training for SMEs.

Completion of a cross country analysis including common trends and possible recommendations for actions at regional level based on the needs identification carried out in each country

Dissemination of results where main stakeholders are involved

Lack of comparable results in the three countries

Availability of required data

Lack of a regional association(s), (CEEMAN type) that could be a vehicle or a facilitator of the dissemination exercise

Conference on Innovative practices Vocational Education and Training standards in the Mashreq Region”

2001 Organisers and facilitators


A conference on vocational training standards in the Mashreq region, organised in Cairo in April 2001, brought together over 80 representatives from both public and private sectors in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, international organisations and bilateral donors.

Cooperation between countries in the region

Exchange of best practice in vocational education and training standards

Political Stability in the region

Stakeholders are willing to cooperate and exchange of experiences

Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Egypt (MEDA II)

2001-2002

Team Leader for a team of 5 experts

Provision of short term experts (local

Team Leader, Peter Grootings

ETF Country Manager, Elena

The overall objectives are to improve the competitiveness of Egyptian enterprises, strengthening regional economic development.

National Stakeholders acceptance of the formulated programme

The Egyptian government willing to financially support the formulated


Egypt's commitment to the reform of the TVET sector

7 Terms of Reference: "Management and Entrepreneurship Training for SME growth within the MEDA context"

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Project Identification and Formulation

and international)


Carrero

Identification and formulation of a programme that would improve labour market oriented TVET in Egypt in one segment or component, to the benefit of enterprises, public and private organisations, and students/trainees.

programme

Approval of the Med Committee of the formulated programme

Support to EC Delegation

2002 Technical expertise in policy formulation

Missions by ETF experts

Meetings with national stakeholders


The production of a draft Policy Statement for the reform of TVET in Egypt, which would serve as a policy umbrella for reform processes to be implemented by the EU funded TVET Reform programme and the Skills Development Programme of the World Bank.

Endorsement by the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development of the policy statement

National Stakeholders acceptance of the formulated policy statement

Egypt's commitment to the reform of the TVET sector

Lack of mutual understanding with the World Bank

Labour Market Overview in Egypt

2002-2003

Provision of short term technical assistance including international and local experts

Mission to the country

ETF Country Manager, Team Leader for Egypt, Elena Carrero

Team Leader for Sectoral Analysis, Luis Guillermo Hakim

The preparation of a country overview on Active Labour Market policies and institutional settings in Egypt, with particular emphasis on Technical Vocational Education and Training as main tool to pave the way for entering/re-entering the labour market.

This report has been requested by the European Commission (Europe Aid B4) in order to be used as a basis for future programming decisions.

The completion of the desk research on the main characteristics of the labour market, existing active labour market policies and programmes, the situation of TVET in Egypt.

The completion of a mission to Egypt to updated overview and analysis on on the main characteristics of the labour market, existing active labour market policies and programmes, the situation of TVET in Egypt.

Identifying links and synergies between TVET and other ALMP and labour market settings, and producing the draft report.

Conducting a series of consultations with the relevant EC services and National stakeholders

Availability of Data.

National stakeholders from VET and labour market in country cooperate and take active part in the project, especially in the consultation phase.

ETF staff committed to deliver the FTE required

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Production of the final report.

Outputs reflected in future EC programming for Egypt.

Reforming Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Middle East and North Africa

Experiences and Challenges

A multi country activity.

2003 Provision of short term technical assistance including international and local experts

Ensure collaboration from the World Bank


The role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the provision of quality and relevant learning opportunities in the MENA region is explored around five themes: improving governance, financing, quality and relevance, the role of the private sector, and the acquisition of skills in the informal sector, so as to identify key areas of reform.

The objective is disseminating information on current reform efforts in different countries of the region, and promoting exchanges of information and experiences among policymakers in countries facing similar issues.

Dissemination Event with participation of key stakeholders within the region.



Emergence of major differences between the ETF and the World Bank

Difficulty in identifying key areas of reforms

Stakeholders are willing to cooperate and exchange of experiences

Innovative Practices in Teacher and Trainer Training in The Mashrek Region

A multi country activity including; Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Syria

2003 ETF Country Manager, Elena Carrero

Production of a synthesis of six national reports from 6 countries that focuses on Innovative Practices in Teacher and Trainer Training in the Mashrek Region.

The report describes the current VET strategies and the position of the training of teachers and trainers within these strategies.

The national reports and this synthesis report are aimed at helping the six countries by encouraging and reinforcing reform, including that which has already been started. They will

Production and finalisation of six national reports from 6 countries.

Production and finalisation of the synthesis report "Innivative Practices in Teacher and Trainer Training in the Mashrek Region".

National stakeholders are able to identify the priorities for change.

Reform decisions are undertaken as a result of the produced report.



National stakeholders' commitment to the reform of the TVET sector

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help the key stakeholders and their partners to identify the priorities for change and take the necessary decisions.

HRD Observatory Function

2001 Provision of technical assistance through short term local expert


Producing a first stocktaking report on "Structures and Mechanisms for Information and needs forecast on training, qualification and employment: Observatory Function in Egypt".

The overall objective is to develop an Observatory Function that would contribute to well-informed decision making through quality data, analysis and policy advice.

Identifying the main sources of information on training, qualification and employment.

Descriptive report produced and finalised.

Availability of required information

HRD Observatory Function

2005 Facilitating and financing the kick off seminar in Egypt

Identifying and facilitating speakers

Participation in the seminar


To raise awareness of the concept of Observatory Function and create the conditions for setting up of the Observatory network in Egypt with the overall objective to build an efficient human resources information system that is adequate to provide decision makers in the public and private sectors with reliable information on the supply and demand sides of human resources.

Identifying main authorities and stakeholders involved in producing and using information on training, qualification and employment.

Organising a kick off seminar for launching the observatory function involving national authorities and main stakeholders

Identifying the task force which would be responsible for setting priorities as regards information needs.

Political instability in the region

Egypt is committed to participate in the project

Stakeholders from VET and labour market in country perceives the importance of an observatory function and are willing to cooperate and take active part in the project.

Observatory Function Development: Capacity Building at national level 8

WP06-32-06

2006 Provision of short term technical assistance including international and local experts

Workshops


The objective of the project is to reinforce national institutional and methodological capacities and to set up effective information networks in a selected number of MEDA countries to provide decision makers with relevant and up-dated information in the field of VET and employment.

List of Observatory function partners available including key stakeholders from VET and labour market and contributing to information network activities

Staff trained on information collection


Egypt is committed to participate in the project while providing human resources and institutional

8 Project Implementation Plan WP06-32-05:Observatory Function Development: Capacity Building at National Level

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Multi-country activity involving: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, West Bank and Gaza

Total Budget for 2006 is Euro 150,000 (Italian Trust Fund)

Study visits and training seminars

Discussion Fora

and development and application for policy making

Joint initiatives between countries carried out (i.e. study visits, written exchange of information)

Work-plans and strategies available and agreed among stakeholders followed by joint implementations

Indicators and data available in sectors agreed. Overview of existing data and information available

The Egyptian OF consolidated and acknowledged as a relevant element in HRD in Egypt by the national authorities

National capacities within Egyptian OF and the hub institution developed through participation in study visits and expertise support

First of products presented at the final dissemination conference to policy-makers and main stakeholders

support at Its' own cost

Stakeholders from VET and labour market in country cooperate and take active part in the project.


HRD Observatory Function9

ENPI 07-06

Multi-country activity involving: Egypt,

2007 - 2010

Provision of short term technical assistance including international and local experts

Workshops

Ulrike Damyanovic (Project Team Leader)


The objective of the project 2007-2010 is to reinforce national institutional and methodological capacities in order to further develop effective information networks in a selected number of MEDA countries; to provide decision makers with relevant and updated information in the field of HR, analysis, recommendations and policy

For Egypt

Regular budget and resource allocation for Observatory Function Unit by Egyptian Authorities and high level Steering Committee active on a regular basis


Egypt is committed to participate in the project while providing human resources and institutional

9 Project Implementation Plan WP 2007 – Human Resources Observatory Function

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Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Algeria

Total Budget for 2007 is Euro 200,000 (ETF 50,000 Euro + Italian Trust Fund 150,000 Euro)

WP 06-32-06

Observatory function development, capacity building at national level

Study visits and training seminars

Discussion Fora

advice for economic reforms with a view to the free-trade zone 2010. Policy planning will benefit of regular regional exchange of experience and international comparison in particular through cooperation with MEDA-ETE/Component 2/Euro Med Observatory and MEDSOC (Eurostat-production of social statistics).

In 2007 and 2008 the project will focus on regular data and information provision, analysis and provision of recommendations to decision makers to support overall HR Reform in the countries. Transparent and comparative information shall be available for cooperation in free-trade zone area 2010.

In 2009-2010 focus will be on policy advice for overall socio-economic reforms in the frame-work of the Barcelona process, respectively the free trade zone 2010.

List of Observatory Function partners available including key stakeholders from VET labour market and contributing regularly to OFU activities

OFU priority activity agreed with clear roles and responsibilities and budget allocation

Staff and network members trained regularly on information and collection and development and application for policy making

Tailor made information for stakeholders in the country and joint initiatives between countries carried out (i.e. study visits, written exchange of information)

Indicators, data and analysis available in sectors agreed

Policy makers apply analysis and recommendations for decision makers

support at Its' own cost

Stakeholders from VET and labour market in the country are willing to cooperate in the project

ETF staff committed to deliver the FTE required by the projet

Egypt Country Report

WP05-31-03.03

2005 Provision of short term local expert

Mission to Egypt

ETF Country Manager, Karl-Axel Skjølstrup

Production of a report on recent developments in Egypt in the field of Human Resource Development, qualification and training with special emphasis on Vocational Education and Training.

Quantitative information & statistical data on New relevant developments with regard to policy, financing and the social situation related to HRD, VET, qualification and training

Availability of data and information

Willingness of stakeholders to cooperate with the new country manager

Analysis of TVET financing in the MEDA region – Innovative analysis

2005 Provision of short term international expertise in training funds and financing


The purpose of the project is to identify the challenges facing MEDA countries in financing VET systems.

The 2005 activities of the project involves a

National reports on Financing TVET concluded

Final report concluded

Availability of required information

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and dissemination stock taking study of the current TVET financing systems.

Innovative Project on Financing of HRD and TVET10

A multi country activity

(A continuation of the 2005 project in the same topic and with the same actors) involving Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, and Tunisia

WP06-32-07

2006 Provision of short term international expertise in training funds and financing

Two Study Visits, for the national working groups, to 2 EU countries selected in the criteria of innovation

National working group meetings

Dissemination Seminars

Jean Marc Castejon – Team Leader – Expert in Policy Advise

Elena Carrero –Egypt Country Manager, Expert in Partner Country relationship management

To increase the stakeholders' awareness of modern mechanisms of funding of VET systems.

The overall objective of the project is to review existing financing policies and mechanisms in four MEDA countries to support the modernisation of funding of TVET and Human Resource Development, whereby improving the quality and range of funding mechanisms being used and providing a sound foundation for related policy design in the selected countries and in the region. A special focus will be on the use of funding mechanisms which help to increase labour market relevance of the education and training provision in the selected countries and on improving national capacities for the design of reform strategies in the field of VET financing in partner countries.

At least two countries confirm the relevance of one of the reviewed models for themselves

At least stakeholders in two countries express intention to engage into VET funding reforms

Policy action taken in at least one participating country

The participating countries are still interested in and committed to the project

Viability of network of stakeholders

Programme carried out as planned

National working groups are sustainable

Implications of migration on Human Resources Development11

WP06-53-02

WP 2007 ILP 07-02

2006 -2007

Provision of short term experts (local and international)


Validation Events in

Natalia Popova – Team Leader

Ummuhan Bardak – Migration Expert

Francesco Panzica – VET Expert

Carmela Doriana

To investigate the links between migration and education and training systems in four countries (Albania, Egypt, Moldova and Tunisia) followed by Morocco and Ukraine in 2007. In particular, the project will provide input to:

Knowledge building and information for the development of EU migration policies

Data Analysis and 4 country migration profiles completed

The Final report on Patterns of migration and Human Resources Development Issues Completed

4 validation events (1 per country) with the relevant national stakeholders

Migration continues to be of strategic interest to the EC

The governments of the four sending countries consider migration a strategic issue in the context of HRD and labour market

The Relevant National 10 Project Implementation Plan 11 Project Implementation Plan WP 2007 ILP 07-02 Implications of migration on HRD

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the 4 countries

Dissemination event in Brussels

ETF final Dissemination event

Publication

Monteleone – Statistician/ Econometrician

Vincent McBride – NQF Expert

Daniela Clara – Project Assistant

Future Programming of the EC

Policy instruments/Measures: i) on circular and return migration; ii) on recognition of qualifications and the use of transparency tools for the skills of migrants acquired at home and abroad; iii) on mitigating the adverse effect of brain drain

Dissemination event in Brussels

ETF Final Dissemination event

Publication

Policy Learning Dimension:

At the country Level, the objectives of the policy advise on migration and HRD will focus on:

Awareness raising among the national stakeholders, which can start already during fact finding missions

Providing innovative advice/ recommendations for improvements in the area of education and employment policy directly or through EC programming

Using the stakeholders analysis for future networking purposes

stakeholders will collaborate throughout the research process and will provide the necessary information

Facility to srespond to EC requests 12

WP06-31-01

2007 Provision of short term experts (local and international)


To increase the impact of EU investment in Human Resources Development in the Mediterranean region in line with EU external relations policies through reinforcement of the MEDA TVET reform project through the provision of expertise input to the EC Delegation in support to assessment of progress on VET reform and contribution

Content mid-term assessment report delivered by requested deadline and endorsed by EC Delegation

New Request for ETF support by EC Delegation Egypt5

WP 2008 for the TVET MEDA reform project work programme includes

Nature of some of the activities and specific modalities for ETF cooperation are defined in more detail with the EC Delegation throughout the first part of the year

Activities do not shift to 2007

12 Project Implementation Plan WP06-31-01 Facility to support Meda project/sector approach 13 Terms of Reference

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made by MEDA project to that reform.

some of the recommendations from the ETF report

A map of existing stakeholders in the TVET sector is produced

An action plan for the implementation of the national strategy is approved by the government

New ENP Action Plan includes relevant information provided by ETF monitoring reports on implementation and includes some ETF findings13

due to the fact that the project is at present in its start up phase.

MEDA–ETE

The MEDA-ETE project is funded by the European Commission, with a contribution from the Italian government

2005-2008

Undertaking the role of the Implementation agency for MEDA-ETE project


Bohrène Chakroun (MEDA-ETE Project Leader)

To support MEDA countries in the design of relevant technical and vocational education and training policies that can contribute to promote employment and counteract unemployment.

The ETE regional project is intended to become the platform of exchanges and debates – in a network of decision - makers/institutions of the Euromed partners – for the problems and challenges in training and employment.

Subcomponent 2.3 - Transition from School to Work

The objective is to expose MEDA experts and policy makers to European experience in the transition from education to work through study visits and the production of a thematic study on the transition from education to work in Europe.

Subcomponent 2.1 – EUROMED

Participation of relevant stakeholders in the annual forum and in events organised for each component

Expert input by stakeholders provided in the preparation of thematic and comparative reports

Some topics from the ETE project taken on board in the agenda for reform as a result of the activities carried out in the programme

Subcomponent 2.3 - Transition from School to Work

Production of the thematic study

Discussion of the thematic study and identifying the relevance of the EU experience to the MEDA

Subcomponent 2.1 – EUROMED

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Observatory Function

Promoting a Labour market (LM) and Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) observatory function at the Euromed level.

This sub-component is to be developed in conjunction with the MEDSTAT programme (in particular the MEDSOC project).

Component 2.2 Career Guidance Policies

The objective is to produce country and cross-country analyses of career guidance policies, as well as the establishment of a Regional MEDA Network of Policy Makers in Career Guidance, which is supported by a virtual community/discussion forum on guidance.

Observatory Function

Creation of a permanent expert network of representatives of each MEDA partner

Development of a common online database of key MEDA TVET and LM indicators and statistics.

Strengthened regional cooperation in areas of common interest

Component 2. Career Guidance Policies

Country reports and cross country analyses of career guidance are completed

Regional MEDA Network of Policy Makers in Career Guidance set up.

Network functions as a knowledge network on career guidance for the MEDA region and as a stimulating factor for career guidance development at the national levels.

Component 2.3 “Quality in TVET”

To develop awareness on the EU approaches on quality and QA in TVET in MEDA countries and to build up basis for further actions at national and cross-country levels in the MEDA region.

To draw up a clear and full picture of QA measures and approaches in TVET in the

Component 2.3 “Quality in TVET”

A thematic study concerning quality in TVET development in EU and MEDA region A network of MEDA key stakeholders established with the support of a virtual community A national vision developed in

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Meda countries and to analyse how far these initiatives contribute to increasing quality of the overall education and training system

selected countries

National Qualification Framework in the MEDA Region14

ENPI 07-05 (MEDA and EECA)

Estimated annual budget for Egypt: Euro 28,950

2007-2010

International and Local expertise

Mobilisation of local and international expertise to support activity implementation and methodological development

Missions of experts to provide methodological support and policy advise.

Site visits in EU

Jean Marc Castejon – Team Leader


The objective of the project (2007-2010) is to support the participating countries to develop fully, or partly, a qualification framework. In 2010 it is expected that all 4 countries will be implementing a form or another of a qualification framework in compliance with a validated policy paper.

The period 2008-2010 will take on board the issue of international qualification.

The Overall objective is to contribute to the preparation of a strategy for the development of an NQF system in Egypt.

While the project specific objective is to define synergies with existing initiative for curricula modernisation and support to the creation of a national framework for qualification

An action plan and related implementation strategy for the development of a national qualification framework development is operational by end pf 2007.

Synergies and complementarities with the NSS (National Standard Skills) project are identified during preparatory missions (first quarter of 2007)

Action plan for developing a framework for NQ is agreed with country authorities on the basis of complementarities with existing initiatives.

A draft action plan for NQF development is agreed with country authorities by end of 2007.

Political Stability

Country committed to be involved in the project and willing to cooperate in the development of a realistic action plan for an NQF development

Stakeholders from VET and labour market in country cooperate and take active part in the project.


Transition from Education to Work15

WP06-53-03

A multi country activity involving Egypt, Serbia and Ukraine

2007

Henrik Huitfeldt – Team Leader

Jens Johansen-Expert in statistical analysis

Anastasia Fetsi-Expert in Analysis of education

To develop a new conceptual approach and a new analytical instrument to analyse in a dynamic and integrated way the link between education and work for ETF partner countries.

To analyse the transition from education to work in three ETF partner countries (Egypt, Serbia and Ukraine) in order to better understand the links between education, training and labour market integration of

A conceptual and analytical framework on the topic of transition from education to work prepared

A methodology for a school leaver survey to be implemented in ETF partner countries developed

Country report on the transition from education to work in Egypt, Serbia,

Team of local, international and ETF experts delivering products of high quality

National steering committee members committed to support the project and to disseminate project results

Data is made available by 14 Project Implementation Plan WP 2007 ENPI 07-05 (MEDA and EECA) National Qualification Framework in the MEDA Region 15 Project Implementation Plan WP06-53-03 Transition From Education to Work

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Total budget: Euro 94500

system


AVA and DCl – Project Assistants

young people

The activity was developed by the ETF on the basis of the results of the MEDA-ETE activity on Transition from School to Work.

and Ukraine prepared

Integrating the inputs of the national workshop held in 2006

National workshops organised to discuss country reports and results from school leaver surveys

Final Conference to disseminate project results among main international and local stakeholders.

local institutions

ETE

Vocational Guidance subcomponent

2007 Provision of technical assistance (short tem local and international experts)


Team Leader Helmut Zelloth

To support the MOE and MoMP in Egypt, to further develop policies and practices for career guidance in a joint effort and approach through establishing a National Task Force;

More specifically, local technical assistance to be provided to the task force in developing a concept paper on career guidance (with a focus on VET), followed by a draft outline proposal for a donor funded project.

Production of a concept note paper on a modern career guidance system and services in Egypt

Consultation on the draft concept paper at both national and regional (governorates) levels is conducted

Production of a project proposal

A national dissemination meeting early 2008

Stakeholders cooperate and take active part in the project.

Country committed to be involved in the project and willing to take it further into implementation

Egypt is committed to participate in the project while providing human resources and institutional support at its' own cost

Entrepreneurship

Learning and skills

development

2007-2010

ETF Expert - Anthony Gribben

ETF Expert - Efka Heder

In the context of the Euro-Med Partnership and in response to a direct request from Commission services, the ETF will provide support to DG Enterprise for the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprises on issues related to education and training for entrepreneurship and skills improvement.

Contribution to the working group on entrepreneurship

Identifying indicators for Charter 2 and 3.

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ANNEX 3. Case studies on Observatory Function and Donor cooperate

CASE STUDY ON DONOR COORDINATION

Introduction

Donor coordination within countries often remains one of the great unsolved issues which is difficult to address. Part of the reason is donors have their different agendas and do not necessarily see eye-to-eye on many issues. Another reason is donors want their money to make their brand visible and pooling resources together dilutes that objective. Even amongst the donor countries of the EU, for example, often poor mechanisms exist for cooperation between member state and member state and between member state and the EU. ETF has been quite successful in initiating and strengthening the EU’s cooperation in the area of Human Resources Development in Egypt with two donors; the World Bank and the Italian Trust Fund. This case study will explore the evolution of those partnerships and the lessons that can be learnt for future similar endeavours.

The importance of donor coordination in Egypt stemmed out in 2000, when the ETF, during its mission to identify key areas for effective management and entrepreneurial training concluded that the complex country environment regarding both, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as well as Management Training (MT) in addition to the strategic position of Egypt in Africa and the Middle East had resulted in a multiplicity of donors activities in the field, notably in areas linked to education and training. This multiplicity was further complicated by poor co-ordination and, in some cases, opens competition, which had created distortions in the market of training provision. Long sentences

The first ETF mission for supporting TVET Reform in Egypt, in 2001, reflects how keen it was to initiate cooperation within the country. Discussions were initiated with different donors, whether international (such as the Mubarak Kohl Institute of the GTZ, the French Association nationale pour la Formation Professionnelle des Adultes or AFPA, the Italian Cooperation, EU Private Sector Development Programme, Canadian International Development Agency, and the USAID) or national ones such as the Social Fund for Development.

Supporting Egypt in TVET Reform

World Bank staff has been on detachments of around 10 months in the ETF between 2000 & 2003 and later there was one detachment from the ETF to the World Bank (the detachment to WB has nothing to do with ETF activities in Egypt). The objective of this staff exchange program was to improve their mutual understanding and knowledge about each other’s approaches and operations.

In November 2000, the World Bank approached the ETF to seek support in the identification of a project on Skills Development (SDP) in Egypt. ETF participation in the mission from the SDP was initiated by a World Bank employee who was part of the staff exchange working at the ETF at the time ETF were preparing for the TVET Reform Programme (identification and formulation), and also knowing that the World Bank were also preparing for the SDP. unreadable… The ETF Country Manager for Egypt was proposed to join the project identification team as a technical expert. This request was made as part of ongoing technical cooperation between ETF and the Bank. There were two objectives of the mission 1) to seek confirmation of the Egyptian Government’s overall employment and training strategy and to ensure that the Government would be satisfied that the proposed SDP project would support that strategy; 2) to work with the Government to reach agreement on project objectives and components, and on implementation arrangements.

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During the mission, two key events took place: a) a Government Roundtable meeting chaired by the Minister of Planning, and participated by?? those public sector stakeholders that would be most involved in the SDP project; and b) a subsequent Donors’ Roundtable organised by the World Bank to assist in developing a more co-ordinated donor response to the Government’s Strategy. In addition, the mission attended a third Roundtable meeting on Employment and Training at the invitation of the Ministry of International Co-operation which was attended by government ministries and by donors, and also by private sector representatives.

The Commission was also consistently urging that ETF liaise closely with the World Bank in order to seek complementarity and synergy between the two. It was decided that the WB would focus on the supply side and the EU on the demand side of TVET and both projects would support one another. Thus, at the same time, missions were undertaken by ETF for the Commission to identify projects for EU assistance to the Egyptian TVET reform. From 2001 to 2002 ETF designed a 33M € MEDA TVET reform programme for Egypt at the request of the EC (and supported the launch of it). ETF prepared as well, in close collaboration with EC services, the Technical and Administrative Provisions (TAPs) for the Draft Financing Agreement that was eventually signed by the EC and the GoE. Three key reports were produced by ETF as part of this process – on identification, on feasibility and on the TAPs. Having finalised the formulation of the two projects (TVET Reform of the EU and the SDP of the World Bank) both organisations jointly presented them to the Egyptian Authorities. Representatives of the World Bank team for the Skills Development Project expressed to the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time their appreciation for the EC project design and especially for the complementary approach with their own activities.

Further, ETF interacted with the World Bank on behalf of the EC and jointly with the WB supported the drafting of the 2002 Egyptian policy statement on the reform of TVET. This was adopted by the Egyptian Government and endorsed by the Supreme Council for Human Resources Development in June 2002. The statement was to form the basis for further discussions on an overall policy framework for co-ordinated donor contributions to the reform of the vocational education and training system. The statement called for the following processes to be established:

• Setting up of a policy formulation and management structure

• New legal and regulatory frameworks

• New financial regulations

• A national certification and accreditation body

• A comprehensive quality assurance system

• The setting up of a research and development function

• High-quality provision for training and retraining of teachers and trainers.

• Development of market oriented public and private employment services

• Establishment of a labour market information system

• Development of an occupational and career counselling service

• Labour intensive public works in community based programmes targeted to poverty alleviation

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This was an important document for Egypt as it gave a written coherence on how to move forward in the TVET sector.

Later in 2005, the report ‘Reforming Technical Vocational Education & Training in the Middle East & Africa: Experiences & Challenges’ was a joint project undertaken by ETF and the World Bank. It was the first time that the ETF and the World Bank had engaged in a joint, common analysis of the main challenges for TVET reform in the region. The role of technical and vocational education and training in the provision of quality and relevant learning opportunities in the region was explored in this report, which was organised around five themes: improving governance, financing, quality and relevance, the role of the private sector, and the acquisition of skills in the informal sector.

This report summarised the key findings from detailed country reviews of Egypt and 3 other MENA countries and was completed by a team of national and international experts.

The findings of the report were presented in a major regional seminar held by both institutions in Cairo in September 2006 attended by over 100 policy makers and experts in human resources, as well as donors from all over the Mediterranean region. At that time, upon another request from the Prime Minister to provide strategic support to the TVET sector, the WB and the EU (with the support of the ETF) organised a brainstorming session, in September 2006 which was a policy seminar “Egyptian Day” focusing on the situation of TVET reform in Egypt and the strategic development, with the participation of five key ministries (Minister of Education, Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister of International Cooperation, Minister of Economic Development and Minister of Social Solidarity) and relevant stakeholders. The policy statement, which was developed in 2002, was reviewed and declared to be still valid as the main strategy for TVET reform. A need for an action plan for its implementation was identified, however, plus further strategic development of some of the areas it covered. This was followed by a joint proposal by the EC and the WB submitted to the Ministry of International Cooperation to support Egyptian strategy development of the TVET sector, where ETF was involved on behalf of the EC.

Exploring Issues & Needs in Migration

The Egyptian government has requested a follow up to the “Patterns of Migration and Human Resources Development Issues” which was carried out in 2006-7 on the links between migration, the education and training system, and the labour market by ETF. The follow up activity which aims at contributing to policy development in Egypt by conducting skills needs analysis in selected economic sectors, important for migration to the EU, was a decision jointly undertaken by the ETF, the IC ??? not in the glossary, the World Bank and the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration is now being implemented through a collaborative effort of all four. A steering committee of the World Bank, Italian Cooperation, the ETF and the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration has been formed. This will look at the training needs of potential and returning migrants in 5 sectors: agriculture, construction, textile, catering & tourism, scientific research & mechanical. In this initiative, the World Bank has described ETF’s approach as very logical and systematic. On its part, IC has been working on migration issues in Egypt for quite a while and thus this collaboration fits in with its needs.

Other Instances of Collaboration with the Italian Cooperation

By the end of 2007, ETF had also completed a concept paper on NQF in Egypt. A conference was organised to make the paper public and undertake deliberations on it. This conference was funded by the Italian Cooperation and all key stakeholders were invited to it.

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The Italian Cooperation describes the reports & seminars of ETF as very useful and states there is very good ground for cooperation & discussion. It states that ETF initiatives such as NQF and the Observatory Function are in line with IC’s general strategy and thus there is scope to work together. The IC has used ETF’s 2006 Yearbook in the design of initiatives for the Don Bosco Institute in Cairo and other papers and reports written by it Who? The Don Bosco Technical Institute in Cairo was founded in 1926 with the aim of helping Egyptian teenagers holding a pre-school diploma to enter the job market.

Lessons Learnt

The lessons to be learnt from these experiences are:

• The fostering of linkages depends on the mutual willingness & needs of both donors. Donors will not necessarily come together if the activity does not fit their common agendas or work plans. Seems obvious

• Neither the WB nor IC would have been so keen to collaborate with ETF had they not been impressed with the previous work of the organisation in Egypt. Having a good track record helped gain trust and the willingness to work with ETF.

• Donor coordination also depends upon the personal rapport of the representatives on both sides. This is not an assessment of individual performance but the performance of an institution.

• Donor coordination takes time to bear fruit. ETF has been interacting with the World Bank in Egypt since almost the beginning of its presence there and with IC since at least the last 2-3 years.

• The long term appointment of the same person as Country Manager may personalise the efforts of ETF in Egypt but it ensures consistency and smooth progression in relationships.

Advantages of Donor Coordination

The advantages of donor coordination of ETF with other donors have included

For the Government of Egypt

Coherent and similar messages which are stronger and more credible being conveyed from ETF, the WB and IC enabling, as an example, a universally accepted TVET Policy to be developed.

The government managing more efficient implementation of reform by dialoguing at the same time with different donors who are working together.

Elimination of duplication of activities which created distortions in the sector.

For ETF:

With its limited resources, by tapping funds and expertise from other donors, ETF has been able to maximise its impact and enable a low level of funds to go further than would otherwise have been possible.

By aligning with other donors such as the WB with a common agenda, ETF has been able to dialogue with government from a position of even greater strength.

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It becomes easier for ETF to advise other donors in VET activities of other donors in which it itself is not a partner.

The Egyptian model of donor coordination serves as a model for collaboration with donors in other countries.

For other donors:

Other donors are able to make use of ETF’s highly skilled technical expertise as valuable input into their programmes.

They are able to make use of ETF’s initiated activities such as the observatory function in Egypt to dialogue with other key stakeholders in TVET. The WB is a member of the observatory. Currently, no similar forum exists which has all key stakeholders on board.

They are able to learn, through ETF’s regional conferences, of ETF’s experience in other countries to serve as models of good practise.

Conclusion

Some observers feel that ETF is not very good at coordinating with donors and the examples above are exceptions. Not only ETF, examples are given of the Canadian CIDA, the German GTZ and the Italian Cooperation itself which are said to generally work in isolation. English…GTZ works in the region both on policy level issues and implementation of training issues. There exists scope, according to the Mubarak-Kohl initiative, for collaboration between the two.

There are two bodies which could be viewed as the feasible platform for donor coordination. One is the observatory function which already has some donors as members such as the WB but not others such as IC or GTZ. The other is the newly created Industrial Training Council which is under the Ministry of Trade and Industry and which is supposed to coordinate all TVET initiatives in the country. But there are both advantages and disadvantages to the government leading the process using the ITC umbrella. Certainly, donors like IC would like the forum outside a particular ministry to maintain its independence and across- the- donor board acceptance.

ETF has been able to achieve very good coordination with at least the two donors discussed in this case study and they are both very satisfied with what they have accomplished together with the Foundation. This collaboration is expected to continue & strengthen in the coming years.

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ANNEX 4. List of persons and organisations consulted

Organization Name Position Contact Details Date Remarks 1. EC Delegation Farid Hegazy Expert in Vocational

Training, Social, Rural Affairs, NGOs and Civil Society

• 37 Gamaet El Dowal El Arabeya, El Fouad Office Building, 11th floor

• +202 37494680 • [email protected]

Monday 14/01/2008

2. Mohamed Helal

Project Director • 109, Kasr El Aini Street, Cairo, Egypt • +202 7926147-8-9-51 • [email protected]

3.

TVET Reform Programme

Manfred Diehl Team Leader • 109, Kasr El Aini Street, Cairo, Egypt • +202 7926147-8-9-51 • [email protected]

Monday 14/01/2008

• TVET • Content

Monitoring • Observatory • NQF • Guidance &

Counselling

4. Ministry of Education

Fadl Saber Bayoumy

Director General, Agriculture Education

• +202 2794 04 57 • [email protected]

Tuesday 15/01/2008

Guidance & Counselling

5. Ministry of Manpower and Emigration

Reda Marzouk Abu Ali

Senior Vocational Training Specialist (Administratively Director General grade)

• 3, Youssef Abass, Nasr City, Cairo • +202 260 93 50 • [email protected] & • [email protected]

Tuesday 15/01/2008


6. Ministry of Education - Technical Sector

Nabil Abdel Aziz

First Undersecretary for Technical Education

• 9th floor Mogamaa El Tahrir Bldg, Cairo • +202 27949167/1605 • [email protected]

Wednesday 16/01/2008

• NQF • TVET • Observatory • NQF

7. Ministry of Higher Education - Middle Technical Institutes

Nader Mattar Director of the Egyptian Technical Colleges Project

• 96 Orabi Street, 11th floor, Ministry of Higher Education

• +202-33458610 • [email protected]


• NQF • MEDA ETE-Quality

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Organization Name Position Contact Details Date Remarks 8. Azza Ahmed

Gheita Senior Researcher - Central Department for Vocational Training & HRD

• 3, Youssef Abass, Nasr City, Cairo • +202 22609355 • [email protected]

Transition from Education

9.

Ministry of Manpower and Emigration

Fathi Abu Sina Director General for Vocational Training Centers Affairs

• 3, Youssef Abass, Nasr City, Cairo' • +2027350531/2609355 • [email protected]

Tuesday 15/01/2008

• Transition from Education

• Observatory • MEDA ETE

Component 2.1 Observatories


Magdy Ossman

First Undersecretary - Head of Emigration Sector

• 96 Ahmed Orabi Street, Mohandessin • +2 0233035332 • [email protected]


Patterns of Migration


Magda Abdel Rahman

Advisor to Minister on Migration Issues

• 3, Youssef Abass, Nasr City, Cairo • [email protected]

Tuesday 15/01/2008

Patterns of Migration

12. Ministry of

Manpower and Emigration

Mohamed El Fateh

Advisor to the Minister in or HRD & Training

• 3, Youssef Abass, Nasr City, Cairo • +202 2609355/2609350 • [email protected]

Tuesday 15/01/2008

National Qualification Framework

13. Ministry of Trade

and Industry Hala El Shawarby

Human Resources Director

• 2 Latin America Street, Garden City, Cairo

• 202 27921177 ext 701 • [email protected]


TVET Reform Programme

14. Ministry of Trade and Industry - PVTD

Mohamed Tantawi

Director of PVTD • 3, Kuwait St, Dokki • 202 3371326/3370884 • [email protected]

Thursday 17/01/2008

• TVET • Observatory • MEDA ETE –

Apprenticeship

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Organization Name Position Contact Details Date Remarks 15. Mohamed

Serag Eddin • 3, Kuwait St, Dokki

• +202 3371326/3370884 • Observatory • MEDA ETE -

Apprenticeship 16. Omar El

Farouk Advisor to the Chairman of the SFD in HRD

• Mohi El Din Abu El Ezz - SFD Building • +202-33322109/110 • [email protected]

17.

Social Fund for Development

Samir Radwan Specialist - HRD sector • Mohi El Din Abu El Ezz - SFD Building • +202-33322109/110 • [email protected]


• Observatory • NQF

18. Moubarak Kohl Initiative

Ali Ahmed Sayed

Director - HRD • 12 Waked Street, off Gomhoria street, the Silver Tower 12th floor

• +2 02 25902836 • [email protected]

Thursday 17/01/2008

• Transition from Education


19. World Bank Amira Kazem Consultant • World Trade Center, Corniche El Nil • +202-574 1670/1 • [email protected]

• Donor Coordination

20. Skills Development Programme

Nihal Abdel Hamid

Project Manager • 109, Kasr El Aini Street, Cairo, Egypt • [email protected]

Sunday 20/01/2008

• BOT of the TVET Reform Programme

21. Italian Cooperation

Piera Francesco Solina

Operations • 1079, Corniche El Nil - Garden City - Cairo

• +2 02 27956904 • [email protected]

Tuesday 22/01/2008

• Migration & Skills Donor Coordination

22. Egyptian Federation for Building and Contractors

Anis Tawfik Zakhari

Development and Training Department

• Misr Leiltaameer Trade Centre - Masaken Sheraton

• +202-22660169 • [email protected]

Monday 21/01/2008

• TVET • Observatory • NQF • MEDAETEQuality

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Organization Name Position Contact Details Date Remarks 23. Hussein

Badran HRD Director • 43B Kasr ElNil, Cairo


Tuesday 22/01/2008


24.

Human Resources Development Unit of the Ministry of Tourism Hisham

Mansour Hospitality Development Consultant

• 43B Kasr ElNil • [email protected]

Tuesday 22/01/2008

25. CAPMAS - Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics

Omar Abbas Central Agency Advisor Foreign Affairs

• Salah Salem Street, Nasr City • +2024024099 • [email protected]

Monday 21/01/2008

- Observatory - MEDA ETE

26. Local ETF Expert Atef Abdel Malek

Observatory Function • 12 Waked Street, off Gomhoria street, the Silver Tower 12th floor


Thursday 17/01/2008

Observatory

27. Local ETF Expert Abu Bakr Abdeen

Guidance and Counselling

• 7 Dr. Mohamed Shaheen, floor 11, flat 22, Agouza

• +202 376 259 23 • [email protected]

