Paper short abstract:

This paper presents the findings of the global mapping study and the utility of Citizen-led assessments in non-PAL Network member organizations in Africa and the flow of learning assessment methodologies; lessons from the citizen-led assessment approach in the context of South-South cooperation.

Paper long abstract:

Measuring learning outcomes has long been associated with the global North and flow linearly to the Global South. According to Brookings Institute (2016), assessment methodologies, approaches, and tools in the global south have borrowed mainly from the global North, where systems are presumably developed. In other cases, national systems are relied upon to measure learning and determine program effectiveness where learning interventions happen.

The citizen-led approach started in 2005 in South Asia when India's largest non-governmental organisation (Pratham) conducted an assessment of learning in 600 plus districts in rural India. The study was later christened the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). This Citizen Led approach involving the use of citizens to assess children in basic reading and numeracy later spread across the global South in Africa, South Asia, and Central America. A Network of organizations and programs implementing these assessments was formed in 2015 named the PAL Network.

The horizontal flow of by adapting and adopting this methodology has been evident in Africa. However, questions arise on the extent of this flow, patterns, and the motivations for adopting and adapting the Citizen led approaches (for assessment and in some cases interventions) in Africa among countries and organizations that are non-members of the PAL Network. Furthermore, there is limited knowledge on the utility of these approaches in responding to the local assessment needs and program delivery is worth interrogating. Besides, the enablers, as well as the barriers to this horizontal flow of assessment approaches, is another glaring knowledge gap.

In an attempt to respond to these questions, PAL Network conducted a global mapping study on the spread and utilisation of the Citizen led approaches in non-member organisations in both PAL Network countries and non-network member countries. This paper presents the findings of the global mapping study and the utility of Citizen-led assessments in non-PAL Network member organizations in Africa. The paper reveals that global south methodologies for learning assessment such as the citizen-led approaches flow horizontally. Furthermore, the approaches flow for different purposes and take different forms of adoption and adaptation.

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