In recent years there has been growing interest across Governments and education Development Partners in looking beyond the formulation of best practice and policies, to focus on implementation and ‘getting things done’ using a set of ideas and structures called the ‘Delivery Approach’. This approach encompasses the set-up and operations of centralised ‘Delivery Units’ and the application of best practice principles. Initially popularised in the early 2000s by the UK Government, they have been applied in diverse contexts such as Tanzania, Punjab and Malaysia.
Tanzania’s Big Results Now! (BRN) Education was a transformational government led programme initiated in 2013 and which sought to apply the Delivery Approach to dramatically improve examinations results across Tanzania’s 20,000 public schools, particularly through enabling and motivating teachers and the use of accountability measures derived from learning assessments. This paper, written by practitioners directly involved in BRN, provides reflections on the political economy, achievements and challenges of education system reforms, particularly surrounding teachers. It looks beyond public proclamations of success to consider whether BRN was genuinely effective in delivering sustainable improvements in learning.
The paper considers the extent to which BRN Education adhered to the principles of successful delivery and its sustainable impact on quality and access. In so doing we identify important lessons regarding the application of education system performance management through country-led (rather than donor-driven) reform programmes. We note limitations in wholesale export of prescriptive educational reforms, and the need for local inclusive and politically grounded solutions that tackle the main barriers to equitable teaching and learning.
These lessons may enhance global efforts to deliver inclusive and quality education for sustainable development. As set out in The Learning Generation’s call to action (Education Commission, 2016), performance management delivery approaches are one of four pillars required to deliver education reform to scale.
