Implementing a participatory Track & Trace system within a Teaching and Learning Materials Supply Chain

• In Event: Evidence-based decision making in education
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: From development to distribution: lessons learned in book supply chain

Proposal

A Track & Trace (T&T) intervention is primarily a tool that is used to facilitate transparency surrounding the distribution of reading materials -a key component within the Teaching and Learning Materials Supply Chain. The primary beneficiaries in any such intervention are the students and the teachers- for whom the reading materials may not be delivered, or if so, may be in insufficient quantity.
To promote transparency, an effective T&T system would address basic questions regarding the delivery of any teaching and learning materials during the distribution stage:
• What books are arriving, and what quantity?
• When are the books arriving?
• Where are the books, now?
• Who can I contact if the books are not arriving?

An essential element of the T&T intervention is its participatory nature, involving teachers, parents and students in the track and trace activity. Opening up the window on information about delivery to people that are not typically part of the distribution chain allows for empowerment at the local, community level. Such a participatory follow up system may benefit from today’s availability of mobile connectivity in many low-income areas in the world.
In Honduras, Avanzando con Libros, in collaboration with blueTree Group, will support the Ministry of Education (SEDUC) in the implementation of a participatory T&T tool. The following stages have been planned for this implementation:
• Gap analysis: ACL and its partners conducted a participatory gap analysis to determine the best course forward for implementation of the T&T system. This gap analysis considered what was desired and what existed in country and helped to identify the stakeholders within the national book supply chain: Printing companies, SEDUC administrators, SEDUC EMIS or IT staff, Courier personnel, School Department personnel, School Directors, Teachers, Parents, and Community Members. The analysis identified how all these stakeholders play a part in the participatory T&T system and serve to reinforce each other. The presentation will share ACL’s lessons learned and how it has integrated those lessons into other activities.
• Pilot stage: In January 2019, ACL, along with blueTree Group, will lead a pilot implementation of the T&T tool in 20 schools. The T&T solution implemented in this stage will be integrated to the existing EMIS. The presentation will explore the lessons learned from this process
• Scaling-up phase: ACL will also discuss how data gathered during the pilot stage will be analysed to develop a scaling-up plan that will include all of the projects 2,500 target schools and how the learnings gleaned from the pilot stage will be incorporated in a revised version of the T&T tool.
For successful implementation, ACL considers T&T to be an essential component of the distribution process and that transparency should never be a barrier to distribution. From ACL’s perspective, the learner is the main beneficiary of a well implemented T&T. However, in addition to the student who receives books, the courier and logistics operators, open source and commercial software vendors, the Department and School directors, Parents and Donors of books are key for the success of the T&T system.

Author

• Juan Felipe Sanchez Franco, Chemonics