Understanding Cost Impacts at Scale: A retrospective cost-economy and cost-efficiency analysis for a USAID Education scale-up activity in Mozambique

• In Event: Using Cost Measurement and Analysis For Continuous Learning and Improvement in the Education Sector

Proposal

World Education (WE) has been collecting and reporting data on USAID-funded education interventions in Mozambique since USAID’s Center for Education piloted the Cost Reporting Guidance in 2017. First as a major subcontractor on the USAID Vamos Ler! Activity, and now as prime implementer of the scale-up activity, World Education has sufficient data to apply the USAID Cost Analysis Guidance for USAID-Funded Education Activities to present a retrospective cost analysis of adjustments between the two activities for implementation at scale and their respective impact on cost-economy and cost-efficiency.

USAID Vamos Ler! (VL) worked from 2016-2021 to improve the literacy skills of children in two Mozambican provinces through the introduction of bilingual education in 2,035 schools in Grades 1-3. The follow-on activity, USAID Improved Learning Outcomes in Primary Education (SABER) (2022-2027), expands bilingual education to a planned 4,000+ schools across 4 provinces reaching Grades 1-6. With this increase in scale, WE was able to support multiple adjustments to the implementation model, with a focus on developing an effective and sustainable Bilingual Expansion Strategy led by Mozambique’s Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH).

This presentation will review multiple adjustments in the scale-up activity; specifically:
Cascade Training Model: SABER made multiple adjustments to the training model to accommodate scale and alignment to MINEDH policies and procedures. MINEDH and SABER devised multiple cost minimization strategies fully aligned with the Government of Mozambique Per Diem policy. The adjustments led to multiple cost savings; however, at the expense of logistical hurdles that the program overcame. The analysis should prove interesting to Implementing Partners confronting similar considerations.
Building on Previous Program Successes: Throughout the USAID VL activity, a lot of time and energy was spent on systems strengthening with the various decentralized MINEDH offices. These successes allowed the SABER program to refocus efforts less on overall systems strengthening activities, and more on community/school-based interventions. The analysis will show the extent and cost impact of the shifting of these resources.
Local Partner Engagement and Ownership: The USAID VL activity had a limited grants portion for the engagement of local partners. Consistent with the overall USAID Localization strategy, USAID SABER has expanded that involvement through the engagement of 4 local partners as sub-awardees leading multiple components of the activity. The shift of multiple activities to local partner leadership and ownership has had positive impacts, including on the cost-efficiency of interventions. The analysis will provide specific examples of local partners implementing at scale utilizing innovative ideas and cost efficient models.

Additionally, the presentation will provide a preview of interesting data yet to be collected and analyzed by the program. In 2024, World Education and USAID SABER will be expanding bilingual education to two new provinces, including one province (Cabo Delgado) which requires additional security measures for implementation due to the current security situation. This expansion will provide an opportunity to analyze costs in the context of Replication (as defined by the USAID Cost Analysis Guidance) in two different contexts.

Author

• Yuri Machkasov, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.