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Implementation Science? Decoding the complexity and contextual nature of system change work in large scale government-nonprofit collaborative programs in India

Mon, March 24, 9:45 to 11:00am, Palmer House, Floor: 3rd Floor, Salon 5

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Governments and nonprofits are collaborating in India for significant and sustainable change in foundational learning at scale. Strengthening the government system and some system reform is an important part of some of these collaborative programs. The past five years have seen a burgeoning trend of government and nonprofit collaborations for supporting state-wide system-led foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) programs. For the first time in the history of Indian education, such collaborations have been formalized to provide system-level support to governments for policy, programs and practices in almost half the states in the country with an enrolment of about 30 million children in Grades 1 to 3. The distinguishing features of these partnerships are the focus on system strengthening and change, large scale impact and work on several dimensions like programme design, effective implementation and some policy reform. This is a big shift from the traditional view of non-profits supporting governments only for service delivery. In some of these states, credible nonprofits have formed coalitions to provide more comprehensive support to state governments. Early-stage evaluations indicate that these collaborations are showing some good results (Educational Initiatives, 2024).

There is limited evidence in the education sector about the processes and outcomes of such collaborations between governments and nonprofits. How can system strengthening and reform be prioritized alongside measurable improvement in learning outcomes through such partnerships? What ‘ways of working’ have helped forge successful and result-oriented partnerships with the government? What challenges tend to undermine a genuine collaborative model? A meta-analysis for the health sector lists challenges like distrust between the organizations, lack of effective communication, lack of a structured mechanism for coordination, overlap in roles and responsibilities, difficult processes within the government, governments’ inclination to control, lack of transparency and accountability of non-profits etc. (Rajabi et al 2021). There is much less evidence on the working of collaborations aiming for large-scale impact and sustainable systemic change, which is the focus of this panel. On a relationship continuum, this has been called a committed relationship where both non-profits and governments have committed to invest the necessary resources to maintain and strengthen the relationship for the foreseeable future for clearly identified and shared objectives (Pandey et al 2017). A useful framework to understand the ‘real’ collaborative nature of non-profit and government partnership identifies two dimensions: mutuality and organizational identity (Brinkerhoff 2022).

This panel will attempt to address some of the following questions in the context of large-scale ‘system change’ programs where nonprofits and governments have collaborated in India: What works (or doesn’t work)? Why (what are the reasons why it worked or didn’t work or worked partly)? For whom (which of the stakeholders benefitted and what were the outcomes)? What aspects of the program can be scaled in different contexts?

Most evaluations of large-scale programs offer evidence only about the impact in the form of improvement in student learning. They do not focus on descriptions of the contexts, the processes of implementation and the changes experienced by different stakeholders in the education ecosystem. The panel will make a case for more systematic ‘implementation research’ to study ‘what works or doesn’t work’ in system-focused government-nonprofit collaborative partnerships in different contexts.

The first paper, “Is Implementation Science a Myth? Learning from Collaborative work with Governments in India”, analyzes the challenges of working with the government as well as coalition partnerships between nonprofits and outlines some strategies that have worked well in these result-oriented partnerships in India, based on the experience of Language and Learning Foundation and other nonprofits. A case is made out for much more implementation research in varied contexts to understand some good implementation practices (as well as practices to avoid) in such large-scale partnerships. The second paper, “Strengthening Systems for Foundational Learning: Insights from the NIPUN Bharat FLN Mission in Haryana, India”, examines the state’s journey for improving foundational learning over the past few years. It provides insights into how the national FLN Mission (NIPUN Bharat) had been adapted and contextualized for the state. The paper also discusses how the state government and nonprofit collaboration has worked to implement a high quality large-scale FLN program. The third paper, “Learnings from working with governments to improve children’s learning”, reflects and examines the experiences of Pratham Education Foundation’s work with governments in different contexts in India and sub-Saharan Africa. Through four case studies, the paper highlights the need to unpack ‘system change’ and ‘scaling’ in the varied contexts of working with the government. The fourth paper, “NIPUN Bharat: System Reform journey from salience & policy to design, rollout & green-shoots of impact”, explains how coalitions of nonprofits have collaborated in deep partnerships with governments as part of India’s nation-wide FLN Mission. It highlights the learning and impact from this collaborative work of Central Square Foundation and other nonprofits with the two state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The four papers would also include analyses of how large-scale digital interventions have been deployed by governments for assessments, monitoring and teacher professional development. Overall, these four papers provide insights into the ways in which system-focused partnerships between nonprofits and governments have worked in India in the past decade. They would also bring out the need for a deeper understanding of how implementation works in varied contexts.

The four invited research papers, the chair and discussant- drawn from founders of some of the most reputed and system-oriented nonprofits in India, a government representative and global thought leaders in implementation research will bring in diverse ideas, experiences and expertise on the issue of large-scale government and nonprofit collaborations. The panel’s deliberations will be useful for most other contexts of work in education in LMICs.

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