UNICEF Nigeria | Independent Evaluation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 in Nigeria

September 2020 – December 2021

UNICEF awarded Alegre Associates, Inc. and EdIntersect a contract to design and conduct an independent evaluation for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) in Nigeria. SDG4 aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. For this evaluation, EdIntersect provides the education evaluation team, which brings technical support, expertise in the education sector and resources for the completion of a high-quality evaluation in accordance with the standards from UNICEF and the government of Nigeria.

The specific objectives of the independent evaluation are to: measure the extent to which the Education Sector Strategic Plan (2016-2019) has been effectively implemented with regards to the provision of access, equity and quality basic education for girls and boys; assess the level of completion for girls and boys at basic education; determine the extent to which effective learning outcomes have been achieved; understand the driving factors (explanations), strengths and weaknesses (bottlenecks) in the implementation of selected strategic education programs, and provide strategic policy recommendations that will identify innovative actions to help the federal government, sub-national governments, development partners and non-state actors to accelerate progress and achieve SDG4 in Nigeria within the last decade of SDG Action 2020-2030.

To accomplish this important evaluation, EdIntersect provides the evaluation team including the team leader, two education advisors serving as lead statistician and assessment coordinator, a Nigeria-based national evaluator, and oversight from a technical director who maintains close coordination with the Alegre technical director for the SDG4 health evaluation being conducted concurrently. The team developed a summary synthesis of existing studies, a detailed inception report, and a secondary data analysis before beginning field data collection using mixed methods. The approach combines key informant interviews in six states of Nigeria, along with a school-based survey of primary learning outcomes in those same six states. The findings will assist the national, state, and local governments in developing and improving the implementation modalities of their education strategic plan for acceleration of progress towards SDG4. It will also provide sound evidence on whether the implementation of the education ministry’s strategic plan has contributed to achieving SDG4.