ACCELERE!

2
Accès Lecture Rétention Redevabilité
Programme d’appui à la réforme du secteur de l’education en RDC

POLICY BRIEF

Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance

reform in a fragile state
Taking an adaptive approach Key findings
Cambridge Education implemented a seven-year
governance reform project, ACCELERE!2, in the 1. Adjusting strategy to changing contexts and
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), focusing on realities maximises chances of success
the education sector. In 2021, DRC was the 5th most
fragile country1 in the world and ranked 169th out of 180 Politics, geopolitical or natural crises, and social
countries in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index2. pressure influence contexts more prominently in a
fragile state such as DRC. Priorities and entry points
In a context of uncertainty and weakness of national change frequently, as do the key partners who might
institutions, taking an adaptive approach appeared to be willing to push for change and change their
be the only way of making progress. This Information position according to their interests and changing
Brief draws on the experience of ACCELERE!2 and political environment. A solid Monitoring, Evaluation,
identifies findings, case studies and conclusions that Accountability and Learning (MEAL) system used
have informed or supported the programme’s adaptive for decision making, combined with stakeholders’
approach to delivering governance reform in DRC’s engagement analysis and other adaptive programming
education sector. tools such as road maps enabled the ACCELERE!2
team to adapt approaches depending on context.

In practice, this means:

- Hiring and training an expert M&E team to capture

quantitative and qualitative progress.

- Close communication with local teams to reflect on

insights and adjust ways of working.

- Reviewing strategy and stakeholders’ analysis

regularly (at least monthly).

1
Fragile States Index published by the Fund for Peace organization - Challenging roadmaps regularly through collective
2
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021/index/cod discussion.

Building capacity
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2. It is important to keep the “bigger picture” in 4. Being wrong and failing is acceptable in
mind when evaluating the trajectory of change finding sustainable routes to reform
and accept when it is necessary to delay acting
Change management is not an exact science. Being
There is no simple, linear relationship between wrong and failing is part of the process of identifying
the provision of technical inputs and improved positive pathways forward. Strengthening systems and
responsiveness to governance reform, or measures supporting governance reform is not about being right
to increase accountability. In the complex area of about how to reach objectives. It is about identifying
accountability and system strengthening in DRC, opportunities and creating the space for change with
positive steps forward can be followed by a hardening stakeholders.
of resistance that sets progress back. When evaluating
In practice, this means:
the trajectory of change, not only should teams to be
guided by a clear understanding of nuanced power - Being prepared to drop some previously planned
dynamics and political economy analysis but also activities or approaches if they are not working.
keep in mind the “bigger picture” and a long-term
perspective to fully appreciate progress and adjust - Being as transparent as possible with donors and
approaches. Taking into account this bigger picture partners to explain the rationale behind what is
is useful to identify the right time to ‘hold space dropped or changed within the programme.
for change’, press for incremental change and/or
opportunities for transformational change.
5. Empowering actors to own change is essential
In practice, this means: for long term sustainability
- Recognising the need to stop working on areas that ACCELERE!2’s adaptive approach allowed the team
encounter too much resistance, but to find different to maintain ongoing consultations with local actors
entry points to achieve the same long-term vision. who were seen as partners rather than beneficiaries,
and who contributed to reorient our approaches by
- Setting ambitious goals for the long-term vision
providing regular feedback. This in turn empowered
in roadmaps, and accepting that progress can be
them, building their ownership of governance reform
achieved through different routes.
approaches. In fact, ACCELERE!2’s experience shows
that a project can only contribute to significant and
tangible improvements in the governance of education
3. Developing a sound understanding of local
when it helps to shift the balance of power between
context and dynamics of power underpins state decision-makers, the government and the most
successful adaptation vulnerable.
To adapt and prepare to adapt, it is important to fully In practice, this means:
understand the context for change. This means not only
understanding the rationale behind change, but being - Providing training and coaching to a broad range of
prepared to adapt when potential shifts or blockages actors including Parliament, church representatives,
might happen. Gathering information helps this parents’ associations, community leaders, etc.
preparation and may ensure blockages do not come as
- Improving access to data and information for
a surprise.
all these actors, so they have better contextual
In practice, this means: knowledge and can act upon it.

- Developing a political economy analysis as part of the

programme baseline and enriching this analysis as
implementation continues.

- Organising the programme team and internal

communications to allow insights to be communicated
from the bottom up and from the top down.

- Training and supporting teams to develop adaptative

ways of thinking and operating.

Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance reform in a fragile state

POLICY BRIEF

6. Instilling the right balance between innovation 7. Partnering with a wide range of stakeholders,
and planning within the team ensures adaptive especially those not involved in the day-to-
approaches can succeed day functioning of the system, broadens and
strengthens routes to reform
Rather than selecting an approach and sticking to it,
adaptive programming is about remaining strategically To be effective and efficient, a system requires the
and technically agile in order to remain open to new involvement of a wide range of actors both at local,
opportunities. There is therefore a need within the team provincial and national levels. Because they may not
to be able to access insights, step back and strike the feel legitimate, powerful enough and/or because
right balance between rigour in maintaining objectives they do not have the proper information about their
but not rigidness. It is important to encourage a rights, these actors do not fully play their role in the
mindset at all levels of team that sees technical education system, leaving the space for central and
assistance as a way of creating space for innovation deconcentrated actors. An adaptative approach
rather than a prescriptive logic, remaining open without requires partnering with many actors to empower them
being undisciplined. This approach requires a good in order to change the dynamic of power, and in doing
understanding of how the system works in order to so create alternative routes to reform which were not
contribute to strengthening existing systems instead evident at the outset.
of creating new additions to the system which are
unsustainable. In practice, this means:

In practice, this means: - Working with non-state actors, community actors,

churches, etc, to build a critical mass and put pressure
- Training the programme team in working politically. on state actors.

- Ensuring operations and finance teams understand - Building the capacity of actors who are not
the approach and find the right balance between traditionally involved in education but whom may have
procedures and planning and the need for flexibility power to make changes, such as national or regional
and short-term adjustment. parliament, deconcentrated administrative actors, etc.

- Reviewing procedures to maximise flexibility.

Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance reform in a fragile state

POLICY BRIEF

Adaptative management: at the intersection of technical flexibility, adaptative

programming and working politically: case studies.

CASE STUDY N°1: CASE STUDY N°2:

From a deeply rooted school fees system to Free A reform of the administrative offices first
primary Education designed by provincial actors

ACCELERE!2 began in a context in which legal and illegal The education system in DRC is managed through a
school fees were collected in an extremely opaque complex overlapping structure of administrative offices,
manner by a broad range of actors. Most national actors which is both expensive and inefficient. ACCELERE!2
benefited from the ongoing system, and discussing started by defining the norms and standards for the
school fees was highly taboo. ACCELERE!2’s approach operation of administrative offices, and job descriptions
therefore involved collecting data and evidence on school to define staff roles and responsibilities. ACCELERE!2
fees through research. The programme used political then coached the administrative offices at provincial and
economy analysis and regular stakeholder analysis to sub provincial levels, assisting them in self-assessing
identify who had formal and informal decision-making performance. This triggered provincial actors to consider
power to drive a school fee reform, and used this what was not working in the existing system, leading
analysis to build a critical mass to advocate for change. to the development of proposals for reform. These
ACCELERE!2 facilitated collaborative discussions to proposals were channelled to central level using a
enable local actors to advocate in safety through in a bottom-up approach.
group setting, which encouraged greater transparency ACCELERE!2 strengthened the capacities of central level
and accountability. ACCELERE!2’s roadmaps enabled the actors, who were initially firmly opposed to the reform
navigation of political uncertainty, as well as a degree of such a politically sensitive matter. Importantly, the
of flexibility while setting an ambitious long-term vision programme empowered central level actors to push for
regarding education financing. this reform based on increased efficiency of the whole
As focusing solely on the Ministry of Education for reform system. This led to the Minister approving the proposed
would achieve limited results, ACCELERE!2 adapted its reform, after six years of working with actors at all levels
approach to raise awareness among communities, civil of the system, building political will and appetite for
society and the churches on the school fees system. The reform, and increasing pressure on MoE with support
programme was instrumental in building political will for from civil society and the churches. During these six
school fee reform, by increasing internal and external years, there have been periods appropriate to create
pressure on the MoE. space for the reform, hold space (while fighting strong
oppositions at central level) and push for change, with
varied approaches that required flexibility from our team.

Administrative offices Coaching 2019 Advocacy through churches

georeferencing, highligting and CSOs 2021
gaps. 2016

1 2 3 4 5 6

Norms & standards 2018 Reform proposal 2020 Reform approved 2022

Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance reform in a fragile state

POLICY BRIEF

CASE STUDY N°4: CASE STUDY N°5:

Pivoting our support to the teachers’ payroll Rethinking how to support the Sexual and
system Reproductive Health teaching in DRC

At the start of our programme, ACCECLERE!2 was Under ACCELERE!2’s Girls’ Education focus, strengthening
providing support to SECOPE, the MoE structure in charge sexual and reproductive health (SRH) teaching at school
of the teachers’ payroll, to improve the efficiency and level was an important systemic entry point, as it was
security of their database, and to expand the proportion part of the national curricula and already benefitted from
teachers paid through bank accounts. However, while significant project and MoE support. However, qualitative
doing this, a large number of fake decrees were identified research soon showed that 1) the SRH national manuals
in the database that indicated fake teachers or schools contained harmful and misleading content and could not
were being paid every month by the state. ACCELERE!2 be used, and 2) that teachers were not trained on SRH
thus reoriented to conduct a national check of all school content nor on participative pedagogical practices, and
creation decrees and found out that around 30% schools therefore did not deliver any quality content during classes
had no decree to prove their existence, while 11% had a – even spreading harmful information by ignorance or due
fake one. This provided justification to cease work on the to their conservative values.
SECOPE database, as the whole system was too corrupt
and not open to change. ACCELERE!2 focused its efforts This revelation prompted a rapid adaption in approach,
in raising awareness on the SECOPE’s gaps and problems with ACCELERE!2 supporting community discussions
and called for a major reform to improve transparency on sexual and reproductive health, and training on
and accountability. Flexibility was vital in this piece of participative pedagogy for teachers, while providing
work, as continuing to work only on the database would precise recommendations at central level on the current
have entrenched irregularities in the existing system gaps and how to reform SRH teaching. ACCELERE!2
rather than strengthened it. succeeded in securing agreement from MoE and
current partners on the need to review existing manuals.
This example illustrates the need for projects and
development partners to remain flexible and open to
changing solutions and ways forward as they go, with the
overall objective to strengthen existing systems.

Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance reform in a fragile state

POLICY BRIEF

Eight steps for adaptive programming in a fragile state

1 Always take a change management approach: Whilst a change management approach is harder to measure, it
inspires deeper and more sustainable transformation. This means seeking to understand and acknowledge the
assumptions, power dynamics and structures that are the root causes of poor governance, as opposed to the
behaviours of individuals or the symptoms of poor governance. Whilst it is easier to measure “event level” changes
and harder to track transformative change, change management requires a deeper analysis of how change is
taking place. It also allows teams to focus on where they might gain the most traction. Identify the change agents,
their interests, their opportunities for leverage and the incentives that would make them change. A continuous
change management approach means identifying the long-term vision and strategy, but also the quick wins that
could help to get there. It also involves developing the appropriate mindset and skills in the programme team and
adopting that approach as a routine, through training and close mentoring from the leadership team.

2 Design the vision taking into account the “insiders” analysis: Accept that complexity requires multi-disciplinary
and multi-stakeholders’ approach in order both to identify the binding constraints and leverage strengths, and
work in parallel in unblocking the problems and creating a new dynamic.

3 Design a solid MEAL system and actively use it to inform decision-making and lessons learnt: Design and
implementation must be informed by solid research and evidence. Data should be used for decision-making
during the project life, to make changes based on feedback received, and evidence generated.

4 Promote ownership of approaches through co-design with local actors: Development needs to be done by
people for themselves and not imposed by external actors. This means including all relevant actors from the
community, school staff, and children themselves as partners (rather than beneficiaries) in co-designing and
co-implementing future projects. It also means going beyond consultations to put in place actual co-creation
mechanisms, with feedback loops from beneficiaries so that projects can adapt their approach along the way.

5 Remain flexible and adaptative no matter what: Flexibility is vital to address changing contexts and volatile
politics. It is important to use roadmaps to set a long-term vision but remain open to achieving core objective
through different pathways, adapting the approach when blockages are encountered along the way.

6 Work politically to achieve behaviour change: A structured and analytical approach to working with main partners
will help the programme focus on key beneficiaries. Mechanisms such as quarterly stakeholder analysis updates
and targeted technical assistance plans can help develop a wider view. It is useful to regularly review whether
there is a need to expand stakeholder engagement depending on the circumstances and identify key champions
able to act as levers and build pressure for change by engaging with a range of actors and system levels.

7 Build political will and creating momentum: Building political will demands a mix of technical skills, strategic
vision, and political capacity building. Application of constant political pressure is key, especially for politically
sensitive topics.

8 Be realistic. Some things will be achieved, some things will not, and new opportunities will arise – be alert, open
and flexible!

This document has been produced as part of activity 2 of the ACCELERE! Programme.

ACCELERE!2, implemented by Cambridge Education, provides support for the reform of the Congolese education system with
financial support from UK aid and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

For more information, contact: [email protected]; [email protected].

or visit: https://accelereeducationrdc.org/

POLICY BRIEF ACCELERE!2

Accès Lecture Rétention Redevabilité
Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance reform in a fragile state Programme d’appui à la réforme du secteur de l’education en RDC

Adaptive Programming: an essential aspect of governance reform in a fragile state