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Policy Labs and Evidence Use in Education on ‘Let’s Talk Education Africa’
Over the past two decades, governments have increasingly used policy units and labs to push for educational reforms. However, research on EdLabs is scarce—less than 40% of the 76 policy labs assessed in one review pertained to education.
During a recent ‘Let’s Talk Education Africa’ podcast episode, Samuel Kembou—Global Lead for Learning and Evidence at the Jacobs Foundation— and Marcela Morales Hidalgo—Associate at On Think Tanks—delved into the core findings and recommendations from the 2023 Jacobs Foundation and On Think Tanks’ ‘Policy Labs and Evidence Use in Education’ review for Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
The discussion, hosted by Stephen Senyo Tettegah—Country Manager at the Luminos Fund—centred on policy labs in Africa and how they can inform policy makers. Stephen—an international education and development professional with over a decade of experience in the education and development space—guided the conversation to explore how we can better understand and use policy labs to catalyze the change we wish to see in education systems.
The definition of EdLabs is broad
When asked why it was important to conduct research into policy labs, specifically those focusing on education, Samuel reiterated the effectiveness that policy labs bring to policymaking and ensure that innovations and decision-making are rooted in evidence. Marcela pointed out how the evidence landscape is contested and how tensions exist between the different approaches to assessing data and evidence. The report aims to shed light on the diverse understandings of what it means to use evidence and deploy it in practice, as this sort of knowledge hasn’t previously been explored in education.
The impetus for the report lies in how evidence can influence not only the work of policy labs, but eventually policymaking—so it is important to understand how EdLabs operate and engage with their stakeholders for maximum impact.
Field of evidence use in education is new
Senyo noted how policy labs are well established as a medium for informing innovation and advancements in many other fields, such as environmental technologies and rare disease research and questioned why it has taken longer for this effective model to root itself in education. Both Samuel and Marcela drew on the findings from the report to illustrate why this has been the case, namely, the complex political context in which EdLabs often find themselves operating. However, they pointed out how there is ample opportunity for education to be a testbed for effective policy lab interaction. By learning from other sectors that have long used the policy labs model, stakeholders in global education can see how evidence has been implemented in practice in other areas, such as healthcare and the environment.
Governments and other political bodies can implement the research from EdLabs to inspire the system change that we want to see in all education settings. In Ghana, the Jacobs Foundation is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, spearheading the development of the EdLab, which serves as a hub for generating and applying rigorous academic research to help improve education across the board. Listen to the full episode to learn more.
Let’s Talk Education Africa
Let’s Talk Education Africa is a podcast that explores themes in education practice and research, sharing the inspiring stories of educators and innovators making a difference in their schools and communities. The podcast is aimed at those interested in education in Africa, who may work as teachers, education administrators, or leaders, and those who research education policy and practice in Africa.
