Asia Study Tour Evaluation Report

Asia Study Tour – Evaluation Report

At the end of each of the two legs of the study tour, participants were asked to complete an evaluation form rating the quality of selected program and administrative aspects of the tour on a scale ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest rating. The information provided is summarized in Tables 1 to 3 below. Similarly, at the end of each day of the tour, participants were asked to rate the topics dealt with during that day on the same scale. The information provided through these daily evaluations is summarized in Tables 4 and 5.

Table 1: Overall Evaluation - Singapore

Rating / Category 1 2 3 4 5 No Rating Total Number of Responses1 Administrative / Logistics2 - 1 2 17 72 1 93 Percentage - 1% 2% 18% 77% 1% 100% Program3 - - 14 55 110 7 186 Percentage - - 8% 30% 59% 4% 100% Overall Rating - - 1 8 20 2 31 Percentage4 _{- - 3% 28% 69% NA 100%} Average5 - - - 4.66

1 _{The total number of responses was derived from the summation of the responses for each element under}

each Category. A total of 31 participants responded to the evaluation in Singapore Leg.

2_{The 3 elements evaluated under ‘Administrative / Logistics’ category were Hotel Accommodation, Local} Transport and Admin & Logistics Support.

3 _{The 6 elements evaluated under ‘Program’ category were Relevance of Program Content to your Country,} Study Objectives have met your Expectation, Relevance of Site Visits, Choice of Presentation Topics, Quality of Presenters and Presentations and QA Sessions.

4 _{The two respondents who did not provide an overall rating have been excluded from this calculation.} 5 _{This is a weighted average of the ratings given by each participant, using the values of the ratings on the}

Table 2: Overall Evaluation - Vietnam1 Rating / Category 1 2 3 4 5 No Rating Total number of Responses2 Administrative / Logistics - - 12 34 78 2 126 Percentage - - 10% 27% 61% 2% 100% Program - 1 15 97 133 6 252 Percentage - 0.4% 6% 38.5% 52.7% 2.4% 100% Overall Rating - - - 17 25 - 42 Percentage - - - 40% 60% - 100% Overall Average Rating - - - - 4.6 Evaluation Findings

:

The data collected through the evaluation forms show that the participants rated the Asia Study Tour very highly:

• 69% of the participants gave the Singapore leg of the tour the top rating of “5” and 28% rated it “4”. 60% of the participants rated the Vietnam leg “5”and 40% rated it “4”.

• The average rating was 4.66 for the Singapore leg and 4.60 for the Vietnam leg.

Common feedback provided by the respondents when asked for comments were:

Singapore Leg

:

1 On the question on which 2 topics the respondents found most interesting and relevant, feedback and comments were as follows:

• The model used by TVET institutions to link up with the labor market/

industry / economy: 16%

2 Some suggestions for improvement were:

- To include visit to primary school and secondary school;

- To include interaction with lecturers and students during site visit to institutions;

- To allow more time for in-depth discussion and study of certain topics; - To allow more time for Q&A

Vietnam Leg:

1 On the question on which 2 topics the respondent have found most interesting and relevant, feedback and comments were as follows:

- Primary Teachers’ Professional Profile: 26% - Developing a Sustainable Textbook System: 24% - TVET Visit: 14%.

2 Some suggestions for improvement were:

a. To extend the Q&A session so as to encourage more conclusive exchange of experience and ideas with the Vietnamese counterpart;

b. To include visit to secondary and primary school; c. To go into in-depth discussion on certain topics.

Tables 3: Comparison of WB and African Delegate Rating

Rating / Category _{1 2 3 4 5 Total}

WB Respondent Overall Rating in % - - 8% 33% 58% 100% WB Average Rating - - - - - 4.46 Africa Delegate Respondent Overall Rating in % - - - 23% 77% 100% Singapore African Average Rating - - - - - 4.77 WB Respondent Overall Rating in % - - - 80% 20% 100% WB Average Rating - - - - - 4.2 Africa Delegate Respondent Overall Rating in % - - - 27% 73% 100% Vietnam African Average Rating - - - - - 4.73 Evaluation Findings:

1 From the data collected from the evaluation forms, while World Bank staff also gave the tour excellent ratings, their rating were slightly lower than those of the African participants.

•

Table 4: Evaluation of the Individual Day Rating – Vietnam Leg

Discussion Topics

Rating

1

2

3

4

5

Total

Rating -

-

3

18

15

-

Percentage

- - 8 50

42 -

Challenges of

Educational

Development in

Africa

Average - - - 4.34

Rating -

-

2

15

19

-

Percentage - - 5 42

53 -

Overview of

Education in Vietnam

Average - - - 4.48

Rating -

-

4

16

16

-

Percentage - - 12

44

44 -

Vietnam’s EFA

Successes and

Challenges

_{Average - - - 4.32}

Rating -

-

11

18

5

-

Percentage - - 31

50

13.9 -

Panel Discussion –

Vietnam’s

Experiences and its

Relevance to Africa

Average - - - 3.63

Rating -

-

3

21

9

-

Percentage - - 9 64

27 -

Teacher Development

– Professional

Development

_{Average - - - 4.18}

Rating -

1

8

23

2

-

Percentage - 3 24

70 6 -

Student Assessments

(Asian and Other

International

Experience)

Average - - - 3.88

Rating -

-

4

21

9

-

Percentage - - 12

64

27 -

Student Assessments

(Vietnam Experience)

Average - - - 4.27

Rating -

-

5

13

15

-

Percentage - - 15

39

46 -

Vietnam Textbook

Program (Publication,

Distribution and

Finance)

Average - - - 4.31

Rating -

2

9

7

11

-

Percentage - 6 27

21

33 -

Visit to textbook

publication facilities

Average - - - 4.05

Discussion Topics

1

2

3

4

5

Total

Rating -

1

5

14

13

-

Percentage - 3 15 42 39 -

Development of

Lower and upper

Secondary Education

Average -

-

-

-

-

4.14

Rating -

-

5

15

12

-

Percentage - - 15 46 36 -

Education Financing

in Vietnam

Average -

-

-

-

-

4.09

Rating -

-

-

8

10

-

Percentage - - - 44 55 -

Site Visits

Average -

-

-

-

-

4.51

Average Rating

4.18

Table 5: Evaluation of the Individual Day Rating – Singapore Leg

Discussion Topics

Rating

1

2

3

4

5

Total

Rating -

-

16

20

7

-

Percentage

- - 37

47

16 -

Education Challenges

in Africa Overview

and Country

Perspectives

Average - - - 3.79

Rating -

-

1

11

31

-

Percentage - - 2 26

72 -

Development of

Education in

Singapore since

Independence

Average - - - 4.7

Rating -

-

5

16

22

-

Percentage - - 12

37

51 -

Strategic Management

of Education

Development in

Singapore

Average - - - 4.39

Rating -

-

2

19

19

-

Percentage - - 5 44

44 -

Singapore’s

Experience in

Education over 40

Years

Average - - - 4.11

Rating -

-

2

18

25

-

Percentage - - 5 44

44 -

Singapore Teachers’

pre-service Training

and Professional

Development

Average - - - 4.47

Rating -

3

9

22

12

-

Percentage - 6

19.6

48

26 -

Curriculum

Development and

Textbooks in

Singapore

Average - - - 3.93

Rating

- - 3 15

28 -

Percentage - - 7 33

61 -

ICT Masterplanning

for Education:

Singapore’s

Experience

Average - - - 4.58

Rating

- - 4 23

19 -

Percentage - - 9 50

41 -

ICTs Serving

Educational Needs in

Rural Areas: China’s

Experience

Average - - - 4.32

Rating -

-

-

16

24

-

Percentage - - - 40

60 -

Education for Growth:

Korea’s Experience

Discussion Topics

Rating

1

2

3

4

5

Total

Rating -

-

6

15

19

-

Percentage

- - 15

38

48 -

Site Visit to ITE

Balestier Campus

Average - - - 4.37

Rating -

-

6

34

-

Percentage - - - 15

85 -

Thailand’s Experience

in addressing the

challenges of

Secondary Education

Development

Average - - - 4.85

Rating -

-

2

14

23

-

Percentage - - 5 36

59 -

Technical and

Vocational Training in

Singapore

Average - - - 4.54

Rating -

-

-

5

34

-

Percentage - - - 13

87 -

Education for

Tomorrow

Average - - - 4.87

Rating -

-

-

13

26

-

Percentage - - - 33

67 -

Tertiary and

University Education

in the Last 40 Years

Average - - - 4.67

Rating -

2

9

18

10

-

Percentage - 5 23

46

26 -

Textbook

Development in

Singapore

Average - - - 3.93

Rating

- - 3 16

20 -

Percentage - - 8 41

51 -

Site Visit to ITE

College East Simei

Average - - - 4.43

Rating

- - 1 5 26 -

Percentage - - 3 16

81 -

-

Site Visit to Nanyang

Rating

- - - 7 25 -

Percentage - - - 21

78 -

Polytechnic Education

Singapore’s

Experience

Average - - - 4.74

Average Rating

4.45

From the data collected from the daily feedback forms, the participants gave the Vietnam leg of the tour an average rating of 4.18 and the Singapore leg of the tour an average rating of 4.45 in terms of individual topics selected and content delivered in both legs of the tour.

We can conclude that on the whole, the topics selected and the content presented for both legs of the tour by the speakers were rated highly relevant and useful for the participants. We also noted that some participants have reflected in the daily evaluation form that certain topics were not that relevant to them. It is important to note that this arose because the background of the participants was varied where some were involved in supervising TVET, some in primary education, some in secondary education and others in higher education. Since this study tour covers a wide spectrum of the education field, it is inevitable that some topics were more relevant and others were less relevant to the participants.

It is interesting to note that generally, topics on education development and visit to institutions have been rated highly by the participants. For example, the topics on

Development of Education in Singapore since Independence, Education for Growth: Korea’s Experience over 40 years and Thailand’s Experience in addressing the Challenges of Secondary Education Development have all been rated highly by the

participants.

As a follow up to this study tour and arising from the feedback from the participants through the evaluation forms, we could select topics that participants have indicated strong interest in and do an in-depth study on these topics for future study tour.

1 _{See footnotes on Table 4.}