Côte d'Ivoire Advances Its National Education Research Agenda

The Laboratoire pour l'Éducation (Ed Lab), housed within the Directorate of Studies, Strategies, Planning, and Statistics (DESPS) of Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of National Education, Literacy, and Technical Education (MENAET in French), with the technical support of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), is implementing a national Education Research Agenda to strengthen the production and use of rigorous evidence in education policy and programming. The agenda promotes impact evaluations, pilot projects, and exploratory studies organized around four thematic priorities: pedagogical approaches, the teaching workforce, barriers to school enrollment, and education system planning. The agenda also emphasizes the development of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems to support the implementation of evidence-informed policies at scale.

From May 18 to 22, 2026, the Ed Lab convened a five-day in-person workshop in Yamoussoukro to draft, harmonize, and pre-validate the terms of reference (ToR) for priority studies preselected under the national Education Research Agenda, ahead of competitive calls for proposals. The workshop was designed around a co-construction approach, ensuring that research questions and methodological frameworks reflect the priorities and realities of Côte d'Ivoire's education system. It brought together Ed Lab staff and key technical resource persons from MENAET in a structured participatory setting. Working in thematic subgroups, participants defined research questions, conceptual and methodological frameworks, key deliverables, and preliminary budget estimates for each priority study to ensure scientific coherence and structural consistency across all ToRs. The workshop produced a consolidated set of harmonized ToRs ready for institutional validation, an operational roadmap for launching upcoming calls for proposals, and a synthesis report documenting key decisions and next steps. Following the workshop, the MENAET will issue a call for applications through the Ed Lab for its first competitive education research fund.

Furthermore, from May 28-30, IPA held another workshop with MENA to review progress and define the annual work plan for the Ed Lab in 2026. During this workshop, members of the Ed Lab team from DESPS and IPA took stock of the activities carried out under the 2024-2025 work plan and defined priority areas for 2026, including finalizing and approving the Annual Budgeted Work Plan (Plan de Travail Annuel Budgétisé, or PTAB, in French), developing an implementation schedule, and establishing a performance monitoring mechanism. This workshop also included a session to strengthen the team's capacities on the tools used to run the Lab. 

Through this initiative, IPA and its partners reaffirm their commitment to strengthening the evidence base for education policy and supporting evidence-informed decision-making in Côte d'Ivoire.

Participants who attended the May 18-22 workshop. © 2026 Jean Luc Yao