A photo of participants at Côte d’Ivoire’s Ed Lab "Coffee Chat" capacity-building series

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 and Literacy (MENA), with the technical support of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the financial support of the Jacobs Foundation, continues to strengthen the technical capacities of education stakeholders through a new capacity-building initiative.

As part of its 2025–2026 work plan, the Ed Lab launched a five-session “Coffee Chat” capacity-building series aimed at reinforcing the research and data-use skills of Ed Lab staff and key technical actors within MENA, in support of stronger evidence-informed education policies. 

On January 26, 2026, the Ed Lab held the second session of this series at the DESPS in Abidjan. The session focused on “Introduction to Data Quality Control Protocols” and aimed to consolidate participants’ technical and methodological capacities in research design, data management, and data quality assurance.

The training brought together members of the Ed Lab team and technical staff from DESPS and other MENA departments. Through interactive discussions and practical exchanges, participants explored core principles and tools for ensuring the reliability, consistency, and integrity of data across the research cycle, highlighting the importance of data quality for effective policy design and implementation.

This second Coffee Chat built upon the first session held in November 2025, which focused on the key stages of conducting high-quality research projects. That inaugural session laid the foundation for the series by strengthening participants’ understanding of the full research process and its relevance for education decision-making. 

Together, these sessions mark a structured learning cycle that will continue over the coming months, covering additional topics such as evidence synthesis, applied data analysis, and core components of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) plans. Through this initiative, IPA and its partners reaffirm their commitment to strengthening institutional capacity and promoting the systematic use of evidence in Côte d’Ivoire’s education sector.