World Bank
International Training Program
“Improving administrative records for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the formulation of evidence-based policies in Paraguay”
Objective
Improve the quality of production and use of administrative records for evidence-based policy formulation to support the following Sustainable Development Goals.
About the project
This project is funded by funds managed by the World Bank, with the leadership of the Development Institute, the collaboration of the United Kingdom National Statistical Office and the University of Bath in England, and the support of UNFPA Paraguay.
It is aimed at public officials who handle data and administrative records specifically from the following institutions: MEC, MSPBS, MDS, DGEEC and UTGS.
For the development, an International Training Program was designed and implemented with the training of a national and foreign teaching staff with high quality standards in academic training. Academic programs were developed for the learning of 2 computer programs widely used in the classification and systematization of statistical data, R and Python and the use of a Tool for the Evaluation of the Quality of Administrative Records (HECRA). The courses were carried out in a semi-face format thanks to the application of a digital platform so that students can learn remotely at personal learning rhythms.
Resultados
- The initiative involved the main participation of two public institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare. During the development of this project, strategic meetings were held with representatives of public institutions with the aim of supporting them.
- One of the pillars of the project is the evaluation of the quality of some administrative records of the MEC and the MSPBS and the proposal of improvement plans based on this diagnosis.
- 6 technicians in training collaborated in the loading of about 8,000 administrative records in computer systems of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare between the months of September to December 2019.
- Through the visit of experts from the University of Bath and the United Kingdom National Statistical Office in September 2019, an International Training Programme was developed.
- To this end, a Digital Platform for Online Courses was set up in which more than 160 government officials signed up to develop courses on how to use the specialized software Python and R at three levels: initial, intermediate, and advanced.
- The PEI has benefited more than 120 civil servants from the MEC, MSPBS, MDS, UTGS and DGEEC who work with administrative records or data processing. The Program included the participation of national and foreign teachers with high academic quality standards and has developed 5 modules.
- In addition, an audio-visual studio has been set up to record online classes that allow students to take the modules at their own pace without affecting their working hours.
- In March 2020, face-to-face training was conducted with professors from the University of Bath, England, and professionals from the United Kingdom’s National Bureau of Statistics with the participation of 60 civil servants.
