128 - Using GIS Coordinates data to old legacy data to improve evaluation design and program implementation for education sector in Bangladesh.

Abstract Information: Increased data processing capabilities that are at the fingertips of new generation of evaluators make GIS data more accessible and usable. In the development sector, GIS data can be used to implement development programs more effectively and enable more robust evaluation designs to be applied to measure those programs.
USAID's Esho Shikhi project helps schools improve Bangla reading instruction and continue teaching during emergencies such as increasingly severe floods and cyclones in Bangladesh. The program plans to help over 10,000 schools with more than two million students by 2026. In 2023, Winrock International, the prime implementer of the project, collect GIS coordinates and other key data from more than 12,600 government primary schools out of 65,000 government primary schools in Bangladesh and designed lot of features for GIS Data of the schools through visual mapping and dashboard preparation.
The mapping provided vital insights that will help not only the Esho Shikhi activity supported schools, but the larger the education sector in Bangladesh to address inequalities in education access, disparity, planning and management. The GIS information on schools’ sites and traits can be overlaid with other datasets that have the location of roads, other infrastructure, population, ethnicity, schools’ basic features, demographics, and vulnerability to disasters. That can illuminate which communities have fewer schools, greater difficulty reaching schools, and greater risks of disruptions in education.
The panel will discuss how and what GIS data was collected, how they were merged with other datasets to enhance the usability and value of the entire dataset, and how the resulting dataset was used to improve implementation and evaluation of the program.