A visit to the Blavatnik School of Government yesterday from Nick Hurd MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (PUSS) at the Department for International Development (DFID) has underlined the transformative impact of new education research programmes being established at the Blavatnik School and across the University of Oxford in collaboration with DFID.
Nick Hurd and representatives from DFID met with Dean Ngaire Woods, senior members of the RISE team from the Blavatnik School and Oxford Policy Management (OPM), and experts in the field of education technology and social impact bonds, to hear case studies of how DFID’s education research programmes, including the Young Lives programme and DFID’s flagship Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) programme - have already been making a high-level impact – and how new research centres at the School will continue to make a difference.
During his visit, Nick Hurd discussed the progress RISE has made since its launch a year ago and how RISE concepts and evidence will be used to strengthen education policy decision-making. This is an exciting time for the RISE Programme as it prepares to announce its first Country Research Teams. It is also currently accepting Expressions of Interest for its second call for country research and is planning for the Annual Conference in June.
The visit follows on from the recent announcement of a new five-year partnership between the Blavatnik School and the UK Cabinet Office to establish a centre of excellence for innovative public sector commissioning, called the ‘Government Outcomes Lab’ (GO Lab). GO Lab will develop world-leading research in this field and provide practical, on the ground support to local commissioners, with the aim of finding new ways for the public sector to commission services while achieving better social outcomes.
Nick Hurd also met with Martin Woodhead, Associate Director at Young Lives, a longitudinal research programme on childhood poverty funded by DFID and led by a team at the University of Oxford’s International Development Department. Young Lives researchers have followed the lives of 12,000 children in 4 countries over 15 years, collecting information on how poverty affects children’s lives. Their work has not only identified important lessons in how to improve school effectiveness, but has also built relationships between local researchers and policymakers.
The Minister’s visit concluded with a session on interactive education technology, which brought together experts in the field of innovation and education technology to present a number of exciting initiatives for transforming both access to education and learning outcomes.
On his visit, Nick Hurd (PUSS) said: “The development of high quality education systems research will be integral to improving education systems and delivering better learning for all. The ground breaking evidence from RISE will provide a real opportunity to deliver education at scale and rapidly accelerate learning for all.”
Rachel Hinton, Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School and Team Leader of the Education Research Team at DFID, said: “It’s great to be a part of the team that is working to bring research into the policy landscape. DFID’s aims to stay at the leading edge of innovations in education which will give all children access to high-quality education that allows them to reach their potential.”
Calum Miller, COO and Co-Director of RISE, said: “The Blavatnik School is committed to excellent research that has immediate and real impact on policy. It was great to be able to show Nick Hurd the School’s growing portfolio of world-leading research programmes. These rely on innovative partnerships and we are delighted to be forging close networks with DFID and across government that enable policy leaders to learn from each other and from cutting-edge research."
Photo: from left to right: Mark Henstridge, RISE Co-Director and Chief Economist at OPM, Ngaire Woods, Dean of Blavatnik School of Government, Nick Hurd MP (DFID), Calum Miller, RISE Co-Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Blavatnik School of Government
