Part I.pdf - MTB-MLE Network

egional languages of education, and to address issues associated with government policy concerningmultilingual education.What are the characteristics of and strategies for effective pilot projects?The characteristics of an effective pilot project for multilingual education in minority languagecommunities should lead to sustainability of the project. A pilot project should be small, innovativeand relevant to the lives and experience of the target communities. A pilot project should also beflexible and responsive to the needs of the community, involving all stakeholders from the beginningin order to promote community ownership. The use of the local language in all aspects of programmedevelopment and evaluation will serve topromote ownership. In order that the resultsof an effective pilot project can be replicatedappropriately, there should be comprehensivesupport for all aspects of the programmestructure – particularly monitoring andevaluation, documentation and advocacy.The need for comprehensive documentation(in both print and electronic format) linksclosely with the potential of a programme tofulfil an advocacy role, as well as have impacton language policy and planning. If a smallscale programme is successful and the keyfactors of programme effectiveness arewell-documented, programmes are morelikely to be effective at the national level.A pilot project should be locally based anduse local resources. However, outcomes ofpilot projects can be widely disseminated sothat others can make decisions on the appropriateness of applying the pilot in their context.Sustainability is an important concept – even if there is input from outside, evaluation of the projectshould include an assessment of the degree to which local resources can be used to support thecontinuation of the project.67