Leveraging the potential of the middle tier to improve education outcomes

Am Gagnon is leading the Data and Evidence Cluster of the Technical Cooperation team at IIEP.

Am is coordinating IIEP’s portfolio in micro-planning, covering the areas of decentralization and deconcentration, workforce management, geospatial data analysis, education statistics, the operationalization of the Right to Education, the use of evidence in educational planning, as well as designing tools and methodologies. 

As a demographer, he is passionate about putting data to the service of evidence-informed decision-making in educational planning.

Katie leads the Education Workforce Initiative’s research agenda and activities. Katie is from the United States and currently based in Madrid, Spain, working as a consultant in global education research and policy. She oversees the Education Workforce Initiative’s research agenda and activities. She led development of EWI’s flagship report, Transforming the Education Workforce, and also supports EWI’s in-country work to develop education workforce reform options with Ghana, Sierra Leone and Vietnam. Previously, Katie worked in Nashville, Tennessee leading immigrant and refugee education services with non-governmental organizations.

Katie graduated from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Russian. She holds a Masters of Education degree in International Education Policy and Management from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and completed Columbia Law School’s graduate program at the Center for Public Research and Leadership.

Barbara Tournier coordinates research and technical cooperation projects on teacher issues and the broader education workforce. She focuses specifically on how improved organisation of education systems can help better support teachers in their daily activities and enhance their motivation.

Barbara has led multi-country research programmes, notably on teacher careers and instructional leadership at the middle tier of education systems. She now directs the institute's work on middle-tier capacity analyses, exploring how staff and structures at this level can be leveraged to better support schools and frontline practitioners. Additionally, she supports the institute in domains such as integrated Human Resources Management Systems, leadership strengthening, and coordinating online or face-to-face training on teacher management.

Marco Kools is a Policy Analyst and Technical Assistance Lead with the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. He has led and/or contributed to several policy implementation support & technical assistance projects in recent years, including in the Flemish Community of Belgium, Ireland, Latvia, Moldova, New South Wales (Australia), Scotland (UK) and Thailand. He has specialised in various areas of education policy, including in assessment and evaluation in education, institutional capacity assessments, schools as learning organisations, and policy/programme design and implementation.

Qaiser Munir is a seasoned expert in education governance and policy reforms, with over 15 years of experience across government and development sectors. He holds a postgraduate degree in Sustainable Development from the University of Glasgow and an MPhil in Social Sciences from Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan.

Currently a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS), he leads initiatives to strengthen education systems by advancing policy coherence, institutional coordination, and accountability.

As Lead Researcher and co-author of the IIEP-UNESCO study on district education managers in Pakistan, he identified key structural and functional gaps in governance and shaped actionable recommendations to improve service delivery.

With extensive experience conducting national and cross-national education sector research projects in Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries, Rizwana Shahzad (Ph.D.) is currently involved in education policy research at I-SAPS. Her previous research involvement included working with two Australian universities, namely Deakin University and the University of South Australia. Her research interests center around education governance and equity challenges, education policy and reforms, student assessments and datafication, gender in education, and data-based decision-making and accountability. Rizwana is also an associate member of the Laboratory of International Assessment Studies (LIAS). She is an active researcher with publications including journal articles, book chapters and research reports of academic and policy significance.

Babalwa Puzi is currently working as an e-Learning Senior Education Specialist at Buffalo City Metro District, Eastern Cape. Her job entails training, supporting and monitoring teachers in both General Education and Training (GET) Primary schools and Special schools on the use of digital resources and content for teaching and learning. She holds a Diploma in Senior Primary, a B. Tech Degree in Education Management and an Honours degree in Education.

Dr Muhammad Zaigham Qadeer is holding a key position - Director General of newly established Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) under the ambit of Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Islamabad. He took the lead in the development of National Education Database during COVID and produced Periodic quality reports as per national requirements for SMART lockdown and vaccination of teachers and students across country.

Dr Zaigham earned his Master and MPhil degrees in Educational Planning and Management (EPM) from AIOU, Islamabad. He completed his Ph.D degree from Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi on Curriculum Evaluation. He has a blend of Academic and Administrative experience in the field of Education. He served as Faculty Member, as Assistant and Associate Professor in University of Science and Technology Bannu, and Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad. 

He also served on Key Administrative Positions like Director Education FDE, Deputy Educational Advisor (DEA) and Registrar AIOU. He has lead role in the development and implementation of various key projects on Teacher Training, Curriculum Evaluations and Student Assessment. He served as Director in Canadian Debt Swap Project in Strengthening of Teachers Training Institutes in Pakistan.

He also steered various Education Reform Projects in Collaborations with Development partners - World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, DEFID, JICA and successfully completed these initiatives at federal and provincial levels.

Dr Zaigham also represented Pakistan in National International Forums on Quality Education and SDG-4.

Muhammad Ijaz Khalil is an experienced professional in the education sector with a strong background in education governance, policy implementation, and institutional coordination. He has played a key role in supporting strategic reforms across various tiers of the Elementary & Secondary Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. His responsibilities include managing operational linkages between the Department, attached Directorates, District Education Offices, and development partners.

Lydiah Njoki is a Director of Quality Assurance and Standards at the Ministry of Education, Kenya. With over 14 years of experience in education program leadership, she has played a pivotal role in national initiatives such as the Kenya Primary Literacy Programme (KPLP) and TUSOME. Her work focuses on improving learning outcomes through the development and implementation of evaluation frameworks, teacher capacity-building, and evidence-based education reform. Lydiah oversees and supports the work of Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs) across counties and sub-counties, ensuring education policies are effectively implemented at all levels. She is deeply involved in Kenya’s transition to Competency-Based Education (CBE) and holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from Kenyatta University, along with certifications in PDIA, strategic leadership, and monitoring and evaluation.

Ramya Vivekanandan is Senior Education Specialist at the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), where she leads the team working on quality of education issues. She is also an elected Delegate to the World Bank’s Staff Association. Before joining GPE in 2017, Ramya worked for 11 years with UNESCO, both at the HQ in Paris and the regional bureau in Bangkok. Prior to this, Ramya held several assignments focused on education in Sub-Saharan Africa, including with the Ministry of PreUniversity and Civic Education in Guinea, Save the Children US in Malawi and Creative Associates International in Senegal. Ramya holds a Master's in International Education Policy from Harvard University.