NBA

Neil Butcher & Associates (NBA) is a private organization based in South Africa that manages projects, conducts research, and provides advisory support services in the field of education in the developing world. NBA’s mission is to contribute to improving education in developing-world contexts by advancing open, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions to educational challenges. With this grant, NBA will develop a paper on “openness in education in the 21st century” and research reports on alternative approaches to change management in large-scale education systems. Through this work, NBA will develop, test, and document granular, reflective, and monitoring strategies that facilitate shifts toward meaningful, sustained openness in education systems. (Substrategy: Field Building)

Neil Butcher and Associates aims to contribute to improving education in developing-world contexts by advancing open, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions to educational challenges. Based in South Africa, the group manages projects, conducts research, and provides advisory support services in the field of education in the developing world. With this grant, it will lead research to deepen knowledge on the most effective strategies to create government policy and regulatory environments that support effective implementation of the recently approved UNESCO OER Recommendation, working in partnership with UNESCO’s Dynamic Coalition, UNESCO’s regional offices in Africa, and other key African partners. (Substrategy: Field Building)

Neil Butcher and Associates, a consultancy firm with deep expertise around OER, will conduct research to help determine whether and how open licenses could help to increase the number of reading materials available to children across the developing world. The results of the research are expected to inform possible solutions to high rates of illiteracy among young children across the developing world, and more specifically to help shape the Global Book Fund that a consortium of donors including US Agency for International Development, the UK's Department for International Development, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hoping to establish.