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Experiences and Lessons▶
1. Project Planning and Management2. Geospatial Mapping and EA Database3. Enumeration Instruments and Tools4. Data Capture and Management5. Census Testing and Pilots6. Recruitment and Training7. Deployment and Supervision8. Enumeration and Logistics9. Quality Assurance and Risk Management10. Census Analysis and Products11. Partnerships and Collaboration12. Advocacy and Publicity13. Procurement and Financial Management14. Post-Enumeration Survey15. Alternative Approaches16. Planning Checklist
Case Studies▶
1. Project Planning and Management2. Geospatial Mapping3. Enumeration Instruments4. Data Capture5. Census Testing6. Recruitment and Training7. Deployment and Supervision8. Enumeration and Logistics9. Quality Assurance10. Census Analysis11. Partnerships12. Advocacy13. Procurement14. Post-Enumeration Survey15. Alternative Approaches16. Planning Checklist
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6. Recruitment and Training of Field Personnel

Recommendations​

  • An e-recruitment system should be deployed to ease the process of receiving applications, shortlisting, and selection of personnel. This system needs to be tested to ensure it is easy for applicants to use and can cope with large volumes of applications. Ensure the IT experts who design the system have properly understood the requirements of the HR and census experts. Use the e-recruitment system to collect all information needed including bank details, ID numbers etc. Design the platform to be mobile-friendly and optimised for low-bandwidth areas to improve accessibility, especially in rural regions. Offering multilingual support and offline application alternatives, along with real-time technical assistance, will enhance inclusivity.

  • Recruit enumerators and supervisors on merit incorporating an ethical approach and resisting political interference. Take IT literacy, language spoken and place of residence of the applicants into account. Recruit more people than you need to allow for attrition of staff. You will also need to recruit a team of IT support staff.

  • Allow enough time for the recruitment process so that the census timelines can be adhered to. Have a back-up plan for recruitment in areas where you are unable to attract enough applicants. Public awareness campaigns and digital literacy training are crucial to help users navigate the system.

  • Equipment such as tablets need to be ready for enumerators to use during training so that they can become familiar with the applications. Allow for at least two days in the field training, including both rural and urban settings.

  • A mixture of online and in-person training can be used. Online training modules provide a consistent approach ensuring that all trainees receive the same instructions. Digital data security awareness, basic skills and a general overview of the census should be included in the training.

  • Ensure you have sufficient training centres with adequate network coverage, IT support staff and managers. If it is not possible to source these centres from existing government buildings, then sufficient budget needs to be set aside to pay for suitable private venues.

  • The recruitment and training procedures and systems should be piloted and any issues addressed and retested before the census operations begin. Errors in data collected during the pilot will high-light areas where better enumerator training is required. Hence analysis and quality assurance of the pilot data is essential to pick up any such errors.

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