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Current Policy Issues Extending compulsory education from primary to secondary education (6-11 years) Discipline among students Truancy and absenteeism among students 60% teachers fail to deliver HOTS Free higher education Exam papers leakage Goods and Services Tax Rising price of petrol Lowering of tax Pay rise for teachers School based assessment Toll rate increase Swift action by teacher on student ….

POLICY MAKING CONTENTS: Policy and its characteristics Policy questions, its aspects and paradox Policy Process: Policy formation, policy decision & political analysis of policy Policy research and evaluation This Note is Courtesy of Prof Madya Dr. Mohd Majid Konting, UPM, 2011 (With Adaptation).

1.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF POLICY STATEMENT Statement of position, not statement of procedure Apply to a clearly defined population No specific time reference Apply to a specific area whereby the policy making body has authority/ influence/ control

Policy statement is defined as, formal document outlining the ways in which an  organization intends to  conduct its affairs and act in specific circumstances Policy on poor children who are not attending schools- Compulsory Primary Education Compulsory primary & Secondary Education Poor Student Trust Fund (KWAPM) Students aids including medical & dental

Ask how to allocate such goods or services? 2. POLICY QUESTIONS 2.1 ETIOLOGY (origin) OF POLICY QUESTIONS Arises from conflict among humans over the distribution of goods and services, i.e. conflicts of interest. But, it lies in the incompatibility of the actual goods and services that human beings seek. Ask how to allocate such goods or services? The allocation is the business of politics. No policy without politics nor politics without policy

Policy process involved policy analysis, policy formation, …2.1 ETIOLOGY OF POLICY QUESTIONS Policy questions is different from constitutional, moral questions, and questions aimed at forming the set of alternatives from which policies might be selected. Policy process involved policy analysis, policy formation, policy decision as well as the political analysis of policy policy research and evaluation

2.3 POLICY QUESTIONS Is a request for a fairly stable, but modifiable, line of action aimed at securing an optimal adjustment of the conflict between different goods, all of which must be pursued, but which, taken together, cannot all be maximized (Green, 1994)-what is the problem? Can only be formulated if we can state the set of values or goods from which the question arises.

PQ Examples as in MEB How can the nation provide Education accessible to all students Education equitably to all students World class quality education to all students Education efficiently to all students Education that is world class

2.4 POLICY ISSUES “Nested” within a set of mutually incompatible values or goods. Consider the effect of provision of free higher education in Malaysia on: ~ Levels of attainment racially or ethnically balanced? ~ High academic achievement, and ~ Culturally pluralistic communities Maximizing any one of these goods, will inhibit the advancement of the others. The policy problem arises by accepting all aims of education, and yet they cannot all be maximized. Continued

No technical solution to policy questions. …2.4 POLICY ISSUES No technical solution to policy questions. It is practical questions, never theoretical (depending on political ideology). It is a statement of what we should do. Information and analyses can improve decision of action. But policy questions can be answered even without such information.

2. Conflict of goods and services 3. Policy, Politics, and Utopia 2.5 ASPECTS OF POLICY QUESTIONS 1. Scarcity 2. Conflict of goods and services 3. Policy, Politics, and Utopia

1. SCARCITY Why we need a policy? (a) Increasing the satisfactions available to human beings – increased productivity ~ can be balanced by abundance. (b) Doing something about their desires – improved moral and discipline ~ can be made to meet not by the satisfaction of wants, but by their proper and harmonious composition. Thus, one source of policy questions is the mismatch between human desires and satisfactions

2. CONFLICT OF GOODS Policy questions arise because the goods that human beings seek to secure in the world are interdependent and often jointly discordant (exactly the opposite of: yang bulat datang menggolek, yang pipih datang melayang)

3. POLICY, POLITICS, AND UTOPIA Human goods (values?) cannot all be present sufficiently to satisfy human desires. They cannot all be maximized. They exist even when human interests do not. Thus, a need for solution to policy problems in utopian terms

PRESUPPOSITIONS OF POLICY QUESTIONS Policy questions are different from moral, constitutional, and research questions: 1. Constraints of time; ~ the answer will be revised ~ have to be answered on time, though the information needed for the answer is not on time.

PRESUPPOSITIONS OF POLICY QUESTIONS 2. Policy decisions and ethical decisions are different because policies and moral rules or principles differ. ~ Policies are drawn from within a set of alternative actions all of which are either morally indifferent or capable of evoking moral approval. ~ Defining the set of policy choices is the expression of moral conviction and estimations of value, but selecting from within that defined set is not.

4. Political analysis of policy 5. Policy research and evaluation 3. THE POLICY PROCESS 1. Policy analysis 2. Policy formation 3. Policy decision 4. Political analysis of policy 5. Policy research and evaluation

To discover a balance between competing values. 3.1. POLICY ANALYSIS The rational or technical assessment of the net marginal trade-offs between different policy choices. To discover a balance between competing values. An activity whose theory is the theory of marginal utilities – exercise rationality.

Policy issue: higher education Provide students with loan? Free higher education? Ration higher education?

3.2. POLICY FORMATION An activity of gaining agreement on what form a specific policy can or will take, as opposed to what form it ought to take. Involve conversation, persuasion, argument, endless meetings. Employ governmental management and rhetoric theory. Example : at Federal, the theory of inter-agency politics; - “Don’t fight over turf, just take up space”. - “For the interest of the nation”. - “Do the right thing”.

3.3. POLICY DECISION The authoritative action of some office, administrative, or legislative by which a line of action is established. Employ the theory of polity, the political and legal theory by which authority is distributed, obligations for decision are assigned throughout the structure of political institutions, and agents of authority are enjoined to act.

3.4. POLITICAL ANALYSIS Is concerned with measuring the political weight of a policy. The aim is not so much to determine the net social benefits of a particular policy, but to determine its constituency. Whether the best thing to do is the same as the best thing to be done. It estimates who will vote for it. It employs the theory of political behavior

5. POLICY RESEARCH & EVALUATION R&E can contribute to each of those activities. The rational of policy decision and political analysis are the standards of political judgment. The exercise of political judgment is a practical and evaluation activities Researcher can involve in these activities in the context of government. To what extend the policy achieves its objective?

EVALUATION 3 (40%): GROUP ASSIGNMENT 3 – POLICY PLANNING/STRATEGIC PLANNING In a group of 4 persons, you are required to prepare an educational policy/strategic plan. Choose an educational problem of your interest to prepare the plan. You can use the strategic educational planning model to guide you in preparing the plan. As a guide, each assignment must be reported in written form using Times New Roman, Font 12 and margin 1.5 with an estimated total of 5,000 words or 15 pages. Present your assigment in week 11 and Submit your assigment in week 12. 7

General Format For Policy Proposal Title (5 marks) Elaboration on educational issue (background, policy issue, data) (10 marks) Elaboration on why issue needs to addressed (10 marks) Detail of proposed plan to address issue (10 marks) Implication of plan to the government ( financial, job positions, politics, social etc) (10 marks) Short summary. (5 marks)

POLICY PROJECT DISCUSSION

Policy: Extending compulsory schooling to 11 years Data: Education Statistics Implication from data: Additional teachers-Teacher training New classrooms and schools Culture on Education Legislation (Act and Regulations) Students aids Financial implications

Class schedule Week Activity 9 Lecture 07 & 08 10 Lecture 09 & Lecture 10 11 Lecture 10 cont 12 Lecture 11 13 Project presentation 14