Policy and Strategies: Implementing Educational Decentralization by Faryal Khan and Jordan Naidoo Local Governance, Texts and Contexts: Perspectives from South Asia 1-2 February 2006, Lahore PAKISTAN

Presentation Outline Part One: Introduction Part Two: Planning and Implementing Educational Decentralization Part Three: Capacity Building Part Four: Evaluation of the process Part Five: Tackling the Challenge of Successful Implementation of Educational Decentralization

International and Regional Trends in Educational Governance at Local Level Source: Noel McGinn for UNESCO, Paris 2001

At The World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, April 2000, governments and the international community pledged their commitment to : Develop responsive, participatory and accountable systems of educational governance and management

Lessons Learned from Research Educational systems demand multi-faceted strategies to sustain fiscal, administrative, or political devolution Links between educational decentralization and national EFA and Governance reforms essential Institutional capacity sustains training Timely collection, analysis & utilization of data for formative and summative evaluation Policy and strategies address equity and gender parity

Dichotomies at school level Low evidence of impact on learning outcomes Tensions between centralization and decentralization Top-down regulation as solution vs. increased local discretion in defining directions Teachers and principals may resist devolution Local actors may need support to affect practice Decisions by consensus mask and fail to rupture unequal power relations

Paramount is the message… Decentralization is no magic bullet no one size fits all

Education Context in Pakistan Two reform initiatives: Educational Decentralization reforms within the Education Sector Reforms, and Action Plan of the National Education Policy ( ) Local Government Ordinance 2001 devolves political authority and decision-making to the grassroots levels

Rationale for decentralization Five empowerment targets anchor reforms: Devolution of political power Decentralization of authority De-concentration of management functions Diffusion of power authority nexus Distribution of resources

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING Autonomy changed role of the central authorities citizen or community participation diversity of needs private and other partnerships financial distribution and resource management capacity development Program evaluation

CAPACITY BUILDING: CRITICAL AREAS UNESCO in collaboration with Dr. Baela Jamil, ITA

FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION Inputs Processes Outputs Policy Plans Programs Administration and Finance Access, Completion & Participation Quality Coordination Accountability Transfer of Authority Transparency

I. POLICY, PLANS & PROGRAMMES II. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION III. PARTICIPATION IV. ACCESS, COMPLETION & QUALITY I N P U T 1. Policy; 2. Legal context; 3. Awareness; 1. Preparation of financial plan; 2. Organizational structures; 3. Delegation of authority; 1. Citizen voice in policy dialogue; 2. Organizational structures; 1. Learning environment and conditions; I N P U T S P R O C E S S 4. Plans and programmes; 5. Capacity-building in planning and programming; 6. Monitoring and evaluation of PPP; 4. Local mobilzation and use of resources; 5. Application if financial procedures; 6. Capacity-building in budget management and administration; 7. Monitoring and supervision; 4. Mobilization and networking for EFA; 5. Capacity-building for and by CSO’s; 5. Monitoring and implementation process; 2. Institutional capacity- building; 3. Human resource and skills management; 4. Monitoring and evaluation of quality and access; P R O C E S S O U T P U T S 7. Institutional capacity at local levels; 8. Accountability; 9. Empowered communities; 8. Availability of finacial resources at local levels; 9. participation in fiscal- decision-making. 6. Increased public / private partnerships. 7. Stakeholder influence on resources; 8. Stakeholder priorities in educational decisions. 6. Attainment effects; 7. Achievements; 8. Equity. O U T P U T S I N P U T S PROCESSES: MEANS & STRATEGIES O U T CO M E

Tackling Implementation Understand the reforms Consider a system of performance incentives Communication Staggered implementation Clearly connect educational quality with reforms in educational management. Clarify the role of actors at the community/local level. Recognize the importance of social capital: Develop transparency in delivery of resources and decision-making. Develop plans to collect and share data. Clear monitoring and evaluation procedures

Preconditions for success Gain commitments from national, regional, municipal and local leaders. Clearly delegate roles and responsibilities Explicitly define the extent of accountability of each stakeholder/tier Develop an implementation strategy and time table Clear operational manuals and procedures Continuously training at each level Relevant performance indicators Monitoring through Education Management Information System Ensure adequate human and material resources to sustain the process

Policy Implications Thorough Institutional Analysis of School Councils (across provinces/districts) National and Local Capacity Building Programs Reinforcing DEMIS and information dissemination at local levels Public access to information for informed decision-making Shift from School Head to Community Member as Chairperson Institutional coordination between school councils and local governments Equitable Strategies to tap under-utilized social capital