Mekong Institute & UNESCO Regional Office-Bangkok
Training Course on
“Training of Trainers from the Greater Mekong SubRegion on Decentralized Education Planning in the
Context of Public Sector Management Reform”
23 February – 6 March 2009; Khon Kaen, Thailand
Modern Approaches to Education Sector
Management
Module E2
Prepared by the Education Policy and Reform Unit
UNESCO Bangkok
February 2009
Slide 1
OBJECTIVES
Define the meaning of policy, policy
processes
II. Define the meaning of planning and
planning processes
III. Distinguish between planning and
Budgeting
IV. The link
I.
Slide 2
“The failure to link policy, planning
and budgeting is the single most
important cause of poor budgeting
outcomes in developing countries”
World Bank,
Public Expenditure Management Handbook, 1998
Slide 3
1. The Meaning of Policy
Slide 4
1. The Meaning of Policy
1.1. Definition
1.2. Characteristics
Slide 5
1.1. Definitions of Policy
 Policy is a guide to decision-making,
implementation and evaluation in a particular area
of action.
 It is most commonly associated with public
spheres of action , and justified in terms of the
common good.
 Policy refers to the guidelines, reports, reviews,
thinking, and statements of governments,
organisations, institutions, schools.
Slide 6
1.1. Definitions of Policy (cont.)
 Policy is a practical, technical task of producing a
document or statement that will guide action.
 Policy-making is as old as civilization itself. (e.g.,
roots of policy (polis) relates to moving from citystate, translated to 'policie': the conduct of public
affairs or the administration of government).
 Policy-making is driven by change but also helps to
create change and give rise to new problems.
Consider: teacher shortages and teacher surplus.
Slide 7
1.2. Characteristics of Contemporary
Policy
 evidence informed:
 based on the best available systematic
information about the problem
 acknowledges accumulated research on effective
change and implementation
 inclusive: recognises the interests of range of
policy stakeholders
 strategic: contributes to overall mission or
vision of the government or the organisation
Slide 8
1.2. Characteristics of Contemporary
Policy (cont.)
 causal: pays attention to links between delivery
and outcomes
 ’joined up’: works across organisational or sectoral
boundaries
 realistic: takes into account the realities faced by
providers [lower level bureaucrats]
 flexible: can be applied in different settings
 outcome focused: aims to delivery benefits to
clients [end users]
Slide 9
2. The Policy Process/Analysis
2.1. Policy Determinants
2.2. Policy Content
2.3. Policy Impact
Slide 10
2. The Policy Process/Analysis
 Policy analysis is to provide knowledge as a guide
to action rather than an end in itself.
 The aim is to provide policy makers with
information that could be used to exercise
reasoned judgment in finding solutions for
practical social problems.
 This process requires that we understand what (1)
policy determinants, (2) policy content, and (3)
policy impact mean.
Slide 11
2.1. Policy Determinants








economy
culture
elections
public opinion
political parties
media
bureaucracy
interest groups
Slide 12
2.2. Policy Content
a.
b.
c.
problem definition
goals
instruments
Slide 13
2.2.a. Problem Definition
 A policy is not designed in the abstract but
with reference to a specific context, past
policies, and international commitments.
 Context: globalization, faster economic growth,
large disparities.
 Previous national commitments.
 International commitments:
 Millennium Development Goals
 Dakar Framework for Action (EFA)
Slide 14
2.2.a. Problem Definition
 Principles of the new aid architecture.
 The most fundamental task of policy analysis is
defining the problem, moving to reveal what
the ‘real’ problem is.
 Unsatisfactory outcomes resulting from
unsatisfactory outputs.
Slide 15
2.2.a. Problem Definition
 There are many problems and are often linked:
 Low completion rate may be due to low access rate
and/or high dropout, which themselves related to …
 Insufficient quality of the teaching provided?
 Irrelevant programmes?
 Inadequate financing system?
 Bad management system?
 It is necessary to identify the causes of these
problems.
Slide 16
2.2.a. Problem Definition - Causes
 Identifying the causes of a problem is essential
to choose the appropriate solutions (actions).
 Need for proper data, research and analysis.
 Wide consultation is required.
 A problem may have several causes, within and
beyond the educations system– need to work
out the tree of problems and causes.
Slide 17
2.2.a. Problem Definition - Causes
 The causes could be related to any part of the
education system – its inputs, processes, outputs,
structure or environment …
 (i) Causes related to inputs include:
 Teachers – qualifications, motivations, presence/absences.
 Textbooks
 Equipment
 Buildings and facilities
 Students’ profiles and abilities
 Administration and management capacity
Slide 18
2.2.a. Problem Definition - Causes
• (ii) Causes related to not reaching the required
outputs include:
• Adequate processes
• Curriculum and content (relevance)
• Teaching-learning strategies
•
•
Proper management and governance structures
Finance; management; accountability
Slide 19
2.2.a. Problem Definition - Causes
• (iii) Causes related to the environment include:
• Overall government policies: economic policies,
•
•
•
•
political stability, civil service quality, level of
corruption;
Labour market conditions and job opportunities for
school leavers;
Social and community characteristics;
Health status (HIV/AIDS prevalence, malaria..)
Family characteristics.
Slide 20
2.2.a. Problem Definition - Who should
be involved
 Planning units, outside experts;
 Consultations can bring new perspectives to
the identification of problems (causes and
priorities):
 Within the ministry(ies)
 Outside the ministry(ies)
 At regional and local levels
 Civil society
Slide 21
2.2.b. Goals
 Our efforts to define the problem will be
inseparable from what we want our policy to
achieve. The diagnosis prefigures the
prognosis.
 Policies are designed to achieve certain goals
(outcomes and/or outputs)
Slide 22
2.2.b. Goals
 Long term outcomes include:
 Poverty reduction
 Economic growth
 Improved quality of life: better health and
nutrition
 Reduction of inequalities
 Social cohesion
Slide 23
2.2.b. Goals
 “Short term” outputs include:
 Enrolment rates
 Primary completion rate: it takes at least 6 years to produce a






literate person
Proportion of girls enrolled at primary, secondary, higher
education, TVET….
Proportion of lower income groups enrolled .. .
Learning achievements at grade 6, 9 , ..
Adult literacy level
Educational attainment of the workforce
Employment rate of graduates
Slide 24
2.2.b. Goals
 After the diagnosis – adequately identifying the
problems and their causes - goals specified:
 Priorities in terms of problems to be solved have to be
set indicating the desired change.
 Options and possible strategies have to be listed.
 Technical studies have to be carried out
 Consultation of the different stakeholders
 International literature review
 Analysis of experience of neighbouring countries
having introduced innovations
 Consultation of national and international experts
 Research and analysis of local innovations
Slide 25
2.2.c. Instruments
 The means by which we bring about the
‘ends’ of policy give rise to the greatest
division. ….
 Planning tools, “analysis and projection
tools-models” etc.
Slide 26
2.3. Policy Impact
intended and unintended consequences for:
 direct policy target
 political system
 economy
 social system
Slide 27
3. The Meaning of Planning
Slide 28
3.1. Planning
 A policy is about change & planning is the process for
such an introduction of change
 The process of converting goals into objectives,
formulating specific interventions, and defining
relevant target populations for the implementation of
the change.
• PLANNING is a process whereby direction is set
forth and the ways and means for getting to that
direction are specified.
• A PLAN is the product of the planning process and
can be defined as a set of decisions about what to
do, why, and how to do it.
Slide 29
3.1. Planning
• In public policy, planning refers to the steps, practice
and skills associated with policy formulation and the
use of resources to implement that policy. It is a
process involving numerous steps, some of which are
iterative, in order to make the policy choice.
• Education sector planning means planning for the
education system. Very often, it implies planning the
changes and reforms intended for the entire education
sector or a particular sub-sector to improve its operation
and delivery to meet the demand for human resource
development
30
3.1. Planning
 It includes feasibility analysis:
 financial feasibility,
 political feasibility,
 institutional feasibility in terms of :


Assessing the implementation capacity of
administration at the central level
Management of capacity at the regional and local level
Slide 31
3.1. Planning
 Most importantly, simulation exercise
 It requires data – or information system –
Management Information System:
 An ongoing data collection and analysis
system, usually computerised, that allows
timely access to service delivery and
outcome information.
Slide 32
3.2. Context of Planning
National Development
Strategy
Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper
EFA / Sector Plan
Millennium
Development
Goals
EFA
Goals
Provincial
Plans
Decentralization
policy (?)
SWAp(?)
Slide 33
3.3. Basic Characteristics of Modern
Planning
1.
Guided by a vision: firm long term goals
2. Sensitive to the environment: systematic
use of internal strengths and external
opportunities
3. Result oriented: need for result indicators
(performance based)
4. A mobilization instrument:
need for participation of implementers and
stakeholders and sharing of information
Slide 34
3.3. Basic Characteristics of Modern
Planning
5. Flexible in its implementation:
need to translate the long and/or mediumterm plan into yearly operational plans
6. Relies on an efficient monitoring system:
importance of EMIS, evaluation and research
Slide 35
II. The Strategic Management Cycle
Evaluation
Monitoring &
Review
Lessons/
feedback
Analysis
Implementation
Policy
Development
Operationalisation
Planning
Slide 36
4. Planning and Budgeting
Slide 37
Planning
Budgeting
Middle or long term plan – 10 years, 5 years,
rolling . ..
Short term, annual
Targets desirable situations – what would be
good
Takes into account financial constraint – what is
affordable
Guidelines, policy documents
Ministry of Finance
Low legal value, Not compulsory
High legal value, budget is a law
Slide 38
The Modern Planning & Budgeting Cycle
Final evaluation
& sector review
Monitoring of
implementation
Medium term
+ MTEF
strategic plan
Yearly
operational plans+ Budget
Slide 39
Slide 40
How to Reconcile?
 Budget needs a medium term framework – to
avoid short sight decisions
 Medium term programming needs to be integrated
into a long term vision – to take into accounts
development goals
 Long term planning has to assess the resource side
– need for costing, macro-economic
framework, assessing financial feasibility
Slide 41
Thank You