school governance manual

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MANAGING OUR SCHOOLS TODAY: A PRACTICAL

GUIDE TO PARTICIPATORY SCHOOL GOVERNANCE.

A simple manual for training and advocacy

By

PAMOJA

(Africa Reflect Network)

In collaboration with

ANCEFA(Africa Network Campaign on Education for All).

This manual has been produced with kind support from CEF -

Commonwealth Education Fund.

Andiwo ObondohMaria Nandago

Elijah Otiende

May 2005


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TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgements -------------------------------------------------------------------pg. 3

Foreword -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 3

Acronyms and Abbreviations ------------------------------------------------------- pg. 4

SECTION ONE

1.0 About the Process and Content of the Manual ----------------------------- pg. 4

How the manual has been developed

Purpose of the manual (why it has been produced)

Adapting the manual to contextSkills and capacities needed to use this manualWho is targeted by this manual and how it should be used

How the manual is different from others

SECTION TWO

2.0 Rationale for Participatory School Governance ----------------------------- pg. 9

Empowering actors to influence school policies

Purpose and benefits of monitoring plans and budgetsBuilding community capacity for local-level decision making

SECTION THREE

3.0 Introduction to Reflect and Governance --------------------------------------- pg. 11

Purpose objectives and activitiesUnderstanding reflect and governanceWhy reflect tools for school governance

SECTION FOUR

4.0 Specific Modules for Governance and Management of Schools

Module I: Building Links between the School and Local Community --------pg. 15

Looking at school/community relations

Defining and understanding the role of SMCs and PTAs

Module II: Working Towards Change of School Environment ----------------pg. 21

Enhancing learning and teaching processes in schoolsPromoting learning beyond the classroom

Exploring the internal/external school environment

Expanding education opportunities to extend access

Producing and managing teaching/learning resources

Module III: Leadership and Management of Schools ---------------------------pg. 32

Leadership functions


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Exploring the relationship between SMCs and school staff

Involving children in setting school priorities/decisions

Module IV: Planning and Budgeting for School Development ---------------------pg. 40

School planning and budgetingBudgeting and resource mobilization for schools

Monitoring and tracking resource use in schools

Supply of materials and school procurement policies

Power relations and challenges in decision making

Module V: Advocacy for Good Governance of Schools------------------------------pg. 55

Understanding advocacy; meaning and value addition

Influencing school policies, plans and budgets

Reforming our schools through advocacy work

SETION FIVE

5.0 Appendices

About ANCEFA and PAMOJAGlossary of commonly used terms

Millennium development goals and Dakar framework

Case study of Kenyas national planning and budgeting process

i]. Acknowledgements

PAMOJA and ANCEFA wishes to acknowledge and greatly appreciate the efforts of thewriting team Andiwo Obondoh (team leader), Maria Nandago and Elijah Otiende. Wealso wish to thank the participants of the Mwanza workshop on Reflect and Governance

in March, 2004 for the idea of developing this manual was mooted and crystallized

during this forum. Individual contributions in form of critiques, comments and articlesfrom our members and associates should be noted; most significantly from Kate

Newman, Kiura and Jina. Last but by no means least is acknowledgement to CEF for

extending financial support to this process.

Ii]. Foreword

In order for schools to become empowering institutions which contribute to

transformative education there needs to be sustained involvement at the local level ofpeople who understand the local realities and needs of parents, teachers and school

children. In many contexts this local involvement does not happen in a sustained,

empowering way, and those who do link to the school often become limited to a role of

being a school fundraiser. The ideas contained in this manual aim to alter this dynamic.

This will not only improve the quality of education at local level, but will enhance access

to education and strengthen local systems of education governance, with more people

getting involved in school governance and general management of education at local,

district and national levels.


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A second aim of this manual is to ensure that space is created for local people to discusseducation issues, and that this is linked to district, national, regional and international

campaigning themes and priorities. All too often campaigns decide their messages at

national or international level, without providing space for the voices of the poor to beheard. The ideas contained in this manual go some way to reducing the separation of

grassroots and policy work, providing mechanisms for debate and suggestions of linking

local analysis to groups well positioned to amplify those voices. This will not only

strengthen the legitimacy of campaign work spearheaded by members of ANCEFA,PAMOJA and the GCE, as well as increase the number of people campaigning for

education. It will further provide the campaign with new momentum, new strategies andnew information about the current situation on the ground, interests of the local

population, reflecting where they would really like to see change.

ii]. Acronyms and Abbreviations

ANCEFA Africa Network Campaign on Education for AllSMC School Management Committee

SDP School Development PlanEFA Education for AllCSOs Civil Society Organizations

UPE Universal Primary EducationMDGs Millennium Development GoalsPTAs Parent Teachers Association

CBOs Community Based Organizations

TOT Training of Trainers

TOF Training of FacilitatorsSBF School Based FacilitatorsUNDHR - Universal Declaration of Human RightsCRC - Convention on the Rights of the Child

FBOs Faith Based Organizations

NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations

CIRAC - International Reflect Circle


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SECTION ONE

1.0ABOUT THE PROCESS AND CONTENT OF THE MANUAL:

This is a joint initiative between ANCEFA and PAMOJA. Attempts have been made to

have the manual simple and practical as possible with relevant illustrations whereapplicable. The genesis of the manual traces its way to the Pamoja Reflect and School

governance workshop held in Mwanza Tanzania in March, 2004. The need for a

manual of this kind was generated during this workshop, where participants from acrossAfrica expressed the necessity to have a guide focusing primarily on good governance of

our schools today.

1.1 How it has been developed:

The process of coming up with the guide has been fairly participatory, interactive andbroad based. The discussions on the idea, concept note and process began earlier on inthe year during the Reflect and governance workshop in Mwanza. The debates extended

further a field between ANCEFA and PAMOJA on one hand and on the other hand

between individual members of the writing team Andiwo Obondoh, Maria Nandago,

and Elijah Otiende.

Part of this debate was meant to develop a concept paper on participatory schoolgovernance and expenditure tracking in education and there after build consensus on the

outline and possible content. Materials were collated and consultations with PAMOJA

chapters and ANCEFA member coalitions ensued, out of which a draft manual emerged,

which was again circulated for further discourse. All the modules have been piloted indifferent community settings in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. It is important to underscore

the fact that a video footage has been provided to step down the manual and make it

available in many forms to school governance actors.

1.2 Purpose of the Manual:This manual is meant to act as a training guide for middle level CSO actors, communitybased organizations, and school management committees, parents and teachers

associations, and abroad range of players on participatory and or consultative

management techniques on school governance. This is meant to encourage accountabilityand participation in management of schools and educational programmes.

The material will no doubt serve several purposes but key among them should include:

Give school managers, teachers, community members, parents and pupils some

insights into participatory and effective management of schools.

Provide one stop reference material/source for management committees,stakeholders and reform lobbyists in education.

Expound the role of reflect in school governance and bring forth examples of

good or bad practice across Africa.

Provide material for use in training both management committees and watchdogsfor acquisition of managerial, monitoring and analytical skills.


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Enhance capacity for local mobilization;- sensitize communities and help inmobilizing demand for quality as well as organize village education committees,

community lobbies or action groups.

The local education groups and lobbies, in addition to monitoring school budgets,

participating in governance, should further focus on sensitizing parents on the importance

of sending children to school. Other challenging roles for which this manual seeks tobuild capacity would be;

Expose gaps and inadequacies in school management

Demand new resources from government and local councils

Mobilize parents to help secure new resources and hold school authorities toaccount.

Engage in specific campaigns by using cultural spaces to raise issues around

education and school management.Enhance community action on monitoring service provision and tracking ofschool budgets.

Translating and interpreting major policy documents.

Linking school to community level, district and national issues.

1.3 Adapting the Manual to your contextThis guide is made simple and flexible for ease of adaptation to different contexts (bothgeographical and thematic). One thing should remain clear from the onset; even though

this manual has been produced specifically to support community level action on school

governance, it can be modified for application in training managers and monitoring teams

for any social sector institution. However, planners, policy implementers and trainersusing this manual will have to take note of some basic pre-requisites such as:

Ability to build support with grassroots

Ability to listen to and work with local communities

Ability to have good orientation about and understanding of the schoolenvironment

Ability to analyze education plans and policies

Ability to monitor and track resource use in schools

This manual can be used in three main ways; experienced trainers can use it as a guide

for training of trainers to build capacity of school managers, SMCs and budget trackers.

Secondly it can be used by SMCs and line managers to guide day-to-day operations inour schools and finally as an advocacy instrument to help mobilize community

participation in school governance. Tips, case studies, exercises, activities and

illustrations are given to make the manual as practical and user friendly as possible.Keeping the guide relevant and applicable will however, remain a challenge to each actor

opting to use this manual.

1.4 Skills and Capacity needed to use the Manual

The modules in this manual are designed for use with groups, primarily at grassroots

(local and district) level but many could also be adapted to facilitate discussions with


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people working in different contexts on educational issues, including national andregional platforms.

The modules require a good facilitator someone who is comfortable working with a

group and creating space for, rather than dominating, discussion. The best facilitators arepeople who listen to others and bring in quieter voices, who are enthusiastic but are used

to keeping their views to themselves. They should have the respect of participants, but

also be open, friendly and approachable, able to be challenged, and confident enough toreact to changes in group dynamics and processes. The facilitators will also need to be

able to access additional information whether this is official documents (plans, policiesor budgets) or newspaper articles, school curricula, advocacy and other NGO materials.

The ideas developed in these sheets are based on more general experience of working

with participatory approaches, and can be complemented by use of other relevant

materials such as Communication and Power. A bibliography is included for reference inthe back of this pack. It could also be useful for groups involved in this work to link with

Reflect groups (or other similar groups) to extend their voices and increase the impactof their action.

1.5Who is targeted by this Manual?The manual targets middle level CSO actors [teacher unions, FBOs, CBOs-women

group/youth groups], education officials [school inspectors], and school management

committees, parents and teachers associations, and abroad range of other actors.The manual is meant for all categories of schools providing basic education.

The training manual first and foremost targets trainers who have great influence on workdone with school governance. These include trainers, mainly with the NGOs, Ministry ofeducation Officials, and individuals managing training institutions.

The knowledge base of school management will be passed on from trainers to trainers, to

school administrators and to parents and teachers. The methods used to transmit theinformation will also be passed on.

1.6 How to use this Manual as a resource, training and advocacy pack?

The manual is recommended to be used by those who have been trained. There will be

two levels of training, TOT and TOF. TOT will be meant to develop facilitation skills of

a cadre of trainers. It is meant to invite TOT to take a new look at the whole of their

training approach to ensure that it reflects the principles in which they believe.

The focus of TOT training will be facilitation skills. The experience is that TOTs who

plan training courses are often pre-occupied with what trainees need to know[content]rather than the training methods or processes. The emphasis for the TOT training will be

to enlarge the sphere of knowledge and use of active, participatory and experientialfacilitation approach. The training will focus to changing TOT from owners of

knowledge on school governance to Facilitators. TOTs will then train and work closely

with School Based Facilitators [SBF]. TOF training will focus on training SBF. Their


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training will focus both on content and process as these people will be involved directly

in implementation.

The ideas included in this document are intended to help those working at grassroots

level, particularly in and around schools, engage policy makers, managers and publicofficials on issues of education. These include issues relating to school governance,

school development planning, income and expenditure, community-school relations,education quality and access. The manual has a broad background and some

introduction. The rest of the manual is divided into distinct but related modules; each

module has a brief outline of purpose, objectives, activities and facilitators notes. The

sections on facilitators notes are broad enough to provide platform for discussions,deepen analysis and plan for joint action.

However, it is important to note that, most of the ideas are presented in a generic form

and will need further adaptation for specific contexts we hope that this will be done atthe local or national level.

In any community there are a diverse group of people who relate to the local school.

Some people have a formal relationship with the school. For example they may be

employed in the school, be part of a legally constituted school management committee, orwork for the local education authority. Others have a more informal arrangement. They

may belong to a parent teacher association, or be part of a local community group, or they

could be individual parents, pupils or community members. Each group of people willreact differently to the discussion topics, and attempts have been made to focus the sheets

on the different perspectives. However, the facilitator should be aware that they will

need to further adapt and innovate based on these initial suggestions as contained in thenotes.

1.7 How is this manual different from other resource packs?

The series of modules presented in this manual are not intended to cover all aspects

relating to school governance and education quality, but should be used to facilitatediscussions and encourage community participation in education. They are however,

based on participatory principles/tools/techniques and grounded on the reflect

methodology. The manual encourages facilitators to guide people in their interactions toreflect on, and analyze their knowledge and reality so that they will be able to come up

with actions which relate to their specific contexts.

Ideas for learning and action by the groups involved are given as well as suggestions as to

how to link the local initiatives to national level work. It is important to remember that in

all good participatory processes the participants are expected to lead the process anddefine the outcomes.

Each module contains some learning and action elements and the extent to which this is

part of the process will depend on the nature of the group involved. Actions decided byeach group will vary hugely: dependent on the local context, the status of the group, and


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the level of power they have within school environment and lastly their knowledge levels

on the area of governance.


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SECTION TWO

2.0 RATIONALE FOR PARTICIPATORY SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

2.1. Empowering actors to influence school policies, plans and budgets

The scarcity and unavailability of management information in terms of processes,

structures, institutional mechanisms, functions and opportunities for participation toeducation stakeholders undermines their capacity to engage effectively in planning,

budgeting and management of schools. On the other hand, the absence of critical

information and the exceptional centralization of decision making in education, greatlylimit the degree to which, parents, local communities, children, teachers, civic leaders,

district education authorities and civil society groups can influence management anddecision making processes and make legitimate demands to improve quality of education.

Against this background, strengthening policy influencing techniques in order for

stakeholders (mainly teachers, parents, children, education officials, community leadersand CSOs) to play an effective role in jointly deciding priorities, designing interventions

and monitoring the implementation of school plans & budgets is therefore key to

improving quality of education and attainment of EFA goals. To achieve this, community

based organizations, parents and education officials need to acquire new skills, gainaccess to new information and to build new alliances. In particular for civil society;

budget audits, independent analysis of school expenditure, working with SMCs, PTAs

and other elected bodies, are examples of the policy influencing tools that educationactors need to develop and bring to bear on school plans and policies.

In order to address these problems we must find it extremely necessary to invent andinnovate ways and means of empowering actors in the education sector to plan, budget,

track and monitor expenditure patterns in education, particularly schools.

2.2 Purpose and Benefits of monitoring School Plans & Budgets

1. Tracking initiatives aim at ensuring that the government, local authorities, civil

society and local communities, prioritize the educational needs and rights of poorpeople by strengthening the capacity and voice of PTAs and emerging civil

society networks.2. At the district and or community levels, the ability of pro-poor organizations to

articulate local needs and demands effectively and to translate these concerns into

coherent and practical policy recommendations will be greatly increased.

3. At the grassroots level, public debate and citizen action will be catalyzed and poorpeople will be empowered to articulate their own demands towards schools, local

councils and district education officials, elected representatives, provincial and

national authorities.4. Capacity building is further expected to increase the advocacy capacity, analytical

skills and watchdog roles of civil society groups working in education sector,

particularly CBOs, SMCs and PTAs.


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5. Participatory strategies, if & when developed, should give sufficient room for

continued assessment and feedback as to how far education policies are beingimplemented, and how far schools are meeting concerns of parents and local

communities.6. If the implementation of education plans and school budgets is adequately

monitored, then this will give a mutual advantage to education authorities and

civil society groups to assess performance of policies and programmes of the

central government, district boards, local authorities and schools.7. This will further increase access to information and therefore enhance the

capabilities of SMCs, PTAs, CSOs, citizens and education officials in monitoring

delivery of educational services at the district and school levels.

2.3 Building Community Capacity for local-level decision making

In order to build a constituency for policy reform, and to create sustained pressure for

change, civil society groups and education officials need to foster a vigorous publicdebate on education problems, and to create empowering opportunities for ordinary

people to act in concert with others in order to bring about change in our schools. Bothparticipatory methods in social audits and campaigning techniques should be used to

increase involvement of communities in monitoring access, quality and equity of

education through participatory indicators. Using this mother manual on schoolgovernance, groups can further produce more simplified guides to how the school plans

and budgets are supposed to work. It is also possible to determine equity across different

groups within the school, sectors within the community and regions by analyzing;

Who makes decisions about school budgets?

Is there transparency and accountability in management of the school?

Where is the money coming from and where does it go? Is the money

available reaching the intended beneficiaries children?

What spaces are available for participation of parents, teachers, children

and CBOs in school management? How effective are they using thisspace?

It is envisaged that this process will give support to SMCs and PTAs by;

Improving the quality of schools through promoting their accountabilityto children and local parents.

Setting up and strengthening such committees and associations.Encouraging team building, problem identification and solving.

Promoting training, budget analysis, monitoring and quality assurance.


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SECTION THREE

INTRODUCTION TO REFLECT AND SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

Purpose: This section is intended to discuss the concept and principles of governance

and further enhance participatory governance and effective management of schools

through use of Reflect methodology. It is important to note that reflect and governanceform the basis of this manual and they will continuously be referred to.

The section basically introduces both the School Based Trainers and School BasedFacilitators (SBF) to reflect on how it can be used to promote school governance.

Objective:[1] To increase education stakeholders knowledge and capacity to apply Reflect

techniques in school governance.

FACILITATORS NOTES

What is Reflect?

It is a structured participatory learning process that facilitates peoples critical analysis of

their environment to identify their problems, discuss and come up with practical solutionsfor sustainable development. Reflect was developed through the innovative pilot

programmes in Uganda, Bangladesh and El Salvador between 1993 and 1995. It startedas a fusion of the political philosophy of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire with thepractical methodologies developed for Participatory Rural Appraisal [PRA]. Other

significant influences were the ideological approach to literacy and gender analysis.

Reflect has been adopted by different organizations in different contexts. Its use over the

years has ranged from peace and reconciliation in Burundi, management of water projects

by women in Kenya, land rights work in South Africa and community mobilizationaround forestry in Nepal among others. The main focus is to empower the socially and

economically disadvantaged categories of people to critically reflect on their environment

and subsequently take positive actions that can improve their livelihoods. The use of

Activities and Approaches1. Brainstorm on the definitions of Reflect and school governance.2. Take notes on a flip chart as participants discuss

3. Summarize by giving a definition of Reflect and Governance

4. Discuss with participants the relevance of Reflect to school governance5. Introduce Reflect tools and their importance

6.

Present a case study to strengthen the understanding or ask any of theparticipants individually or in groups to do so.


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Reflect can stimulate School Management Committee members, as individuals and as a

group to respond to the present public demand for good school governance.

What is Governance?

The concept of "governance" is not new. Simply put "governance" means: the process ofdecision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not

implemented). Governance can be used in several contexts such as school governance,

corporate governance and local governance.

School governance involves making decisions on:

Goals, aims and objectives

Management strategies - how things should be done (the dos and donts)

Formulation of policies, plans and budgets

Accountability and reporting mechanismsInformation sharing systems

Power relations in the running of the school.

Allocation, utilization and generation of resources.

Determination and enforcement of rules, procedures and guidelines.

Stakeholder participation and community-school relations

Curriculum content and delivery approaches

Learning and teaching resources


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Why Reflect for School Governance?

Reflect as an approach is known to create space where people feel comfortable to meet

and discuss issues relevant to their development. Thus Reflect encourages meaningfulparticipation of people in decision through communication and analysis. The use of

Reflect for school governance will therefore enable:

Parents to analyze their school environment to identify school problems discussand come up with practical solutions. Reflect approach enable parents to come up

with positive actions that will lead to change within their school. Reflect

encourages collective and individual reflection and action, through it SMCs can

be mobilized to address some of the practical needs of a school. This is the onlyway to enable parents to influence the direction their school needs to take. The

Good School Governance has 8 major characteristics.

Participation: Participation by parents, teachers, community members [both men and women] and

pupils is a key cornerstone of good school governance. Participation could be either direct or through

representatives

Rule of law: Good school governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It

also requires promotion or protection of human rights.

Transparency: Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner

that follows rules and regulations off the school. It also means that information is freely available and

directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement e.g. parents,

teachers, pupils and sponsors. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is provided

in easily understandable forms and media.

Responsiveness: Good school governance requires that school organs and processes try to serve all

stakeholders, especially parents, teachers and pupils within a reasonable timeframe.

Consensus oriented: Good school governance requires mediation of the different interests in school to

reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interest of the whole school community and how this can

be achieved.

Equity and inclusiveness: Ensuring that all members of the school community feel that they have a

stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream. This requires all groups, but particularly the

most vulnerable, to have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being.

Effectiveness and efficiency: Producing results that meet the needs of the school community while

making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good

school governance also covers the sustainable use of resources and the protection of the environment.

Accountability: In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected

by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law.


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use of Reflect therefore encourages ownership of the activities and events in theschool.

Parents to plan, control and monitor use of school resources available. Theinvolvement of parents and community leaders, either directly or through SMCs,

PTAs & CBOs, in these key management processes is the only way through

which local communities will be empowered to demand for accountability andtransparency.

Parents to deal with power relations. By doing a detailed local analysis and

organizing parents to address the local governance issues, Reflect build the

confidence, skills of parents and community to effectively challenge the localpower structure and demand for change both within the school and education

structures. For any sustainable change to be achieved within the education sector

at the local and national level, a strong base of governance must be built fromschool level. This base is something that Reflect process can build. The starting

point must be the local school governors own analysis, on the basis of their

immediate environment and experience

Parents to communicate and improves their relationship within the school andbeyond. The acquisition of literacy skills [reading/numeracy/writing, speaking

and listening] by parents through Reflect is vital for accessing information,

communication and documenting their experiences and perspectives. It is throughcommunication that the voices of parents can be understood by government

agencies or other public authorities.

Parents to have and or ensure some democratic space: The use of a wide range ofparticipatory tools within Reflect process helps create an open or democratic

environment in which everyones voice is given equal weight. Visualizationapproaches are of particular importance for understanding governance issues.

Some of the tools that can be used to analyze school governance issues includes:

Maps, Diagrams, Matrices, calendars and other graphic. Other participatory

methods that can be used includetheatre, role play, songs and dance.

Why Use Reflect Tools for School Governance?

All participatory tools can be used for the good or bad of the community. Many

development practitioners have used participatory tools to distort or manipulate local

communities and their groups. However, Reflect tools are used for reflection and actionfor purposes of creating change. Thus the tools play a role in:

For Reflect tools and their application in school governance see Appendices


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Power and voice: through use of Reflect tools parents capacity to communicate with

each other and the school authority is strengthened. Although part of the process maybe about learning the dynamic of governance, the focus is on using these tools in a

meaningful way.Democratic space: through Reflect parents voice in managing and governing schoolsis given more weight. The use of various tools actively constructs their participation

and thus enables them to challenge the dominant powers and relationships.Orientation to action: Help break silence among parents as they discuss governance

issues.

Documentation: by encouraging people to put down for posterity and reference their

various perspectives, experiences and initiatives.Communication: through use of Reflect, parents and local citizens be able to

communicate effectively with school authorities and amongst themselves. Reflect can

also be used for effective information sharing within the school, within the

community and between the two.Change of group dynamics: Reflect helps in analysis of the characteristics of different

groups, understanding their nature and most cases organizing such groups for action.


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SECTION FOUR

SPECIFIC MODULES FOR GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF

SCHOOLS

MODULE I:

BUILDING LINKS BETWEEN THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY

Purpose: to understand the relationships which exist between the school and the host

community with a view to creating harmony and co-existence.

Objectives:i). Outline roles of different actors in school management and discuss how they canengage actively in school affairs.

ii). Define and understand different functions of SMCs and PTAs.

Topics:

Why take active role in school management?

How can we use reflect to strengthen school-community relations?(Use of resource maps and chapatti diagrams)

Roles and responsibilities of school governors

Looking at school/community relations

Defining and understanding the role of SMCs and PTAs

FACILITATORS NOTES

NM. 1.1 Looking at School/Community Relations

This module looks at ways that the school can become a resource for the whole

community by extending learning and sharing among community members. Often in

most cases, the school is the only social service institution available in some local

communities. The village may not have access to any other meeting place, any points to

Activities and Approaches

1. Discuss with participants their understanding of community involvement and

its effects on school governance in education2. Using a flow diagram discuss the roles of community to school and school to

community and summarize the discussion by bring out the synergy.

3. Discuss in syndicate groups roles and responsibilities of school governors.4. Critically look at and discuss the relationship between the local community and

the school and the benefits they get from one another.

5. Use case studies to hel artici ants understand roles of different actors in


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distribute information or share experiences. In addition, schools are often treated as

places of official business, with community members feeling that they have no controlabout what goes on within the school walls. As a result most community members loose

interest in the affairs of the school, thereby distancing themselves from the school itself.

By building stronger links between the school and the community the benefits of having a

school will be shared, while at the same time community members will feel more

ownership of the school itself. The first stagehowever, is for the group to make the decision that

this is a desirable concept that they support the

integration of the school into the community. Theremay be people in the group with differing opinions

about this especially if the group has members from

the local education authority who are worried about

the school loosing its focus on its primary purpose. Itwould be good to set up a debate looking at the pros

and cons of extending the role of the school in to thecommunity.

It would be good to come up with a list of possibleactivities the school could be involved in, and

suggestions for how parents/community members

could be involved with the school (beyond thefundraising position often allocated to them).

Some of the extended roles might include any of the following:

A resource centre for locally produced materials + information from the local

government/other relevant information

Center for adult education classes and community development processes

Space for community meetings or forums

Platform for Parent-teacher meetings (to discuss childrens progress)

Opportunities for parents to lead specific classes.

A joint community-school meeting could be held, to discuss these issues outlined above.

This could then inspire a discussion on how they would like to see the school used toserve the local community, thinking how they could feel ownership of the school while

extending their own learning processes. Another example might be to do a systems

diagram, looking at how the school relates to the wider community. This could start byidentifying all the different institutions linked to the school and asking how they relate,

outlining roles of each one of them in the relationship and then examining who is missing

from the picture, and trying to understand why this might be.

Some Questions/Issues might

include:

What do we have to loose byextending the role of theschool beyond its walls?

What type of activities

should the school support?

What are the resourceimplications for gettinginvolved in these initiatives?

What benefits might accrueas a result of this enhancedrole to both parties?

What is the role of teachers,head-teacher, parents,children and otherstakeholders?


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A second stage would be to look at how morelinks could be built within the school

community. These might focus on particular

groups of the population, or areas of thecommunity. Or they might be general

activities which would encourage open

participation.

Community Involvement and Partnership

in Education

Parents involvement and partnership includes

accepting obligations, responsibilities and

participating in education and activities withinthe school.

These may include [a] parent supporting their

childrens schooling by attending schoolfunctions and responding to school

obligations.[b] Helping their children improve

school work by encouragement, arrangingappropriate study time and space and

monitoring homework[c] playing roles in

governance and making decisions on planning

and development of the school and education.Research has shown that there is a correlation between effective, committed communityparticipation and the success of development initiatives. According to philosophies of

Paulo Freire and Illich, community involvement in education encourages:

better identification of school needs and more appropriate activities

more resources to schools and better use of local resources

more effective implementation of school plans

more sustainable school programmes, plus greater equity and democracy

greater ownership and responsiveness towards school

increasing recognition of the value of education for all.

increased community involvement in education ca lead to

greater relevance of the school in terms of culture, curriculum and school

reduction in the work burden of teachers and head teachers

very well informed voices to address specific education issues

encourage enrollment of hard to reach population

What is a systems diagram?

A systems diagram is a way of

understanding how a group oforganizations or individuals link together

and can also be used to look at the power

relations between those organisations.

It is an extension of the chapatti diagram as

it has more room for movement, allowing a

wider range of relationships andinterconnections.

Questions which might help in this diagraminclude:

Who has links to the school?

Why are the links there? What kind of linksare they?

Who has more control in the relationship?What are some of the power relations?Should these be changed, if so how?

Who is closest to the schoolwhy?

Which direction does communication andinformation flow?


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Responsibilities of the Community to the School and School to Community:

Examples of issues that may emerge out of the discussions may include

Roles and Responsibilities of School Governors managers and management

committees:

It is not easy to arrive at all roles and responsibilities of school governors, however,

during the group discussion the following and many others might appear: acquiring land and securing land tittles for the schoolprovision of physical facilities such as classrooms/toilets/furniture/play ground

equipment/ teaching and learning material

organizing and collection of funds (fundraising)collection and accounting for school funds (e.g. fees, grants or donations)

dealing with matters pertaining to staff and pupil discipline

employing and paying teachers and support stafforganizing meetings for parents and themselvessponsoring teachers for training

solving problems faced by teachers, support staff and children

1. Responsibilities of the community to the school:

o They own the school

o They manage the school

o Provide resources

o Pay teachers where it is called for

o Attending school meetings

o Ensure children attend school, and are retained in school to

completion

o

Participate in monitoring and evaluationo Ensure security and safety of children and school resources

o Provide other auxiliary services the school might need

2. Responsibility of the school to the community:o Provide a safe, stimulating and supportive environment for

learning and development of children and youth.

o Involving the community in all school programmes

o Regular and unsolicited feedback to the community on school

activities

o Utilization of community resources efficiently

o

Setting, meeting, maintaining and improving acceptableacademic standards for learners at the same time ensuring the

learners access to the institution, retention, transition and

completion

o Being accountable to the community for its actions and

operations


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transacting any other business as empowered by the parentsMobilizing parents to enroll children to the school/ECD centre.

They also make policies and regulations regarding roles of office bearers of different

organs and committees [chairperson, secretary, treasurer] as well as their codes ofconduct.

NM. 1.2 Defining and Understanding the Role of SMCs and PTAs

This section will enable actors to understand and analyze the particular role/s of school

management committees and parents teachers associations, among other organs responsible for

running of schools. It should strengthen their ability to use the legal, political and social space,

which already exists, and encourage them to think through how to extend it if need be. And to

think about how they might link to other groups, to influence them and hold them to account.

In some contexts, SMCs and PTAs are simply not functioning. They may only have two or three

members, irregular meetings and lack

information as to what they should be

discussing and why. However, in the majority

of contexts SMCs do have specific and

mandated roles. The first step to

strengthening school governance has to do

with exploring this role, and understanding

what it means in the local (school &

community) context.

The roles of different groups varyconsiderably in relation to where the group is

situated on the formal-informal spectrum.

However, the activities suggested here are

appropriate for any group and should

encourage them to reflect on their role,

position and history.

In fact, another step could be to examine the

history of the group to look at how it was

formed, and how it has changed over time and

what activities it has been involved in. A

river could be used to explore this historicalprofile using the analogies of a river to analyze whether the water in the river (i.e. the people in

the group), or the banks (i.e. external influences) have controlled the rivers flow, what positive

moments, and obstacles the group has encountered, whether the group has been unified, or if the

flow has divided in two, has it flowed quickly and broadly or has it been more of a trickle etc.

This would enable group members to have a good understanding of where they are now, and how

they got there. It will also help them to identify future opportunities or threats based on past

experiences. Looking at the evolution of the concept of SMCs/PTAs more generally could also

extend the discussion. This would enable participants to consider how their particular experience

fits in with the wider policy development in education sector.

Some Questions to help discussion might include:

SMCs and PTAs

The roles and responsibilities of School ManagementCommittees (SMCs) and Parent Teacher Associations

(PTAs) differ greatly across national boarders. Some

countries have the legal provision for both institutions

others only have one, while others none at all.

In general terms SMCs have a role in school governance,

in policy making, planning and budgetary allocations.

They involve a range of people including local community

members, education officers, head teachers, parents and

local government representatives among others. Mostmembers are formally elected.

On the other hand PTAs tend to help with resource

mobilization, running social events for parents and pupils,running clubs for extra-curricula activities, e.g. sports or

music extravaganzas, organize meetings to inform parents

about education issues. In some cases, they are a loose

association of people interested in the school who are not

usually formally elected representatives.

Other groups who might be interested in discussing these

issues include: village development committees, local

education committees and community based organizations.


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When did the SMC/PTA begin?

How did we begin did we decide to form ourselves, or did someone else ask us to fill in

some space/gap or take up some role?

Has it always had the same membership?What have we done as a group and what problems have we faced?

How do we make decisions/plan and how much control do we have?

Who else do we talk to beyond the group?

A second technique, which could be useful to understand the roles and functions of SMCs andPTAs, is a systems diagram. This would be used to map out the education system, and

understand the particular place that the SMC/PTA occupies within that system. This should

include a wide range of people/institutions, including the statutory bodies, NGOs, teachers,

community members and school pupils. The simple mapping will be a good starting point, which

could be followed by more discussion and analysis, looking at where information flows well in

the system, what types of power relations exist, where there are opportunities for influence by

SMCs/PTAs, without forgetting where there are constraints.

Some Questions to help prompt discussion might include the

following:

What other groups of people influence our school

management and decision making? Who has most

power?

What decisions are made in education which of these

can/do we make?

Who do we get information from? Who do we giveinformation to?

Where does the school get money from?

Who is involved in making school policy?Who decides what we do as an SMC/PTA? Do we have a legal mandate, role and or

responsibility?

What is the relationship like between the SMC and the wider community?

How do we ensure that legal space is filled, is the role realistic?

Are we happy with the legal role, does it need to be changed?

In order to properly understand the role of the group the policy instruments and or legal

documentation that defines their roles and responsibility will need to be accessed (if thegroup is informally formed this type of information might not exist); however it might

still be interesting to look at the legal framework which governs other organizations, both

to understand more about how organizations are run and to identify opportunities foradvocacy/accountability demands. This could be presented in a simplified format, or

using oral media (e.g. tape) if literacy is a problem for the group. It will also be

important to know who is currently on the SMC and in the PTA, the leadership structureand how they are currently elected etc. This will be particularly important if the ideas on

this manual are used with a group which is not currently formed, as a way of bringing

them together.

It might be interesting for the group to look at examples of where and how SMC/PTAs

have functioned well giving living examples of empowered SMCs/PTAs. This would be

History and role of the

school;

It might also be interesting to

use these exercises to look atthe history and role of the

school itself. For example,

when did the community first

get a school; why was this;how integrated is the school

with the wider community?


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particularly useful if the example were local where the group members could look at how

other groups have dealt with some of the issues they are facing. Possible outcomes andactions may include the following:

Increased confidence within the group of their right to exist and thus increased ability to

fulfill their role.

Identification of the need to extend the current space influencing policy around

SMCs/PTAs.

Allocation of roles and responsibilities within the SMC/PTAs (this links very well with

the internal relationships of SMC/PTAs).

Strengthening both literacy and oral communication skills.

National organizations working with SMC/PTAs will need to support the groups in accessing the

legal/constitutional information, and sharing it in an appropriate format. They will also be crucial

in identifying best practice examples of functioning SMC/PTAs which could be used for

discussion and analysis within focus groups. They could also support meetings between

SMC/PTAs for exchange of ideas and learning. On the other hand, there is space and need to use

local discussions to influence national policy. If various SMC/PTAs decide that the current legal

space for their functioning is restrictive, district CBO/NGOs and national CSO coalitions will be

able to support opportunities for advocacy and influencing, perhaps even taking up this agenda as

part of their education campaigning. Another strategy is to enable SMC/PTAs to link up with

other groups to strengthen their voice, since the discussions in the SMC/PTAs themselves will

provide campaigning groups with real evidence/examples of the way SMCs function at the

grassroots, and why this needs to be changed or not.

MODULE II: WORKING TOWARDS CHANGE OF SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LEARNING

Purpose: promote good teaching/learning environmentas a core component of school

management.

Objectives:

i). Enhance learning and teaching processes in our schools to improve participation and

quality of education.ii). Building the confidence of the local community about their school by encouraging

debate and interaction beyond the classroom.

iii). Influence and or change policies around participation in education; access, retention,

completion and transition.

Topics:

Enhancing learning and teaching processes in schools

Promoting learning beyond the classroom

Exploring the internal/external school environmentExpanding education opportunities to extend access

Producing and managing teaching/learning resources


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Activities and Approaches;

1. Discuss ways and means of promoting learning and teaching in our schools

In syndicate groups of may be five each, how best the school environment can be

improved.2. Map out strategies for increasing participation in education and further for encouraging

production of local materials.

3. Facilitator should use any of the following tools [pot, diagram, Income andExpenditure tree, and Flow diagram, village projectmap] to assess the environment and

monitor curriculum delivery, participation and learning achievement.

FACILITATORS NOTES

NM. 2.1 Enhancing Learning and Teaching Processes in Schools

This module initiates discussion on different types of learning, looking at what can be

done at the local level to transform educational processes in schools.

Education can either be oppressive or liberating. It can reinforce wider societal patterns

of oppression, or it can empower people, giving them the skills and the confidence to

challenge the systems and structures that keep them in poverty. Unfortunately, in many

contexts around the world schooling is something that is done to people they are

taught to learn the three Rs and not to question authority, to accept expert knowledge

and not to value their own. By simply changing the dynamics in the classroom educationcan become a completely different process.

Changing the learning processes in schools is not an easy process, and there will be limits

as to what a local group can actually do (when teachers are usually trained centrally,often have to follow a national curriculum and are given little confidence building and

value orientation themselves). However, there are certain elements which can be

changed locally supplementary information may be needed to understand exactly what

can be changed, but even without this the group (along with the teachers) could explore

different ways of teaching.

The first stage could be to understand the power dynamics in the classroom. A role play

is a simple way of doing this. Perhaps this could begin with the teacher playing

themselves and the SMC members or participating groups taking the role of the children.Then, the teacher(s) could become the children and a group member could imitate the

teacher. This could be gradually changed, with different members ofthe SMC/group

taking on the role of the teacher and adding new dimensions. These might include:

The sympathetic teacher, who questions and listens

The dictatorial teacher who instructs and ignores

The shy teacher who doesnt manage to speak in front of their class

The strict teacher who draws a firm line between what is, and what is notacceptable in the classroom


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The humble teacher who learns from their pupils

The creative teacher who is full of energy and dynamism

The bored teacher who has no enthusiasm in their voice, and shows no interestin what anyone says or does

More roles and characters to be determined by the group.

The pupils should then reflect on and discuss how they felt being taught by the different

types of teacher and what impact this had on their interest in the subject or interest tolearn. A second exercise could be a time line. Looking at how teaching and learning has

changed overtime. This might include the old times before there was a school in the

village looking at how parents/community members passed on their knowledge to thechildren, and comparing this dynamic to what happens inside the classroom. It would be

good to complement this with discussion on how types of learning impact on how the

knowledge is received.

A third activity may include working with the school children, supporting them to do

report cards of their teachers. As highlighted above it is important that this processdoes not become a negative experience for the teachers as this might undermine their

confidence and ability to teach. However, pupils can give positive scores for types of

teaching they enjoy, and reinforcing the positive rather than highlighting the negative.

It will be important to know what actually

can be changed at the school level forexample can teachers alter the curriculum

or do they have to follow strict guidelines.

This will enable the group to target their

discussion and action looking at whether

they are trying to create more space in the

system or work with what is there already.

It would also be good to access examples

of different learning materials/techniques

for teaching and learning. There are awide variety of learning aids developed in

different places which could be adapted

for use anywhere, and it would be helpfulto share these with the group so that they

do not reinvent the wheel. Also it would

be useful to have positive examples from other local schools which embrace empoweringeducation whether these are government schools, or community/NGO initiatives. The

types of discussion are likely to be very different if an SMC or a community group

discusses these issues. As commented above teachers can be more experimental in theirteaching if they are supported, and their confidence is built. A community group which

has had little or no experience of education might find it more difficult to discuss these

issues and might hold the school in a position of esteem/glory which is not felt in the

same way by SMC members. External support can help both groups broaden their

Building Confidence:A knock on effect could be to give

community members more confidence in

their own knowledge even if this has not

been learnt in a formal setting. It could

demystify school showing it as a place

which contributes to community

development. It might even be that parents

or community members help out in some of

the teaching, in collaboration with the

teachers.

Also if children are learning to question and

having their confidence built though

education it can be hoped that they will

positively influence their parents building

their confidence to speak out in certain

contexts also.


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understanding of education and one possible action could be to invite external speakersto a session run by the group to look at the different possibilities within education.

The group might also identify different resource people who could be brought intoschools to provide different types of learning for example local artists,sportsmen/women, leaders, singers and social activists who could contribute their

knowledge to developing childrens skills and creativity. The group itself might also

write/compile learning materials (and the focus on the form of these materials willdepend on who is in the group) which ones could be used in schools. Or work directly

with teachers to enable them to develop and strengthen their teaching methodologies,

skills and approaches.

The experience at local level could be very powerful if replicated. For example, the

group could be linked to other groups discussing similar issues and share the materials

they developed, or provide training. However, the discussions might also feed intonational level campaigning and advocacy to influence the way teaching training is

delivered, and curricula is designed. Examples from the local level which demonstrateincreased learning and understanding through change in teaching style could support

lobbying to influence national level policy on teaching.

NM. 2.2 Promoting Learning Beyond the Classroom

This Section provides broad suggestions on ways and means through which, learning

beyond the classroom (in the outside world) can complement learning in schools.

All too often the classroom is seen as the only place where learning can happen, and littleor no value is placed on exploring the local area, or using different types of information.

This means that learning often becomes detached from reality, an abstract process which

is confined to the classroom with little or noimpact on life outside. However, that life

outside can provide valuable lessons which

if brought into a learning process can makethe lessons more relevant and interesting thus increasing the level of learning which

takes place.

The process of linking learning to the

outside world can be done simply.

However, the level of influence the grouphas on the school will depend on the

formality of the group and while an SMC

may be able to change policy to introducedifferent types of learning, a more loosely

formed group may only be able to suggest

ideas.

Some questions to help discussion might

include:

What is there in the local area that can

be visited by children?

What art forms do we use locally

which children can learn from?

Could the children perform plays,songs and dances to the wider

community/another village/group?

What crops do we grow locally?

What exists in nature locally?

What history of the village is

important for children to know?

How do we link to the neighboring

village?

What skills is it important for our

children to learn?

Who else can we involve in the

education of our children?


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However, both types of groups will be able to hold similar discussion identifyingappropriate opportunities for this type of work.

A good starting point might be a mobility map. This will enable the group to look at

what opportunities there are in the local area, and think through appropriate transport

systems if the visits involve traveling outside the village. Things that might be labeled on

the map include: local government offices, health centre, particular farms/crops, villageelders, play areas, traditional medicine etc. It might also identify particular events, for

example local markets, fetes or notice boards, information points (for example a house

which has radio access).

Once the different types of education have been identified it will be important to link this

to the types of skills to be developed through this educational experience. It will be

important to provide evidence that the trips are educational, in order to convince theteachers (and children) that it is linked to school education, and that it will strengthen

their abilities in specific areas of the curriculum. This will involve identifying specificskills and mapping the visits etc. to what is known about the curriculum or lesson plans.

Thus for example, a visit to a local market

may be linked to building numeracy skills, orunderstanding local economics and pricing.

Whereas a visit to the local government

offices will provide civic education(understanding what the local government

does) and strengthen language, literacy and

oral skills.

There may be space on national curriculum

for education beyond the classroom and this

sort of information will be important in helping the group form an argument as to whythis sort of education is necessary. By expanding education beyond the classroom a more

natural learning often occurs, and the links are understood not only between what is

learnt inside and life experience, but also learning takes place more holistically without

the false boundaries applied to simplify and focus class based teaching.

The children might come to realize that learning is not a passive process and it does not

only take one form, but that there are many different ways to learn, and to becomeinvolved in the process. They might start to value what they know already more

understanding that it is not significantly different, just acquired through differentprocesses. This will build their confidence, and contribute to them becoming more

empowered citizens. Finally by formally visiting places which theoretically families or

individuals could visit on their own, these places are validated, distances are broken

down, and the children will understand that they have a right to be there (this isparticularly important for places such as the local government offices). Such activities

may also bring the school closer to the community. Parents can become involved in anytrips acting as extra support and developing learning themselves. And seeing the

Comparing Different Schools;

Facilitators or teachers should prepare

issues for children to discuss the

advantages or disadvantages of

visiting a school much better thantheir own and the types of questions

that children should ask/reflect on


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children out in the community, and taking that

learning back into the classroom strengthens thelinks in this area.

Children will gain a better understanding of theirlocal environment and start to value it much

more. One other exciting visit might be to another

local school. ThisSchool could be between two very similar

schools, or two very different ones. Either way

the visit will be valuable. Not only becausechildren will begin to understand that there is a

wider world out there which is similar to their

own, but also because they can start to question

why the schools are similar, or why they aredifferent. Children could share

stories/experiences and start to learn morethemselves from their peers.

This could help build a movement from theschool pupils themselves which could link to

national campaigning, either on educational

processes (influencing policy around curriculumor pedagogy) or on facilitating exchange visits

and the value of visiting each others schools.

NM. 2.3. Exploring the Internal and External

School Environment

This section seeks to suggest ways of looking atthe school infrastructure and the natural

environment and further ask questions about the

safety and security of the school. The

environment in which one learns impacts greatlyon how you learn. Moreover, it influences the expectations both pupils and teachers (and

the community) have of the education process with a badly kept, dirty unfriendly

school lowering standards expected by all those involved. However, there are simpleways to make a school a more welcoming place.

The first step would be to understand the feelings of those who spend time in the school.Talking to children and school employees separately will enable people to speak more

freely and questions might include those in the box to the right. It could also be

interesting to hear the views of parents or other community members, and even to look athow the school has changed overtime. The activities contained on the role of children

sheet may also help here and suggest different ways of initiating discussion. These

questions fall into three main categories:

Some Questions to ask;

What do you like about the school

(and the compound)?What dont you like about the

school?

Where do you spend most of your

time when you are in school

why? What do you feel about

that place? What would make it

nicer?

What is missing from the school,

what could be improved?

Is there anywhere you dont like

going in the school?

What is it like learning at this

school? Is there anything aboutthe structure which could make

learning easier?

What would help you learn in the

school?

How many classrooms are there?

Are there school toilets? What

about a kitchen? Is there a play

area? A staff room? A rubbish

site? Etc.

What is the atmosphere like at

school is it a happy place?

How do teachers and pupils get

on?Is there any bullying why,

where?

How many children are there in

the school? In each class?

Does the school have enough

space and how could the space

be used most effectively?

Is there much illness in the school

what happens if a child is ill?


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Physical school structure and space

Atmosphere in/around the school

Environmental/hygiene/safety in the schoolAll these categories are equally important, and interrelated.

This background information could be complemented by the SMC/group themselves

walking around the school either accompanied by children/teachers who could give

additional explanations of what happens where or alone. They could do this when theschool is empty, and when full to understand the different atmosphere throughout the

day. It might also be important to know if the school is used for any other purpose,

beyond the teaching of children. For example are community meetings held in theschool?

It would also be useful for the group to take photos of the different parts of the school.This might include taking photos of parts of the infrastructure, or the children in

classrooms, playing etc. This could help with discussions in the group and/or be used

as an advocacy tool (see below). Moreover, children could be encouraged to take photosof the bits of school they like, or dislike.

It will also be important to look at issues of safety and hygiene. Children spend aconsiderable amount of time in school and it needs to be a safe place for them to be. In

addition a school should often be a place of example to the wider community and as

such needs to ensure that it is not a place where disease is easily spread (this is similar tothe comments made in other places about schools being a place of dynamism and

creativity with effect on the wider community).

It will be important to access any legislation which describes minimum standards for

schools. This could come in many different forms and it might be necessary for the

implementing organisation to examine a broad variety of legislation including anystatements there are on education for all and whether each village is entitled to a school,

what this means etc. This might include both national and district level policy.

It would also be interesting to look at other local schools to see if they are in a similar

condition, and to look at why their situation is the same, or different.

This will be a powerful way

of ensuring that the grouplinks with the school/wider

community, and this could

extend to looking at whatrole the wider community

could play in making the

school a nicer place to be.For example, people might

join in initiatives to clear up

the local area, to create small

Gender violence:

Violence against girls in school is an issue in many areas

around the world, and a subject which is very difficult to

raise.

It will be important to give children the opportunity to

discuss this and this requires building trust and

confidence. However, it is also important to try to

understand issues from the teachers point of view and not

just blacklist them.


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farms/gardens, support the development of toilets etc.

However, it is important that the management of the physical infrastructure does not

become a community responsibility, without the support of the local

government/educational authorities. Here there might be a role for the photos to exposethe reality of the local school and gain official interest. This might be by taking the

photos to the local government offices, or by developing media links either at local or

national level, and encouraging them to publish certain images.

The physical environment is not the only consideration here, and it might also be that the

SMC/group wishes to suggest changes to the social environment, to make learning moreconducive. This could include policies on bullying (whether by teachers or other pupils),

supporting more creativity/play by, for example, encouraging more classes to take place

outside the classroom, or suggesting school meals.

There are various campaigns run at national level exposing gender violence in schools

and if this is an issue in the local area it should be possible to link up to these campaigns both to inform them of what is really happening at local level, but also to engage their

support to deal with the issue. There may

be experts in working with girls who havesuffered violence in schools, and it is

important to recognize that discussing issues

like this often benefit from having anexternal person who can be more neutral

and less emotionally involved. The work at

local level could also influence new policyand campaigning positions identifyingwhich are the most important aspects of the

school environment whether this is

infrastructure or otherwise. Examples ofhow a local community has changed their

school from a negative place, to one which

is seen as an enjoyable place to learn couldbe a very powerful story especially if

national level campaigns invite

community/SMC members to talk about

how they achieved transforming their localschool.

N.M. 2.4 Expanding Educational

Opportunities to Extend Access

This section suggests ways of looking whois out of school and why, and what sort of

strategies can be developed to extend access

to all children.

Some Questions to prompt discussion

might include:

How many families live in the local

area?

What are the differences between these

families e.g. are some richer than

others, do they all come from the samecaste, are they all the same ethnicity

etc.?

Are there differences according to where

you live in the village?

How do children get to school?

What is the school environment like for

the different children e.g. are there

toilets, are the teachers all male etc.?

How many children are in school how

many are in each class?

How many children are out of school?

For how many years do children go to

school?What other jobs do the children do?

What do local people think about the

local school? Is school education seen

as important?

What are some of the reasons keeping

children out of school?

How does (could) the school cope with

children with disabilities?

What policies are there for OVCs &

children affected by HIV & AIDS.


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There are many out of school children, and research shows that the reasons for this arediverse, and thus a wide range of strategies is needed to extend education to those who

are not currently accessing this human right. However, these strategies need to consider

the local context and current realities, and therefore are best developed throughdiscussion by local people.

A first stage is to look at which children are not in school. There are various ways of

doing this but ideas could include the following combination:

1. Community map identifying the different households, from where children are

attending school, where children who are not in school are discussion couldfocus on looking at whether there are specific types or groups of children who

are not attending school (for example, it might be that girls are commonly

excluded from school, or one area of the village does not send their children to

school etc.). It could also be interesting to look at peoples mobility forexample how do children get to

school, what sorts of transportare available, and what services

are available locally?2. Daily routine chart looking at

how children (and if relevant and

helpful, parents and teachers)

spend their day. This would helpclarify how schooling figures in

a childs daily routine and

whether the hours of schoolingare appropriate in the givencontext.

3. Matrix this could extend the

discussion on the types of peoplewho are not attending school

plotting on one side the different

groups of children, and on the

other hand possible obstacles toparticipation and school

attendance. This could form the

beginning of looking forstrategies to overcome some of

these obstacles targeted at each

specific obstacle.

It would be helpful for the group to

know any policies/legislation targetedspecifically at excluded children. This

could be policies of the school itself, of

the district education authority, or of

Influencing and Changing policies around

Access;

Depending on what sort of group is discussing

this issue the outcome and actions are likely to be

very different.

A formal body, such as an SMC can directly

change school policy to ensure that the strategies

for extending access are included in school

guidelines etc. However, an informal grouping

or PTA has much less power, and is more likely

to focus on ensuring that school policies, and they

stand currently, are met.

Therefore it will be important to reflect on what is

possible, with respect to the groups current

position and plan actions accordingly. This is not

to say that those who are not in a formal position

of power should not attempt to change policy

merely that it is important to recognize that the

way of doing this will differ according to your

status and mandate.

So for example, if one reason for lack ofattendance was that the school time-table clashed

with other responsibilities an SMC would have

the ability to change the school time-table.

Whereas a less formally constituted body might

start by trying to talk to the SMC, or the district

education authority about the issue, but if this did

not lead anywhere they would try a range of

campaigning activities from trying to highlight

the local situation in the media, linking with

coalitions, petitioning local councilors etc.


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national government. These could be discussed and related to the local context to see

how appropriate the policies are, and whether they can be used to extend access locally.Or, if there are gaps in the policy which should be changed these could be identified.

Another interesting area would be to look at statistics available for numbers of excluded

children at local, district and national levels. The group could reflect on how their local

context compares to the wider picture is a positive story with more children accessing

education locally than across the country as a whole, or is the area below average interms of levels of exclusion. Either way, the group could start to look at reasons why this

is so placing their reality in the wider context.

It would also be good to get examples of how extending access has worked in other

contexts this information could be sourced through NGOs or education coalitions who

have piloted innovative schemes in other areas.

One important step would be to extend the discussion beyond the immediate group

inviting parents and children to share their ideas about why the(ir) children are not inschool, and what might help them attend school. It will also be important to consider

issues around the quality of education as it is possible that the low quality of education

is a contributing factor to parents not sending their children to school. This could becomplemented by inviting local education officers, NGO workers etc. to offer their

opinions on the current context and advocate for support from them to implement some

of the strategies identified.

Questions relating directly to HIV/AIDS policies are discussed on another sheet. But it is

important to note that children with HIV + parents, or children who have lost theirparents to AIDS are likely to be among the most excluded category and that a trustbuilding element will often need to be included in order to enable a discussion which

includes the pandemic.

It is hoped that an immediate outcome from any of these discussions will be an increase

in the number of people going to school locally, and that this will be further extended

through linking to policy influencing efforts nationally. The majority of educationcampaigning focuses on extending access, and thus education coalitions will find locallevel analysis very useful to extend their evidence/legitimacy for this campaigning. The

analysis could influence decisions on policy priority made within coalitions, and support

their demands for additional resources needed for education. It would also be verypowerful to involve children, and their voices in delivering messages about their local

area and how they feel about their opportunity/lack of opportunity to attend school.


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N.M. 2.5 Producing and Managing Teaching/Learning Resources

This part of the module explores ways of documenting local knowledge so that it can be

used within the school system as well as the wider community. Education is often seen astop-down, with expert knowledge brought into the school from outside the community.

However, there is a wealth of knowledge at the local level which can not only add value

to the learning process, but is often more appropriate and relevant to the pupils.

In many countries around the world the majority of textbooks used in schools are printed

centrally in capital cities with no space for locally relevant information, and often

completely inappropriate for rural life. This exacerbated by the materials being printed inEnglish or French (or a national language) rather than in local languages.

Moreover, by valuing community based knowledge the distance between the school andthe community is narrowed therebyenabling community ownership of the

school and strengthening the schools

role in local development processes. Itwill further be important to know what

space there is within the curricula to

introduce new and different types ofknowledge/resource materials and to

work with teachers on the best way to

do this. It will also be useful to

understand how local knowledgemight support the curricula as it standscurrently. For example, could

numeracy lessons be informed by thelocal ways of measuring, or

calculating crop yields. Or could the

very process of documenting local knowledge be used within a science lesson or literacyetc.

While this section highlights the importance of

using local knowledge and locally developed

materials within schools this should be balancedwith an emphasis on the importance of external

knowledge also.

The very process of documenting local

knowledge is an empowering one for everyone

involved. Not only is their knowledge validated

but new skills might be developed in different

types of documentation from recording, towriting, to photography or even the use of

technologies such as video or computers. There will also be the effect of having more

Local vs External Knowledge;

We should not over-romanticize what is

known at community level. If education

is to be transformative there is a role for

new information to extend

understanding of the local situation

within wider context, and to build skills

and confidence to engage with (and

challenge) institutions outside the

community which have a direct impact

on the quality of life within the local

Producing Materials Locally:

In most cases, materials might not even be produced

nationally at all but may be Western imports, or

national textbooks which are 10-30 years out of date.

This signals the importance of producing materials

locally which serve the purpose of:

school governance manual

Documents