Report on Education Management and Service Delivery at the District Level in Pakistan
Public Disclosure Authorized
Public Disclosure Authorized Pakistan District Education Management and Service Delivery Study (P166880)
Public Disclosure Authorized
Public Disclosure Authorized
1 Report on Education Management and Service Delivery at the District Level in Pakistan
Contents
Acronyms ...... 5 Executive Summary ...... 7 INTRODUCTION...... 15 1.1 Context and Approach ...... 15 1.2 Objective and Scope of the Study ...... 16 1.3 Methodology ...... 18 1.4 Structure of the Report ...... 18 BALOCHISTAN ...... 21 EDUCATION GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY CAPACITIES ...... 21 2.1 Education in Balochistan at a Glance ...... 21 2.1.1. An Overview of Education Policy Landscape ...... 21 2.1.2. Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools ...... 22 2.1.3 Process Flow in Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages ..... 27 2.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier ...... 29 2.2.1. Administrative Inefficiencies, Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps ...... 30 2.2.2. High Turnover in Appointments at Key Provincial Posts ...... 32 2.2.3 Ad-hoc Appointments and Capacity Challenge ...... 32 2.2.4 Lack of Need-based and Demand-driven Budgeting ...... 32 2.2.5. Political Economy of Education Service Delivery ...... 32 2.2.6. Missing Data on Private Schools ...... 33 2.2.7. Communication and Coordination Challenges ...... 33 2.2.8. Capacity and Financial Resource Constraints...... 34 2.3 Vertical Coordination and Service Delivery Challenges: The District and Sub- District Tiers ...... 34 2.3.1. Inconsistent Transfer Pattern and Frequent Transfers and Postings ...... 34 2.3.2. Diluting Powers of Education Managers: ...... 35 2.3.3. Management Capacity and Skills Gap ...... 35 2.3.3 Less Involvement of District Tier in Planning ...... 35 2.3.4. Lack of Institutional Capacity for Data-based Planning and Feedback ...... 35 2.3.5. Average Time Spent by District Management on Different Tasks...... 36 2.3.6. Job Descriptions of Sub-District Officials ...... 36 2.3.7. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality...... 36 2.3.8. Time Spent by Sub-district Officials on Different Tasks during School Visits .... 37 2.3.9. Limited Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub- District Tiers ...... 37 2.3.10. District Official Capacity Needs ...... 37 PUNJAB: ...... 40 Education Governance and District Service Delivery Capacities ...... 40
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3.1 Education in Punjab at a Glance ...... 40 3.1.1 An Overview of Education Policy Landscape ...... 40 3.1.2 Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools ...... 41 3.1.3 Management Processes on Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages ...... 45 3.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier ...... 48 3.2.1. Administrative Inefficiencies, Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps ...... 48 3.2.2. High Turnover of Senior Officials ...... 50 3.2.3. Capacity and Human Resource Deficits ...... 50 3.2.4. Political Will and Support ...... 51 3.2.5. Political Economy of Education Service Delivery ...... 51 3.2.6. Operational Coordination and Communication Challenges ...... 51 3.2.7. Delays in Transfer and Release of Funds ...... 52 3.3 District and Sub-District Service Delivery Challenges ...... 52 3.3.1. Frequent Transfers and No Performance Framework ...... 52 3.3.2. Average Time Spent on Different Tasks ...... 53 3.3.3. Job Descriptions and Awareness of Mandated Roles ...... 53 3.3.4. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality...... 53 3.3.5. Time Spent on Different Tasks during School Visits ...... 54 3.3.6. Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub-District Tiers ...... 54 3.3.7. Delays in Budget Release and Low Absorptive Capacity ...... 55 3.3.8. Lack of Institutional Capacity for Evidence-Based Planning and Budgeting ...... 55 3.3.9. District and School Capacity Needs ...... 56 SINDH:...... 58 Education Governance and District Service Delivery Capacities ...... 58 4.1 Education in Sindh at a Glance ...... 58 4.1.1. An Overview of Education Policy Landscape ...... 58 4.1.2. Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools ...... 59 4.1.3 Management Process in Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages ...... 63 4.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier ...... 65 4.2.1. Administrative Inefficiencies, Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps ...... 65 4.2.2. Frequent Transfers of Senior Officials ...... 66 4.2.3. Political Economy of Education Service Delivery ...... 66 4.2.4. Staffing Gap and Ad hoc Appointments ...... 67 4.2.5 Lack of Need-based and Demand-driven Budgeting ...... 67 4.2.6. Coordination and Communication Challenge ...... 67 4.3 District and Sub-District Service Delivery Challenges ...... 68 4.3.1. Frequent Transfers and Postings ...... 68 4.3.2. Management Capacity and Skills Gap ...... 68 4.3.3. District Top Tier’s Average Time Spent on Key Tasks ...... 68 4.3.4. Lack of Orientation on Job Descriptions ...... 68 4.3.5. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality...... 69
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4.3.6. Sub-district Official’s Time Spent on Different Tasks during School Visits ...... 69 4.3.7. Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub-District Tiers ...... 69 4.3.8. Lack of Competent Teaching Resource in Sufficient Numbers ...... 70 4.3.9. District and School Capacity Needs ...... 70 KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA ...... 72 Education Governance and District Service Delivery Capacities ...... 72 5.1 Education in KP at a Glance ...... 72 5.1.1 An Overview of Education Policy Landscape ...... 72 5.1.2 Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools ...... 72 5.1.3 Management Processes on Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages ...... 76 5.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier ...... 78 5.2.1. Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps ...... 78 5.2.2. High Turn-over of Senior Officials...... 78 5.2.3. Communication and Coordination Challenges ...... 78 5.2.4. Low Share of School Education in Budget Allocations ...... 79 5.2.5. Political Economy of Education: Disparities in District Wise Public Spending ... 79 5.3. District and Sub-District Service Delivery Challenges ...... 79 5.3.1. Frequent Transfers in District Management ...... 79 5.3.2. Management Capacity and Skills Gap ...... 80 5.3.3. Coordinating District Education Management with Local Government System .. 80 5.3.4. District Management’s Average Time Spent on Different Tasks ...... 80 5.3.5. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality...... 81 5.3.6. Disconnect between Planning and Budgeting, and Local Level Challenges ...... 81 5.3.7. Time Spent on Different Tasks during School Visits ...... 81 5.3.8. Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub-District Tiers ...... 81 5.3.9. District and School Capacity Needs ...... 82 Conclusion and Recommendations ...... 84
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Acronyms
AEO Assistant Education Officer ASDEO Assistant Sub-Divisional Education Officer BAEC Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission BEMIS Balochistan Education Management Information System BOC Bureau of Curriculum BPEIRRA Balochistan Private Educational Institute Registration and Regulation Authority BTBB Balochistan Textbook Board CEO Chief Executive Officer CLC Children Library Complex CW Curriculum Wing DCAR Directorate of Curriculum, Assessments and Research DCTE Directorate of Curriculum and Teachers Education DDEO Deputy District Education Officer DEA District Education Authority DEG District Education Group DEO District Education Officer DHRT Directorate of Human Resource and Training DIRPI Directorate of Inspection & Registration of Private Institutions ECE Early Childhood Education EFA Education for All EMIS Education Management Information System ERW Education Reforms Wing ESED Elementary and Secondary Education Department ESEF Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation ESRU Education Sector Reforms Unit FGD Focus Group Discussion GER Gross Enrolment Rate GIR Gross Intake Rate GPI Gender Parity Index I-SAPS Institute of Social and Policy Sciences JD Job Description LC Learning Coordinator
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KPK Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KP-ESP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Sector Plan NEMIS National Education Management Information System NER Net Enrolment Rate NTS National Testing Service OOSC Out of School Children PCTB Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board PDSA Punjab Danish School Authority PEC Punjab Examination Commission PEF Punjab Education Foundation PESP Punjab Education Sector Plan PITE Provincial Institute of Teachers Education PPIU Program Planning and Implementation Unit QAED Quaid-e-Azam Academy of Educational Development RITE Regional Institute of Teachers Education SABER Systems Approach for Better Education Results SAT Standardized Achievement Test SBEP School Based Education Program SDEO Dub-Divisional Education Officer SDG Sustainable Development Goals SED-B Secondary Education Department - Balochistan SED School Education Department SELD School Education and Literacy Department STEDA Sindh Teachers Education and Development Authority SNE Schedule for New Expenditures SWOT Strength Weakness Opportunities Threat TEO Taluka Education Officer TO Taluka Officer TPV Third Party Validation UNDP Unite Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations Children Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development
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Executive Summary
After the introduction of 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010, there has been significant reconfiguration in education policy, planning, governance management processes and service delivery across all provinces. Provincial governments have taken a number of steps at provincial, district and school tiers to improve education services. Despite wide ranging initiatives at provincial and district levels, the challenge of effective education service delivery continues to persist across all provinces.
Effective education service delivery essentially depends on the effectiveness of institutional arrangements, operational coordination as well as management and service delivery capacities in place from provincial to district and school tiers. Therefore, this study analyses1: (a) institutional and administrative structure of education departments at provincial and district levels; (b) the efficacy of horizontal coordination among departments, administrative units and stakeholders at provincial tier and at district tier; (c) the effectiveness of district’s vertical coordination mechanisms both up-ward with the provincial entities and down-ward with the service delivery units (sub-district and school levels); and (d) the institutional and human resource capacities especially at district and sub-district level.
In this context, this study assesses education management and service delivery capacities and coordination mechanisms in all provinces. The study also maps horizontal and vertical coordination challenges within and across respective education departments, attached institutions and the district tier of education administration in all provinces. In drawing its inferences, the study benefits from extensive literature review, quantitative and qualitative data collected through key informant interviews at provincial and district tiers, and survey and focus group discussions (FGDs) at the district level. The data collection at district level was carried out through key informant interviews with top-two tiers of district administration and focus- group discussions with head-teachers of high schools. A survey was also conducted with the lowest tier of education administration in select districts across all provinces. The study identifies following service delivery capacity challenges common across the provinces and districts.
Key Findings and Inferences:
1. Education Departments are Configured Differently across Provinces. For example, in Punjab there are different departments with administrative heads and paraphernalia for school education department, whereas there is a different department for non-formal education named Literacy, Non-Formal and Basic Education (LNFBE) department. Similarly, in case of Balochistan, the function of non-formal education is the mandate of the Social Welfare Department. However, in case of Sindh, both functions are performed by the same department i.e. School Education and Literacy Department. Like Sindh, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Directorate of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is the key provincial entity that is mandated to manage both formal and non-formal education functions. The diverse education governance landscape warrants distinct and context-responsive approaches for addressing education service delivery challenges in every province. Furthermore, the different configuration of education departments also necessitates a nuanced approach when designing job
1 In this report the words ‘study’ and ‘assessment’ have been used interchangeably.
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descriptions and performance management frameworks aimed at improving service delivery.
2. Duplication of Roles, Mandate Overlaps and Blurring Lines of Reasonability. In each province the study identifies instances of duplication in roles and mandate- overlaps in provincial entities. For example, in Balochistan the planning for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and non PSDP are assigned to Directorate of Schools (DOS) and same tasks are also being carried out by the Additional Secretary (Development) and respective Deputy Secretaries of SED. So, simultaneously different offices are undertaking the same task. Similarly, in Punjab overlap in mandates can also be seen between the Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit (PMIU) and Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) as various student assessments are being designed and conducted in the province by different entities. For instance, PEC is mandated to design, implement and report on standardized assessments for all students of Grade 5 (primary school) and Grade 8 (middle school) in all public schools in Punjab. At the same time, PMIU manages six-monthly assessments at Grade 3. While this is not necessarily a strict overlap, it appears in this case that both the PMIU and PEC have a mandate for different types of assessments—something which may need further clarification or explanation to avoid potential confusion among sub-district functionaries. In the case of KP where the mandate of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) cell in Elementary and Secondary Education Department (ESED) overlaps with that of Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU) as both are mandated to collect data from schools. Excessive data collection routines from the schools are reportedly affecting school administration and teachers’ ability to utilize maximum time in teaching and learning activities.
The study findings indicate that the overlapping mandates of provincial entities are the result of expansion in the mandate and responsibilities of some departments through official notifications, whereas in others cases it is through verbal orders. In all four provinces there is no comprehensive document that elaborates mandates, management functions, and responsibilities of provincial education departments and their attached departments and autonomous bodies. This results in a blurring of lines of responsibilities and at times leads to overlapping mandates that adversely affect service delivery.
3. Attached Institutions of Education Departments are not Performing all their Mandated Functions (i.e., “gaps”). For instance, in the case of Balochistan, besides development of textbooks in line with curricula, the Balochistan Textbook Board (BTBB) is also mandated to develop supplementary material and teaching guides. However, the textbook board has not developed any supplementary material or teaching guides over the last several years. This directly effects the quality of education at the service delivery level. Moreover, after the introduction of the 18th Amendment, and devolution of education to the provincial tier for legislation, policy and planning, curriculum and standards, the development and revision of curricula have become the responsibility of the provinces. However, the attached institutions of the respective school education departments which are responsible to review and develop curriculum —i.e. Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB); Directorate of Curriculum, Assessments and Research (DCAR) Sindh; Bureau of Curriculum (BOC) Balochistan; Directorate of Curriculum and Teachers Education (DCTE) KP—have not been performing these functions.
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4. District Education Managers and School Principals lack Specialized Management, Administrative, and Leadership, Training. A vast majority of education managers at the district and sub-district levels across the provinces started their careers as school teachers and were eventually posted over time in management roles. These officials have not been provided specific training on management and planning skills. Since they came from the teaching cadre, they often lack adequate skills required for education planning, budgeting and management; thereby they are unable to perform efficiently. A substantial majority of education managers at the sub-district level highlighted the following areas for their own capacity development: needs-based budgeting and financial management; IT-based approaches for education management; data collection, analysis and reporting; and school monitoring. Similarly, school head teachers also identified their own areas for capacity building which include school management and leadership; school budgeting and financial management; departmental rules and regulations; subject specific and pedagogy related training to support teachers, and community mobilization.
5. High Turnover of Provincial and District Officials. The government service rules provide for the tenure of three years for government officials at the provincial as well as district levels, however most of the officials reported a much shorter length of tenure on a particular position. For instance, in the course of only one year, the education department in KP has had its 6th administrative secretary, while Punjab saw its 4th administrative secretary of the education department in only a matter of the last few months. Furthermore, during the current year, the post of administrative secretaries in KP and Punjab also remained vacant for a considerable period. Similarly, a number of officials at the district tier in all provinces were found to have served in their previous official positions from only 3 months to 1.5 years. The unpredictable tenures of officials and key education managers remains a major impediment to effective oversight of service delivery at the local levels.
6. Over-Deployment and Administrative Inefficiencies. Only to take the case of teachers training in Sindh, there are around five attached-institutions that are responsible for various roles and functions including training needs assessment, training, and monitoring the conduct of training. The main concerned attached institutions include Provincial Institute of Teachers Education (PITE), Curriculum Wing, Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority (STEDA), and Directorate of Teachers Training Institutions.
In addition to the existing institutional infrastructure, however, the government of Sindh has also recently established the Directorate of Human Resource and Training. The directorate is mandated to carry out needs assessment as well as the mapping of geographical areas where teachers require training. PITE is mandated to design teachers training modules and forward them to BOC, which further forwards the modules to STEDA for approval. PITE then involves the Directorate of Teacher Training Institutes which offers its venues as well as master trainers to conduct the training. STEDA, given the availability of resources, is mandated to monitor the actual conduct of the training. This proliferation of similarly-related “attached” teacher training institutions has resulted in increased administrative inefficiencies which have also contributed to financial resource constraints for the education sector in Sindh.
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7. Political Economy Considerations. There are various stakeholders who influence policy, planning and management processes with varying degree of influence and having significant bearing on the service delivery of education. These stakeholders include teachers, teacher unions, bureaucracy including officials from the education, finance and planning and development departments, political parties and public representatives, just to name a few. They pursue their entrenched, and often narrowly defined, interests mostly to the detriment of education service delivery. Teacher unions and teachers are a major group exercising considerable influence, and in most cases as a disadvantage and impediment to education service delivery at the school level. For instance, in almost every province, teacher unions have so far been able to resist significant changes aimed at improving teacher rationalization, accountability procedures, etc. among others. The parents and local communities are least influential among the key stakeholders. They not only lack knowledge, but also do not have appropriate forums to represent their demands and influence decision-making. It is significant to note that there is an exception to this in the case of access-related initiatives, which for the most part result in a convergence of interests of most key stakeholders including the parents along with teacher unions, public representatives and education department officials since this category of schemes implies additional new public sector investments to increase the numbers of schools, classrooms, teachers, teaching supplies etc. Conversely, however, public sector initiatives aimed at improving the quality of education—such as teacher rationalization, improving quality of teaching etc.—seldom see such a confluence of interests by the diverse stakeholders and, in fact, are often resisted by the more powerful entrenched interest groups like teachers’ unions, etc.
8. Ad hoc Appointments and assigning of Additional Charges is a Common Feature. Instead of giving permanent appointments, vacant positions are often filled by ad hoc appointments or delegating/assigning additional charges to the existing officials. For instance, until the appointment of the current Project Director of PMIU (Punjab) in November 2017, the post of PD remained vacant for about two years. Similarly, at the district tier in Punjab, the Chief Executive Officers of the DEAs have not yet been recruited and senior officials at the district level have held additional charges for the post of CEO.
9. Lack of Institutional Capacity at the District Level in Pro-equity and Data-based Planning, Budgeting and Feedback. The district education administrations assist provincial education departments in the collection of schools’ data, but lack capacity to use this data for planning and monitoring purposes. Districts also lack the culture of data-based monitoring and feedback to schools. None of the sampled districts across the provinces has the capacity to carry-out pro-equity, needs-based sector planning using the available education data-sets.
10. Limited Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub- District Tiers. During the course of the study, it was identified that the district officials are less involved compared to provincial service delivery functionaries in decisions relating to sector planning and budgeting, teacher training, curriculum design and textbook development. Just like the weak coordination between province and district, the coordination between district and sub-district tiers is also not very strong. Very few school visits are conducted by the DEOs or other officials. In Balochistan, there exists no forum that allows regular meetings between district and sub-district level education
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officials. In Punjab, Sindh and KP monthly meetings are held between district and sub- district officials. Most of the districts in Punjab conduct District Review Committee (DRC) meetings that offer an opportunity for intra-district coordination. Similarly, sub- district officials in Punjab coordinate with school leadership through cluster level monthly meetings. In the cluster level meetings, schools discuss their issues and challenges besides sharing progress against key indicators on access and quality of education. However, in Sindh, Balochistan and KP the coordination between district tier and schools is weak. So, in these three provinces when schools face any issues the principals have to report these issues to individual sub-district officials on a case by case basis and no organized or regular forum exists which deals with the complaints or problems reported by schools.
11. District Education Managers’ Time is Utilized on Responsibilities Not Linked to Education Service Delivery. These include inter alia polio and dengue campaigns, election duties, disaster relief duties and security related duties. These extra administrative responsibilities consume around 16 percent of these officials’ average workday. The percentage is seemingly low as a portion of the workday of the official, however it has significant bearing on how the rest of the workday unfolds for the official. Additionally, the education managers are mostly performing ancillary functions, such as public relation activities, responding to miscellaneous information requests from provincial directorates and the secretariat, etc., thus leaving less time for actual education management and ensuring quality service delivery.
Recommendations Keeping in view the findings of this assessment, the following recommendations are shared for improvement in education service delivery:
1. In order to address the challenges of role duplication, mandate overlaps, gaps, and blurred lines of responsibilities, each province should devise a consolidated education management framework clearly delineating roles, responsibilities and linkages of each entity at the provincial and district level. Such a consolidated framework should be developed by bringing all provincial entities together to deliberate upon their mandated roles and responsibilities. Any overlaps, duplications, gaps and blurred lines of responsibility should be identified and eliminated through mutual consultation with all stakeholders under the guidance of the education department and political leadership. While finalizing mandates and responsibilities of departments, their operational and coordination linkages (both vertical and horizontal) should also be discussed, finalized, and documented.
2. Strong evidence-based policy engagement is needed with government officials and public representatives. In order to deal with strong political interests and to support evidence-based decision making there is need to a) generate evidence on the political economy that causes the emergence of parallel structures and/or assigning of overlapping mandates to existing attached institutions, and b) garner strong political will to discourage and even reverse the practices of establishing parallel structures and assigning overlapping mandates to provincial institutions.
3. A specialized pool of new education managers needs to be trained and developed. Officials from this pool will help provide needed human resources with specialized management and administrative skills required for effective service delivery. At the
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same time, existing education managers at the district tier need to be provided with specialized management and administrative training to equip them for effectively supporting service delivery at the district tier.
4. There is need to improve accuracy, depth and integration of education data systems in provinces to enable localized and targeted planning and financing that ensures equitable access to quality education services. The education department in each province should integrate all available data-sets and information sources (e.g. EMIS, monitoring unit data, assessment data and teacher’s information system) on one accessible portal. Besides integration into one platform, the depth and diversity of data should also be improved especially by regularly collecting data on quality indicators, social and economic inequities, disability profiles, etc.
5. There is a need to design and effectively implement Performance Management Frameworks (PMFs) across provinces to link career progression and incentives of staff with objectively verifiable performance against mandated roles and responsibilities. Training of officials on PMF, along with instituting a mechanism to ensure performance evaluation is in line with KPIs and JDs at the provincial and district levels is imperative to support and improve education service delivery at school level.
6. Every province should make particular efforts to clarify and improve vertical and horizontal operational linkages of district education management. Especially, there is a need to improve the role of districts in provision of missing facilities, designing CPD programs for teachers, allocation of non-salary and development budgets and designing direct interventions to improve learning outcomes in the schools. Within the district there is need to improve coordination, communication and operational linkages of district education management with the elected local governments, district administration and stakeholder forums like DEGs in Balochistan.
7. Initiatives should be designed and implemented to enhance institutional capacities for equity-responsive, targeted planning and budgeting at the district level. The provinces should develop comprehensive capacity development programmes to enhance the knowledge and skills of education managers at the provincial and district levels towards making pro-equity and gender responsive strategic plans and annual budgets.
8. Provincial Governments should effectively and practically devolve administrative functions and financial matters to the district level. Based on the principle of subsidiarity, functions such as recruitment of staff on contract basis, building of additional classrooms, purchase of furniture and other equipment, teachers transfers and posting etc. must be devolved to the appropriate level of district education administration to better support and achieve effective service delivery.
9. There is need to identify, embed and institutionalize, and share best practices for effective service delivery. The best practices need to be identified more systematically focusing on the administrative, operational and capacity challenges at provincial and district education service delivery levels. In order to ensure context specific adoption of best practices, these should be shared more widely with
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all relevant stakeholders through a well-designed engagement and communication strategy. There is a need to develop operational SOPs dealing with planning, monitoring, and horizontal and vertical coordination at provincial, district and sub- district levels.
10. The findings of student assessments and examinations data should drive teachers training programs, teachers training modules and the development of textbooks and learning materials.
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INTRODUCTION
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INTRODUCTION
1.1 Context and Approach
Pakistan has made significant strides towards achieving the goal of equitable access to quality education over past several years. A number of reform initiatives have been witnessed at both the federal and the provincial tiers to improve the education sector across the country. These initiatives entail a range of supply and demand side interventions aimed at improving the education sector governance, retention and transition of students, student learning achievements and professional development of teachers and education managers. However, the evidence indicates that despite a long history of reforms in all provinces, education indicators in Pakistan still remain low. According to UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), more than 28 percent of primary school age children in the country are out of school. Though there is slight reduction in number of OOSC from 24 million in 2016 to 22.8 million in 2017, but the situation is still not encouraging.2
Similarly, it is alarming to note that children who are in the school are not learning well. Gender disparities in the education sector are also stark. Despite introduction of various reforms initiatives across provinces, these persistently low education indicators of the country point towards larger challenges related to sector governance, management and service delivery capacities. The provincial policy frameworks and sector plans also highlight the need to address planning, management and implementation capacity challenges especially at the district and sub-district levels.3
In 2010, introduction of Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment Act led to the devolution of all administrative and legislative functions relating to education to the provinces4. As a result, education policy, planning, governance and management processes were reconfigured across all provinces. Provinces also took initiatives to improve service delivery by giving more responsibilities and expanding the mandates of district education management. Despite wide- ranging reforms and initiatives undertaken at the provincial and district levels, the challenge of effective education service delivery continues to persist across all provinces.
An overview of education services in Pakistan highlights the need for effective and well- coordinated management processes and service delivery mechanisms at all management tiers for attaining targets against the key education indicators such as enrolment, student and teacher attendance, student learning outcomes and reducing student dropouts. Almost all of the above- mentioned indicators are dependent upon factors and variables that are partially external to the district domain and that require strong vertical operational linkages of district tier with the provincial and sub-district tiers. For instance, student learning outcomes are reliant on a number of determinants including; adequate supply of trained teachers, students’ socio- economic background; parents’ literacy levels; availability of a conducive learning environment in the school including access to basic facilities; the quality and availability of
2 NEMIS. (2018). Pakistan Education Statistics, 2016-17. 3 Please see: Elementary and Secondary Education Department. 2015. School Sector Plan 2015-2020, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Pg. 18. And Education and Literacy Department. 2014. Sindh Education Sector Plan 2014-18, Government of Sindh. Pg. 19. 4 The Gazette of Pakistan, Extr. Pt.1, Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act 2010, Act No X of 2010, P 267, 20th April 2010.
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textbooks and supplementary material; the quality of assessment and examinations etc. Likewise, increase in enrolment or reduction in dropouts depend upon factors like quality and perception of public schools in the eyes of parents, which among other things is influenced by access to basic facilities and teacher availability. While the districts can well ensure teacher attendance, they are not able to create provisions for improved quality of teaching or ensuring basic facilities without the support from the provincial governments. In the same manner for targeted and need responsive planning and budgeting a district requires operational coordination and technical guidance from the province. In this context, this assessment employs the approach for assessing challenges and capacity constraints in district education service delivery. Following frame in Figure 1 explains the overall approach for this assessment:
Figure 1: Assessment Approach: Horizontal and Vertical Operational Frame
Provincial Tier
District Tier
Schools
Employing the above approach, this assessment maps operational coordination and capacity constraints within and across provincial education department, attached provincial institutions, district education management and sub-district structures in each province.
1.2 Objective and Scope of the Study
The report assesses education management and service delivery capacities especially at provincial and district levels in all the four provinces of Pakistan. The study maps and compares existing structures, management processes and practices with existing policies and governance
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frameworks in each province. The study also assesses operational disconnects and bottlenecks at the provincial, district and sub-district levels that impede effective education service delivery. It also presents analyses of horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms in place to ensure effective service delivery. Horizontal coordination involves linkages, communication and liaison at the provincial tier between education departments and attached institutions; and, vertical coordination involves coordination between province and districts, as well as, district and sub-district levels. The study explicitly does not address in much detail the service delivery issues and challenges related to the relationship between district and school-level officials and personnel, or service delivery within/at the school level—these are simply beyond the scope of the present report and would be better suited to future efforts focusing on particular provinces or within the context of specific projects and reform efforts.
The assessment provides evidence to inform the efforts for system strengthening and improved service delivery capacities at provincial and district levels. At provincial level, the assessment maps overall structure, institutional setup and mandated roles of education departments, attached institutions and autonomous bodies. Besides mapping governance structures, it examines overlapping roles and blurring lines of responsibilities as experienced by the provincial education departments and allied institutions.
At the district level, the assessment focuses on management practices, operational linkages and capacities of various tiers of district education administration in each province. The assessment of devolved management tiers covers key functions and areas like human resource and financial management, planning, monitoring, coordination, communication, reporting, etc. Within the overall horizontal and vertical operational structure, the study focuses on four key areas i.e. administrative and structural loopholes, operational gaps, coordination challenges and capacity constraints that hinder effective education service delivery. The study also provides recommendations to address these gaps and challenges.
The areas of assessment and analysis are presented in Figure 2 below.5
Figure 2: Four Key Focus Areas of Assessment and Analysis within the Horizontal and Vertical Operational Structures
1 Administrative and Structural Loopholes
2 Operational Challenges Impeding Functioning of the Departments
3 Gaps in Existing Coordination and Communication Channels
4 Capacity and Financial Needs and Constraints
5 These four “areas of assessment and analysis” are part of the study’s analytic framework to assess institutional arrangements, relationships, and the issues and challenges within the horizontal and vertical operational structures and are not intended to serve as the report’s organizational structure.
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1.3 Methodology The study benefits from extensive literature review, quantitative and qualitative data, and the findings of key informant interviews at provincial and district tiers, survey of sub-district officials and focus group discussions (FGDs) at district level. At provincial level, key officials in the provincial education departments and attached institutions participated in the study. District level assessment was conducted in a sample of 12 districts. From each province, 3 districts were selected covering geographic diversity and education ranking variants within that province.
The list of selected districts6 is provided in the table 1 below.
Table 1: Sample of Districts for the Survey, Key Interviews and Observation
District Literacy Rate (15 years & above) Education Ranking Location Punjab Rawalpindi 81% 01 North Sargodha 59% 15 Center Rahim Yar Khan 42% 33 South Sindh Noshero Feroz 64% 02 Center Hyderabad 59% 04 South Jacobabad 32% 22 North Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Peshawar 56% 05 Center Dera Ismail Khan 41% 16 South Shangla 30% 22 North Balochistan Quetta 57% 01 Center Kila Saifullah 36% 14 North Chaghi 26% 22 South Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). PSLM 2014-15
Within each district, the assessment covered a sample of officials from different tiers of education management (district and sub-district) and head teachers of high schools7. To ensure maximum representation of different tiers of the district education management as per structure and staffing in each district a sample (presented as Annexure A) was finalized for this study. Since the district level management of the education department varies in each province, this study has attempted to cover at-least the top-two tiers of education management in the sample. For each data collection method, separate instrument was developed.
1.4 Structure of the Report
The report is structured into six sections and an executive summary. The first section of the report indicates about the background, objectives and methodology of this assessment. The
6 The districts were finalized in consultation with the World Bank team. 7 As per ToRs of the assignment, only high schools were covered.
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subsequent four sections review the education management and service delivery capacities for each of the four provinces: Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Each provincial section starts with an overview of education indicators in the province, followed by presentation of policy landscape, existing administrative structure (province, district and sub- district levels) for education service delivery and processes flow on core education functions. After setting the context, each section on a province first presents horizontal (provincial level) service structure, coordination and capacity challenges and then vertical (district and sub- district level) service management and delivery challenges are discussed. Hence, each section has three major sub-sections i.e. i) context, policy landscape and structure as well as functions of education services; ii) provincial operational constraints and capacity gaps; and iii) district and sub-district service delivery challenges. The last section of the study provides conclusion, and recommendations for improving education service delivery from province to districts and school level in Pakistan
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BALOCHISTAN
20 Report on Education Management and Service Delivery at the District Level in Pakistan
BALOCHISTAN
EDUCATION GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE DELIVERY CAPACITIES
2.1 Education in Balochistan at a Glance
Balochistan has a total of 15, 051 schools from pre-primary till higher secondary including public, private and other public institutions. Out of these 13,845 are public schools with 4,007 for girls and 9,838 for boys8. There has been slight increase in the enrolment of children in public and private schools (pre-primary till higher secondary) of the province in past two years, where enrolment increased from 1,163,572 in 2016 to 1,184,050 in 2017.9 While there has been some improvement in the enrolment rate in recent years, Balochistan continues to lag behind other provinces on various educational indicators. The overall literacy rate (10 years and above) of the province was 41 percent in 2015-16, which was far below the national average (58 percent) and other three provinces. There is a marked difference in male (56 percent) and female (24 percent) literacy rates in the province. The net enrolment rate (NER) at primary level in the province is 33 percent, which again highlights gender gap i.e. 38 percent for boys and 26 percent for girls.10
2.1.1. An Overview of Education Policy Landscape
Following the adoption of Eighteenth Amendment, policy and planning in relation to education became a matter of provincial jurisdiction. Nonetheless, a Joint Declaration on Education was signed on September 16, 2011 whereby all the federating units unanimously adopted National Educational Policy 2009 (subject to such adaptations as necessitated by the 18th Constitutional Amendment). Similarly, the National Curriculum 2006 and the National Textbooks and Learning Materials Policy, 2007 were also adopted by the provinces in 2011. As agreed upon in the joint declaration, Secondary Education Department Balochistan developed an interim policy document Balochistan Action Plan. Similarly, Balochistan EFA Plan 2011-15 and Early Childhood Education Plans were also developed11.
In 2013 Secondary Education Department developed a comprehensive Education Sector Plan (BESP) 2013-18 that provides strategic guidance for effective education service delivery in the province. The plan is based upon the goals as enunciated in the NEP 2009 and the Balochistan Action Plan. BESP 2013-2018 is the key strategic and planning document in the province. It focuses on six interrelated areas for education reform namely: improving quality of education; early childhood education; access and equity; governance and management; and adult literacy and non-formal education. It also includes a performance appraisal framework as well as an implementation and monitoring plan. The implementation of BESP primarily rests with the Secondary Education Department (SED), Government of Balochistan, however, its
8 NEMIS. (2018). Pakistan Education Statistics, 2016-17. Academy of Education Planning and Management, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Government of Pakistan. 9 Ibid. 10 Government of Pakistan. (2018). Chapter 10. Education. Economic survey of Pakistan 2017-18. 11 I-SAPS. 2016. Implementing Eighteenth Amendment: A Review of Legal, Institutional and Financial Developments in the Education Sector. Islamabad
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implementation requires effective linkages and robust horizontal (across provincial entities) and vertical (between province and districts) linkages and efficient coordination.
In order to be compliant with Article-25-A, The Balochistan Compulsory Education Act (BCEA), was enacted in 201412. It provides policy and strategic guidance to the Government of Balochistan (GoB) to ensure universal access to quality education13. Balochistan Private Educational Institute Registration and Regulation Authority Act (BPEIRRA), 2015 has been enacted in the province to provide for the registration, regulation and promotion of the private educational institutions of the province. These two enactments provide an enabling policy environment to plan and pursue the goal of universal access to school education in the province.
With a comprehensive sector plan and a robust legal framework in place, recent evidence indicates that the province continues to struggle for addressing the challenges of low enrolment, retention, learning outcomes, and poor school infrastructure. It has been largely attributed to institutional capacity deficit and weak operational linkages between province and districts for evidence-based and context specific planning, financing and effective performance management14.
2.1.2. Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools
Balochistan has an elaborate education management structure at province, district and school levels for planning, financing, management of teachers, data collection, teacher training, curriculum development, preparation and provision of textbooks, literacy, as well as private schools. The key actors in education service delivery and their operational relations at province, district and school levels are explained below:
2.1.2.1 Provincial Institutional Setup Balochistan Secondary Education Department (SED) is the administrative department15 responsible for education policy, planning and service delivery in the province. At provincial level, and as seen below in Figure 3, SED is supported by its attached departments and autonomous bodies/special institutions including16; a. Attached Departments17: i. Directorate of Education – Schools ii. Bureau of Curriculum (BOC) b. Autonomous Bodies/Institutions/ Board i. Balochistan Text Book Board ii. Provincial Institute for Teachers’ Education iii. Balochistan Education Foundation
12 Originally promulgated as Balochistan Compulsory and Free Education Ordinance, 2013 on March 15, 2013. 13 Balochistan Compulsory Education Act 2014. Balochistan Act No. V of 2014 was passed by the Provincial Assembly on January 28, 2014 and was assented to by the Governor on February 4, 2014. 14 Please see: The World Bank. (2018). Strengthening Budget Management to Improve Education Service Delivery. Islamabad. and Alif Ailaan. (2018). 2013-2018 Five Years of Education Reforms in Balochistan. Wins, Losses and challenges for 2018-2023. Islamabad. 15 Administrative Department is defined as a “… self-contained administrative unit in the Secretariat … responsible for the conduct of business of Government in a distinct and specified sphere and declared as such by the Government; Rule 2(1) j The Balochistan Government Rules of Business, 2012. 16 Please see, Schedule II and III (Rule 2 (1) (c), The Balochistan Government Rules of Business, 2012 17 Rule 2(1) (b), The Balochistan Government Rules of Business, 2012
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iv. Balochistan board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) v. Policy, Planning and Implementation Unit (PPIU) vi. Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC) vii. Balochistan Education Endowment Fund (BEEF)
Figure 3: Secondary Education Department- Balochistan
Secretary Scondary Education
Director Schools (DOS)
Autonomous Bodies
Balochistan Text Book Board Provincial Institute for Teachers’ Education Bureau of Curriculum Balochistan Education Foundation (BOC) Balochistan board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Policy Planning and Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC) Implementation Unit (PPIU)
Adl Sec (Schools) Adl Sec (Development) Adl Sec (Adm)
DS Judicial DS Adm DS Schools DS Develop-I
DS Develop-II SO Inquiry SO Adm
SO Schools SO Budget
The mandates and responsibilities of these attached departments and autonomous bodies/special institutions in provincial education policy, planning, financing and service delivery are elaborated here in Table 2:
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Table 2: Matrix on SED’s Key Attached Departments and Autonomous Bodies/Institutions/ and their Assigned Responsibilities
Provincial Institution Responsibilities and Functions Assigned 1. Directorate of Schools • The Directorate of Schools (DoS) is responsible for all public sector (DOS) schools and issues ancillary to this mandate. These include management of the teacher cadre and the administrative and financial matters related to them. • It has field formations at divisional tier headed by Director Schools (6 Divisions) and at district levels led by District Education Officers (DEOs). • DOS is the executing arm of the Department having the primary responsibility for education service delivery. (Source: Balochistan Education Sector Plan, 2013-2018. Pg. 14) 2. Policy, Planning and • Lead planning and coordination of education sector initiatives; Implementation Unit o Develop policy in coordination with relevant provincial departments (PPIU) o Develop sector plans and action plans o Undertake occasional targeted research in support of planning (e.g. understanding the major barriers to access) • Monitor performance and implementation o Further develop the BEMIS system to provide more information on the performance of schools o Monitor implementation of initiatives, with regular meetings to assess what has been done and what results have been achieved o Commission third party evaluations of impact • Coordination and communication o Communicate sector and action plans throughout the system o Coordinate implementation of key priorities (e.g. textbook improvement) o Ensure coordination between government agencies, districts, donors, and the provincial leadership
3. Provincial Institute of The institute is responsible for the provision of in-service teacher Teachers Training education in Balochistan. PITE’s stipulated responsibilities include: (PITE) • To enhance the quality of education through in-service teacher’s professional development. • To work in the sphere of material development for the professional development programs of teachers. • To carry out research activities in the field of education to enhance the quality of teaching practices.
4. Balochistan Textbook The main functions of the Balochistan Textbook Board include; Board (BTBB) production and publication of error free quality textbooks on affordable price, supplementary material and teaching aids.
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5. Bureau of Curriculum BOC has the primary responsibility of Curriculum (BOC) development/review, prepare and monitor curriculum implementation framework (CIF), development of standards of education, and conducting audit the output standards,
6. Balochistan The key functions of BAEC include: Assessment and • Improve the quality of examination at all levels to shift away from Examination testing of memory to assessment of critical analytical ability Commission (BAEC) • Shift to curriculum-based examinations from textbooks-based examinations. • Ensure credibility of public examinations at all levels. • Enhance provincial capacity to develop and conduct quality examinations. • Develop provincial capacity to conduct diagnostic assessments to support decisions on systemic improvements.
7. Balochistan Education BEMIS is responsible for collection, collation and analysis of data on Management education. It conducts an Annual School Census (ASC) of public Information System schools under the provincial education department. (BEMIS) (Source: Balochistan Education Sector Plan, 2013-2018. Pg. 14) 8. Balochistan Education BEF is mandated to register, regulate and support the privately Foundation (BEF) managed educational institutions in Balochistan.
2.1.2.2 District and Sub-district Administrative Arrangements
Government of Balochistan (GoB) in recent years has introduced a number of reforms aimed at better organisation and improving service delivery at the District and Sub-district tiers. Besides introduction of administrative reforms, a number of functions have also been devolved to the districts and schools in order to streamline and ensure effective education service delivery in the province. With Directorate of Schools at the provincial tier and supported by six subordinate Directorates of Education at Divisional tier, each district has an education office headed by District Education Officer (DEO). Each DEO is assisted by two District Officers (DOs) one for boys’ schools i.e. DO (Male) and other for girls’ schools i.e. DO (Female). At the Sub-district (Tehsil) level the education services are managed by Assistant District Education Officers (ADEOs). (Please see Figure 4)
In order to provide a forum to diverse stake holders for supporting the efforts for improving education at district level, SED created District Education Groups (DEGs) in 2013. With DEOs as the Chair and DOs as the Secretary, the groups besides having representation from Social Welfare Department, and Principals of Degree Colleges also had one representative of Teachers Union and three from Civil Society18.
In addition to the formation of DEGs, with the purpose of strengthening education service delivery at the district level, SED also established District Education Authorities (DEAs) in
18 PPIU Notification No: 242-47, September 10, 2013
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201419. With DEO as the Chairman, the eight member DEAs included; Deputy Commissioner or his representative, District Accounts Officer, DO- Male, DO- Female, Deputy DOs (Male and Female), Head Teachers and Learning Coordinators. The composition of DEAs was revisited in 2016 and Deputy Commissioners (DC) were made the Chairman of DEAs in 2016.
Additionally, in order to achieve BESP targets, District Monitoring Coordinators were placed in the Deputy Commissioners’ offices. The District Monitoring Coordinators were tasked with operationalizing Real Time Monitoring System (RTMS)20.
Figure 4: Mapping Education Administration
In order to guide and inform the planning process at the district tier SED Balochistan has also developed District Education Plans (DEPs) for all the 31 districts in Balochistan. The DEPs have been developed in line with the strategic priorities, planning and targets presented in the BESP. However, an overview of DEPs indicates that SED was predominantly steering the DEP development process and the role of district authorities in need identification, planning and target setting was minimal and mostly passive.
At the district level, School Clusters have been established as the education management entities. Each cluster is led by a High School, which plays a key role in education service delivery through cluster-based management. In case of boy schools each cluster has 5 to 40 feeding elementary and primary schools. While in case of girls’ schools each cluster consist of 20 to 60 feeding schools. Additionally, Parent Teacher School Management Committees (PTSMCs) serve as the forum where community, parents and school administration work collectively to improve education service delivery. It is important to note that DEP
19 Notification No. SO (Admn.) 15-63/2014/2219-240, February 3, 2014 20 UO No. PS/CS/Misc: 98-Vol-XII/9819-29. May 5, 2016
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implementation and delivery of key education services require that DEAs have effective horizontal (with province) and vertical (with clusters and schools) operational relations.
2.1.3 Process Flow in Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages
In order to perform the core education functions there is need for effective operational linkages and coordination within and across provincial and district education managements. Following description of the process flow in performance of core education functions highlights the horizontal and vertical operational linkages required for effective education service delivery.
2.1.3.1 Teacher Recruitment The process for recruitment of teaching staff in schools is elaborated in the Recruitment Policy, 2014.21 The policy provides a merit-based system for the recruitment of teachers. Key features of the new merit-based system comprised screening test to be conducted by the National Testing Service (NTS), weightage policy on the basis of proximity of candidates to the school of duty, formulation and engagement of district recruitment committees (DRCs)22, preference to hiring female teachers for primary schools and making recruitments non-transferable. The following flow chart (see Figure 5) presents that process flow for recruitment of teachers in Balochistan as per the Recruitment Policy, 2014:
Figure 5: Teacher Recruitment Process Flow
Appointing Authority Verifies Vacant Posts (Alresady lying Selected Candidates Issued Letter Academic Degress/Certificates of vacant or created through SNEs) of Agreement Final Candidates
Appointing Authority Finalizes Finalize Appointment and Advertisment of Vacant Posts List with the approval of Replacement Chairman DRC
DRC Prepares Recommendation Submission of Application Forms List based upon NTS Results and to Appointing Authority and NTS other criteria
Categtory-wise NTS Result Merit Candidates Appearing in NTS List
The District Recruitment Committee is chaired by DC, as observed in the case of DEAs, the role of DEO has been relegated even in the affairs pertaining to education. This has a direct bearing on the service delivery of education at the district and sub-district levels. The recruitment process is not responsive to the challenge of quality of incumbents appointed as
21 Government of Balochistan. (2014). Recruitment Policy - 2014 for appointment of teaching and staff of SED BPS 5-15 (other than drivers). Quetta: Secondary Education Department, Government of Balochistan. 22 District Recruitment Committee has five members: Deputy Commissioner Chairs the committee, with DEO, District Accounts Officer and DO (Male and Female) as the members of the committee.
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teachers. For instance, despite that a third-party, NTS, has been involved by the SED to make recruitments more transparent and merit-based, the process does not adequately test subject specific skills, knowledge and competence of the candidates. Furthermore, the recruitment process also does not assign due weightage to the degree-awarding institutes of candidates. The review of the process also indicates that though with clearly defined steps, it has yet to be embedded in the governance routines.
2.1.3.2 Curriculum Development Under the chair of Secretary Secondary Education, the Department with the assistance of a Steering Committee comprising heads of all provincial education institutions is responsible for making decisions regarding development and revision of curriculum, its approval, monitoring and implementation. Bureau of Curriculum (BOC) Quetta, is the key provincial entity responsible for development or revision of curriculum. BOC is also mandated for the final review and approval of textbooks. The Bureau is headed by the Director and supported by Deputy and Assistant Directors. Figure 6 presents the process flow of Curriculum Development as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), 201323:
Figure 6: Curriculum Development Process Flow
Conduct Needs Assessment - BOC, BTBB, DOS, BISE, PEAS Piloting (as Modularized Final Draft & PITE Texbooks) -BOC, BTBB, DOS, PEAS & PITE (2 Months) (2 Weeks) (1 month)
Approval of Final Draft from Prepare Second Draft SWOT Analysis Competent Authority (1Month) (1Month)
Constitute Curriculum Revision Incorporate Feedback and Curriculum Implementation Committee and Sub-Committees Comments (1Month) (3 Weeks) (1Month)
First Draft of Curricula Consultation/Appraisal/Feedback (1 Month) (1Month)
BOC takes lead in the curriculum development and during this process requires strong coordination and support from BTBB, DOS, BISE, BAEC and PITE at provincial level. Whereas, curriculum implementation requires coordination, communication and capacities both at provincial and district levels.
2.1.3.3 Textbook Development and Distribution As per the SOPs for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Curriculum Development and Revision, Textbook Development, Review and Approval 2013, the BOC is responsible for
23 Government of Balochistan. (2013). Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Curriculum Development and Revision, Textbook Development, Review and Approval. Quetta: Secondary Education Department, Government of Balochistan.
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ensuring the quality of textbooks and BTBB is mandated to manage textbook development and internal review. Figure 7 elaborates the process for textbooks development in Balochistan.
Figure 7: Textbooks Development Process
BTBB to Provide Review Criteria for Printing, Pricing, Learning Materials Standard format for IRC Binding and and Textbooks IRC report writing (2 Weeks) Distribution (4 Weeks)
Checklist for Composition of Initial Invitation of BTBB to publishers after Review Committee Private Publishers incorporating IRC BOC issues NOC (IRC) Letter (4 Weeks) recommendations (4 Weeks) (3 Weeks)
Checklist for Desk Composition of BTBB Sets Criteria for Review at Balochistan Provincial Review Publishers Resubmission as Pre- Textbook Board Committee Press Copy (4 Weeks) (1 Week) (3 Weeks)
Agreement of Set Criteria for Review Criteria for Publishers with Selection of Authors PRC Standard format for Authors writing PRC report (3 Weeks) (4 Weeks) (1 Week)
According to SOPs, private publishers are engaged to develop textbooks in Balochistan. The textbook writers are hired by the publisher. Both the publisher and authors are hired based upon a pre-defined criterion. BTBB establishes an Internal Review Committee (IRC) which ensures that manuscripts are aligned to the national curriculum. The BOC constitutes a Provincial Review Committee (PRC) that reviews the revised manuscripts shared by publishers to ensure that all manuscripts completely adhere to the guidelines provided to authors for textbook writing. If manuscripts are found compliant then BOC issues a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to publishers for printing, binding and dissemination of textbooks. The textbooks distribution process is coordinated by Directorate of Schools, where Additional Director (Books) is responsible for the timely provision of textbooks to the respective districts. At the district level the textbooks distribution to schools is made possible with the support of district education officials and school heads.
Following sub-sections capture the education service delivery challenges and capacity needs at provincial, district and sub-district levels in Balochistan.
2.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier
The following sub-sections present the opportunities and challenges identified after review of administrative structures, management practices, operational linkages and core capacities at
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the provincial level in Balochistan. It also points out specific areas for improvement in education planning, management and service delivery capacities.
2.2.1. Administrative Inefficiencies, Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps
There are significant gaps and overlaps among various provincial institutions in terms of their mandates and assigned responsibilities, signifying inefficient use of the available resources. The study finds that all departments/institutions are well aware of their mandated roles and functions. However, there are few allied provincial education institutions that are currently focusing only on select assigned responsibilities and are not carrying out some of their mandated functions. The following are some of the cases which highlight such gaps and overlaps.
a. Duplication of mandated roles and responsibilities is major challenge at the provincial tier. For example, PSDP for overall school sector is maintained at DOS. Therefore, the planning for PSDP and non PSDP are also assigned to the Directorate, where officials have been dedicated for this particular subject in accordance with the guidance and supervision of the Secretary SED. However same tasks are also being carried out by the Additional Secretary, respective Deputy Secretaries and PPIU. So, at one time three different offices are undertaking the same task. Moreover, matters pertaining to transfer posting of teachers, matters related to their General Provident Fund (GPF), pensions are in the mandate of Directorate of Schools. However, these are simultaneously being dealt with by the secretariat officials including the Additional Secretaries and their subordinate staff. Such instances not only result in unnecessary deployment of the available human resource but also has implications in terms of time and also contributes towards administrative inefficiencies.
b. Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC) is mandated to conduct diagnostic assessments and provide support in education decisions-making.24 However BAEC has not conducted diagnostic assessments for last many years. For last two years, the data on grade 5 and grade 8 student examination by BAEC has not been made publicly available. It was found during the course of the study, that the report has also not been made available to the relevant departments/organizations working within SED Additionally, the data is not being used by the relevant institutions in the decision making for teacher trainings, budgeting and preparation of learning materials.
BAEC is also mandated to provide support in teachers’ training on students’ assessments but it has not been able to provide any support in this regard. As per mandated function of BAEC the commission is required to recommend measures for the capacity building of the teachers for improving the system of formative assessments at school level25. In line with this mandated function, the commission prepared a concept note and shared the same with the Secretary Education, but there is no progress on the assessments beyond this.
c. Balochistan Textbook Board (BTBB) is mandated to develop textbooks in accordance with the curricula besides providing enriched and research-based supplementary
24 As mentioned on the government website. Please see the web-link: http://emis.gob.pk/website/BalochistanAssesmentCommision.aspx 25 Section 9 (f) Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission Act, 2014.
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material and teaching aids26. Currently, the textbook board is developing manuscripts and printing textbooks. However, for last several years, it has not developed any learning materials for students or the teachers’ guides. It is being attributed to limited demand for such materials from the districts and schools. Furthermore, the manuscript development is outsourced by BTBB to the private publishers for learning materials and teachers’ guides. However, private publishers do not show much interest in applying for manuscript development in view of small volume of material to be published.
d. The role of PPIU is defined as of a unit for undertaking planning, performance monitoring, research on education related issues and implementation activities. The unit was created to strengthen the existing administrative structures, however instead of strengthening key institutions like Directorate of Schools, Divisional Directorates etc. findings from the field suggest a number of issues. The challenge of lack of clarity of PPIU role and its relation vis-à-vis Directorate of Schools, has been documented in a number of cases. For instance during the implementation of Early Childhood Development Project (ECDP) in Balochistan, notification of PTSMCs and hiring of ECD teachers was delayed due to a turf war between DOS and PPIU. Both the entities considered these actions to be performed by them. Which had to be settled by the then Additional Secretary, by clarifying the role of both the entities. The ambiguity in the roles have a direct impact on the quality of service delivery. The unit is aimed at strengthening the planning and implementation of education service delivery it would have been practical to situate it within the Directorate of Schools where actual planning is done and most of the implementation activities are carried out and supervised.
e. Bureau of Curriculum (BOC) is also carrying out limited functions from its stipulated mandate. BOC is the primary custodian of standards and other relevant provincial entities must align their processes and outputs (such as textbooks, pedagogies and assessments) to the standards notified by the Bureau. However, there has been no progress towards the development of education standards in the province. The study found that the development of standards remain a low priority area for the Secondary Education Department, Balochistan. The delay in development of education standards has serious implications for ensuring delivery of quality education in the province.
f. BOC has developed the curriculum for Urdu language for grade 1 to 5. Curriculum for the rest of the subjects Despite being the mandate of has yet to be developed. It is also the Bureau of Curriculum, there important to note that after the has been no progress towards devolution of education to provinces, development of education BOC has not received any budgets to standards in the province conduct stakeholders’ consultations and workshops etc. for development of the curriculum. It is important to note that 93% of the allocated budget for BOC in 2017-18 was for salaries and related expenditure while only 7% budget was earmarked for non-salary purposes that can be used for undertaking activities like workshops etc. Because of this limited non-salary budget, the 93% budget (for salaries and related expenses) also becomes ineffective as the department is unable to perform its core mandated function. Furthermore, a comparison
26 Please see the mandate mentioned on web-link: http://emis.gob.pk/website/BTB.aspx
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of allocated budget and expenditure shows that 50% of the allocated budget for BOC remained unspent during 2017-18.
2.2.2. High Turnover in Appointments at Key Provincial Posts
The appointment of senior most government officials at a particular post for at least 2 to 3 years helps to ensure effective education planning, leadership and service delivery. However, the education department and attached institutions in Balochistan are used to frequent transfers and postings at senior posts. For example, there have been frequent changes in the senior management of PITE and BOC, which has adversely affected the performance and coordination of these two provincial entities. Over the last decade, both departments witnessed frequent transfer and postings at the position of Director for their respective institutions. On the post of Director PITE, around 9 officials were appointed and transferred in the last ten years, whereas, there were 10 postings at the position of Director BOC. On average a senior official on these posts spent a little more or less than one year. The frequent transfer and posting at the senior most management level results in loss of institutional memory and has implications for the planning, services and pace of reforms in both departments.
2.2.3 Ad-hoc Appointments and Capacity Challenge
Instead of appointing officials for a specific tenure, vacant positions are filled by ad hoc 9 officials have been appointed as appointments or delegating/assigning Director PITE in the last ten years. additional charge to the existing officials. Similarly, there have been 10 For example, the BOC currently has 9 different officials who have served Research Officers (ROs), who have been as Director BOC during the same transferred from other departments on ad- period. hoc basis and these officials do not possess requisite skills and competencies for research. BOC officials expressed their concern that after the transfers or posting of these ad- hoc officials back to their respective departments, the seats of ROs will remain vacant and the experience/capacity these staff will have acquired over their tenure in the BOC will be lost.
2.2.4 Lack of Need-based and Demand-driven Budgeting
The budget making process in the province is not demand driven but supply driven. Although the department receive SNEs from the field but there is no mechanism whereby request from the field are automatically processed further. Although the development and recurrent budgets are developed by the Secondary Education Department, but the department exercises limited autonomy when it comes to inclusion of these schemes in the final provincial budget. For example, in financial year (FY) 2018-19, around 395 development schemes have been sanctioned in the budget. According to the department, out of all the schemes only 16 are proposed by the department based upon the needs identified, whereas 380 schemes are not needs-based but still are part of annual development program.
2.2.5. Political Economy of Education Service Delivery
Political decisions influence every aspect of education management and service delivery ranging from legislation to budgetary allocations to provision of required administrative and
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teaching staff in the department and schools. An important case in this regard has been mentioned in the preceding sub-section where a number of development schemes were added in the PSDP without the knowledge or initiative by the department. It is important to note that development schemes including infrastructure related projects are considered particularly lucrative as they allow the political capital to pursue various interests including gaining political mileage, award of contracts, appointments against various posts, etc. Education managers at the district level are susceptible to political influence, especially because of their promotions and postings. Therefore, public interest is at times undermined by their personal incentives. They usually do not resist the changes proposed by political representatives in the financial priorities and investments in district education. The political economy surrounding various initiatives significantly curtail data-based and evidence-driven policy and planning affecting the service delivery at district and sub-district levels.
2.2.6. Missing Data on Private Schools
BEMIS only collects data of public schools in the province. It does not have data relating to madrassah schools or private schools in the province. BEF is mandated to register private schools in the province and thus it has some data regarding private schools. However, there is no integration between BEF data and BEMIS. In the absence of updated data on private schools, the provincial and district education management does not have sufficient information to inform decision-making and planning to achieve education for all (EFA) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the province.
2.2.7. Communication and Coordination Challenges
There is no formal provincial forum in Balochistan where various allied institutions of provincial education department could come together to discuss the overall performance of the education sector and plan a joint and coordinated response for improved access to and quality of education. Furthermore, there is lack of coordination and communication among provincial tier institutions, and between province and districts, which has serious implications for the provision of quality education service delivery at the school level. The study indicates that: a. There is little coordination between PITE, other departments and district management with regard to human resource capacity development. The trainings are largely designed in- house by the subject experts of PITE and in this regard not much input is sought from the districts and schools. In the current scenario, the districts are expected to comply only with the provincial demand for nominating teachers for training and they are not involved in design of training agenda, follow-up, monitoring, or holding the trainers accountable. Limited engagement with the districts and schools in professional development needs assessment, planning and delivery is likely to arrest the gains from PITE services. b. There is no active coordination between BAEC and other provincial departments to ensure that the findings of student learning assessments are fed into the processes of BTBB, BOC and PITE etc. The results of student assessments can play a significant role in designing needs-based trainings, improving curricula and textbooks. Results from standardized exam are also expected to inform educational policy, school improvement, or instructional practices. However, the coordination and communication between BAEC and other provincial entities is sub-optimal. BAEC publishes a report and holds a dissemination
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seminar inviting all the government departments and stakeholders to share the results of assessments conducted by it. But this is usually just one-time event and not a rigorous communication and dissemination drive.
2.2.8. Capacity and Financial Resource Constraints
The following are few capacity and financial constraints which have a bearing on effective working of the education department and attached institutions at provincial and district tiers:
a. The evidence from the field indicates that generally the key provincial In 2017-18, a budget of Rs. education institutions do not carry-out 98.3 million was allocated for data-based planning and financing. For PITE; out of which 31% budget instance, the PITE trainings are less was earmarked for training informed by student assessments. purposes Moreover, the BEMIS has been functional for more than twenty years, but its data is seldom used in policy and planning. The budgeting in most of the allied provincial institutions is carried-out on incremental basis. Partially, the non-usage of data is owing to capacity constraints among the relevant staff of key provincial institutions. Most recently, the BESP has been developed using the available education data. The sector plan also makes recommendations for improving the awareness and capacities of officials from various allied education entities in the use of available education data for planning, financing and monitoring.
b. During the course of assessment, it was highlighted that PITE faces financial constraints that effect delivery of its mandated functions and services. For instance, during the last many years, PITE could not design and provide needs-based trainings to the teachers owing to financial constraints. However, most recently PITE commenced trainings for the teachers through finances made available from the government and through donor support. Similarly, BAEC also faces financial constraints that is one of the contributing factors for not conducting the diagnostic assessments.
c. DOS is also facing capacity and resource constraints. Financial resource constraint is attributed as one of the major reasons for missing facilities in the public schools of the province.
2.3 Vertical Coordination and Service Delivery Challenges: The District and Sub-District Tiers
The discussion in this section narrows the focus on the district and sub-district levels to identify key challenges and constraints district service delivery capacity:
2.3.1. Inconsistent Transfer Pattern and Frequent Transfers and Postings
The frequent transfers of district officials on key posts is a common feature in some districts. In some cases, senior district officials served at their respective positions for 3-7 years and in other cases, the officers were posted and transferred within 1-1.5 years. There are also instances
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when few officials got transferred within few months of their appointment. Frequent transfers, no matter how few, are likely to hinder the education service delivery process and should be avoided to the extent possible.
2.3.2. Diluting Powers of Education Managers:
The establishment of DEAs in 2014 was aimed at devolving powers to DEO office and strengthening it. However, within two years of DEA working the DEO was replaced by the Deputy Commissioner as the Chairman of the DEA27. Thus, effectively transferring the key decisions such as posting transfer from BPS1-16 to the office of Deputy Commissioner. Similarly, the Regional Directors can transfer education officials up-to BPS-18, however with the concurrence of the secretary28. Thus, instead of empowering the education managers the recent reforms have diluted and curtailed their powers. Such a situation has a significant bearing on their effectiveness to ensure quality of education service delivery at the district and sub-district levels.
2.3.3. Management Capacity and Skills Gap
A significant majority of district officials started their careers as school teachers, at Education managers at the the primary or secondary levels, and at district level, who came from the various stages of their careers were posted teaching cadre have no training as education managers. After being on education management and inducted these officials were never provided planning skills. any specialised training which could enable them for the required job. They lack education management and planning skills, hence affecting their ability to perform efficiently.
2.3.3 Less Involvement of District Tier in Planning
A review of district education plans (DEPs) and the assessment at district level indicates that there is insufficient coordination and communication between province and districts when it comes to the five-year strategic planning for the district. Current, DEPs have been mainly developed by SED and the role of district management in planning and targeting setting was passive. This led to weak ownership, poor operational coordination and no significant improvement in services that is contrary to the targets and priorities set in the DEPs.
The priorities and strategies in the DEPs were based on the broad priorities identified in BESP and not based on the unique requirements of districts. This presents an example of top-bottom planning which is mostly supply-driven and not needs-based. Effective needs-based education planning requires bottom-up planning where the priorities and targets of each district are set based upon the unique needs of that district and then all district plans are aggregated at provincial level to contribute to the provincial sector plan.
2.3.4. Lack of Institutional Capacity for Data-based Planning and Feedback
27 UO No. PS/CS/Misc: 98-Vol-XII/9819-29. May 5, 2016 28 NO. SO(Admn) 15-63/2014/2036-2218. February 3, 2014
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The district administration assists SED in collection of schools’ data under BEMIS but they lack capacity to use this data for planning and monitoring purposes. Districts also lack the culture of data-based monitoring and feedback to schools. Districts also do not collect any data other than BEMIS. Additional data on quality indicators could help the district management in monitoring quality of education services in the schools and provide technical assistance to school principals and teachers accordingly.
2.3.5. Average Time Spent by District Management on Different Tasks
The activities that take up most of officials’ time in Balochistan revolve around administrative matters i.e. 2.4 hours (30% of time) - which include staff service-related matters, file-work, record-maintenance, and official correspondence – and school visits 2.3 hours (28.75% of time). The time spent on school visits is greater in Balochistan than in other provinces due to the distance between schools and district education offices. In addition to these activities, on average 1.1 hours each day (13.75% of time) is spent on coordination and follow-up meetings with the staff at district and sub-district tiers on various challenges and the way forward. The data also indicates that district managers in Balochistan spend on average around 0.7 hours (8.75%) of their workday planning various activities they perform during the day. The officials also spend on average 7.5% of time in data collection to report to the education department.
The data also points out that district managers spend around 0.9 hours (11.25%) of their time each day attending on non-productive activities e.g. calls and visits by politically influential people, public representatives and general public. This time alongside that spent on administrative activities such as service-related matters of staff, file-work etc leaves only around the same time for matters related to strategic planning and execution of activities to improve education service delivery.
2.3.6. Job Descriptions of Sub-District Officials
The study identifies that around one fourth of the sub-district officials are unaware of the specific role to be performed and required job descriptions. This highlights the need for provision as well as orientation of officials on their job descriptions and assigned official responsibilities. All of the officials that claimed to have known their JDs confirmed that key roles and responsibilities they are performing currently are in line with the described JDs. The officials who do not have their JDs learnt about their assigned responsibilities through training (20 percent), on job support (40 percent) or instructions from higher authority (40 percent). It is important to note that the training needs highlighted by the education managers include general trainings which they have received over the course of their careers, and not specifically related to training on management, planning and administrative skills.
2.3.7. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality
To increase enrolment district officials, organize various activities in coordination with school heads and community members. These activities include awareness walks, display of posters and banners, and using mosques to announce the importance of education. For retention the officials work with teachers and heads teachers to create a child friendly school environment that encourages students to continue to attend school regularly. The Learning Coordinators (LCs) also play an important role by working with the schools to keep a check on the performance on key access and quality indicators. Teacher attendance is ensured through close
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monitoring by district officials especially LCs and actions as per rules are taken against the teachers that remain absent for a long period.
2.3.8. Time Spent by Sub-district Officials on Different Tasks during School Visits
Analysis of this study’s data reveals that sub-district level officials on average spend around 3 hours (178 minutes) in one school visit. During the visit two major tasks performed by the officials include student achievement assessment (23 percent of total time spent) and community mobilization (22 percent of total time spent). Observation of classroom practices, and support for administration and fund utilization receives least time (6 percent of total time spent) of an official during a school visit.
AverageTime Spent on Tasks in School Visit (in Minutes)
Administration and Funds Utilization 10 Community Mobilization 40 Monitoring of Learning Environment 33 Mentoring and Support 24 Students' Achievement and Assessment 41 Teachers and Students Attendance 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
2.3.9. Limited Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub- District Tiers
During the course of assessment, it was found that none of the district officials were involved in any coordination with the provincial authorities relating to planning and budgeting, teacher training curriculum and textbook development and etc. Many officials feel left out of the province-district coordination process and are somewhat resentful. This indicates that planning and decision-making about the districts is taking place at the provincial level without ensuring involvement of officials like DEOs and DDEOs. This leads to issues of ownership and lack of accountability. Moreover, this is also an important contributing factor to non-responsive and supply-driven education planning and financing that does not cater to the needs identified at district and sub-district levels. It is important to note that issues at the grassroots level, that should form the basis for all policy and planning, are best known to people working on the ground, therefore these officials should be taken on board during the sector planning and budgeting process.
Just like the weak coordination between province and district, the coordination between district and sub-district tiers is not very strong. Very few school visits are conducted by the DEOs or other officials. Also, there exists no forum that allows regular meetings between district and sub-district level education officials. In case of any issues, the principals have to report these issues to individual officials and no organized forum deals with the complaints or problems reported by schools. The lax monitoring, non-existence of a coordination forum, and absence of formal communication protocols all have a significant bearing on the declining quality of education service delivery.
2.3.10. District Official Capacity Needs
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In order to improve the quality of education service delivery the capacity of district officials needs to be built in order to enable them to perform their assigned responsibilities more efficiently. Around 92 percent of the survey respondents agreed that they need training to equip them for better performing of their responsibilities. The following key areas have been identified by the district officials:
a. Data-based planning and target setting b. Needs-based budgeting and financial management c. School monitoring and classroom observations d. Planning and monitoring textbooks distribution e. Student assessments f. Use of information technology for data compilation and analysis g. Report writing Alongside district officials, school heads and teachers expressed the need to be trained on leadership skills, and subject specific content and methodology. The following are some key areas identified by the school heads for capacity development:
a. School management and leadership b. School budgeting and financial management c. Mentoring support to teachers d. Curriculum orientation e. Community mobilization
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PUNJAB
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PUNJAB: Education Governance and District Service Delivery Capacities
3.1 Education in Punjab at a Glance
Punjab has the largest public education system in Pakistan, comprising 11.7 million students, 352,458 school thousand teachers and 52,411 thousand primary, middle and higher secondary schools29. Punjab has the highest participation rates and lowest gender disparity in access to education compared to other provinces and regions of Pakistan. Over the years the province has been able to achieve improved access and reduced gender disparity in the education sector. Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate (ANER) at primary level in Punjab is 86 percent, which is higher than that of other provinces and regions of the country except for the federal capital Islamabad30. As per the Pakistan Economic Survey 2017-18, the adult (10 years and above) literacy rate in Punjab is 62 percent, which shows 16 percent increase over the past two decades (as compared to 46 percent literacy rate in 1998)31.
3.1.1 An Overview of Education Policy Landscape
With National Education Policy 2009 providing the overarching framework, the ‘Chief Minister’s Roadmap’32 for education reform provided an overall operational policy framework guiding the education sector priorities and planning of the Punjab School Education Department (SED) since 2011. From 2003 till 2011 Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme (PESRP) was the umbrella initiative that led reforms agenda in the province. From 2011 onwards, the reforms roadmap provided renewed reforms agenda in Punjab.
SED developed Punjab School Education Sector Plan (PSESP) in 2013. This was followed by enactment of the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act, in 201433. The act describes the modalities for provision of free and compulsory education to all school age children in the province. The PSESP was reviewed in 2016 to ensure its alignment with new developments outlined in the Chief Minister’s Reforms Roadmap, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Punjab Growth Strategy. As a result of the review, a revised mid-term plan, titled Punjab Mid-term School Education Sector Plan (PMSESP 2016-18) was developed. PMSESP 2016-18 envisages ensuring that school-age children in Punjab are not only enrolled in schools but also stay longer in schools (retention) and learn well.
As the implementation timeframe for PMSESP ends in 2018, Government of Punjab (GoPb) is in the process of developing the new education sector plan for 2019/20 to 2023/24. The next five-year plan focuses not only on school education but also on special education, and literacy non-formal and basic education (LNFBE) sectors. Hence, the up-coming five-year strategic plan for education in Punjab will require stronger than ever institutional linkages and
29 NEMIS. (2018). Op cit. 30 NEMIS. (2018). Op cit. pp. 21. 31 Government of Pakistan. (2018). Op. cit. pp. 156. 32 The key milestones of the Reform Road Map include; improvement in quality of education, enhanced enrollments, effective monitoring at the district tier, and transparent human resource management. Government of Punjab. 2014. Punjab School Education Sector Plan 2013-17. pp.15. 33 The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014. Act XXVI of 2014. (Originally introduced as an Ordinance on May 13, 2014, enacted on November 10, 2014.)
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operational coordination not only within the existing provincial and district administrative structure of SED but also across the sectors engaging LNFBE and special education.
3.1.2 Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools
The education management and service delivery structure in Punjab consists of provincial, district and school tiers. The key actors in education service delivery and their operational relations at province, district and school levels are explained below:
3.1.2.1 Provincial Institutional Setup
The School Education Department (SED) is the main administrative unit responsible for school education legislation, policy, planning, administration, regulation and service delivery in the province34. At provincial level, SED is assisted by the attached departments and autonomous bodies to perform its mandated functions for education management and service delivery.
As seen below in Figure 8, these include35;
a. Attached Departments: i. Directorate of Public Administration (DPI) – Schools 1.Directorate of Public Administration (DPI) – Elementary Education (DPI- EE) 2.Directorate of Public Administration (DPI) – Secondary Education (DPI- SE) ii. Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Educational Development (QAED); iii. Children Library Complex (CLC) iv. National Education Equipment Center (NEEC) v. National Museum of Science & Technology b. Autonomous Bodies/Institutions/ Board viii. Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) ix. Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) x. Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) xi. Punjab Teachers Foundation (PTF) xii. Punjab Daanish Schools and Centers of Excellence Authority xiii. Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) xiv. Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority (PEIMA)36
34 Second Schedule, Rule 2 & 3, The Punjab Government Rules of Business 2011. Services and General Administration Department (Cabinet Wing). Government of the Punjab. 2018. pp. 68-69. 35 Entry 35, First Schedule, Rule 2 & 3, The Punjab Government Rules of Business 2011. Services and General Administration Department (Cabinet Wing). Government of the Punjab 36 PEIMA was established in 2018 under the Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority (PEIMA) Act 2018. The stipulated objective of PEIMA is to devise, implement and manage reformatory and dynamic initiatives in education sector in partnership with the private sector. At the moment PEIMA is managing Public School Support Program (PSSP), originally initiated by PEF. The program is aimed to improve quality of education in low performing public schools in partnership with private sector.
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Figure 8: Mapping Education Administration- Punjab
Secretary Schools
DPI (SE) DPI (EE)
Divisional Divisional Director (SE) Director (EE)
36-District Education Authority
36 DEO 36 DEO (EE- 36 DEO (Secondary) Female) (EE-Male)
High/Higher Secondary Dy. DEOs Dy. DEOs (EE-Male) Schools (Boys/Girls) (EE-Female) AEOs Male
Girls AEOs Boys Elementary Elementary Female Schools Schools Girls Boys
Primary Primary Schools Schools
Additionally, Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit (PMIU) established by SED in 2003 under the Punjab Education Sector Reform Program (PESRP) works as a key entity for monitoring and evaluation of various programs. EMIS has also been housed at PMIU. The mandated roles and responsibilities of key attached institutions and autonomous bodies of SED are provided in Table 3 below:
Table 3: Matrix on Key Provincial Departments and their Assigned Responsibilities
Provincial Institution Responsibilities and Functions Assigned School Education Department, Punjab 1. Directorate of Public • Implementation of Government policies, Directives and Orders Instructions – of competent authorities. Elementary Education • Monitoring & Supervision of Elementary Education. (DPI-EE) • Coordination for in-service Training of Teaching and Non- teaching Staff with training institutions. • Coordination with Foreign funded Projects and its appraisal missions regarding Elementary Education.
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• Inter District Transfers of teaching and non-teaching staff from BS-1 to 15. • Dealing with all kind of leave cases of teaching and non-teaching staff from BS-1 to BS-15. • Data collection from lower formation and submission to the Govt. after its compilation. 2. Directorate of Public • Coordination and cooperation with PMIU in collection of data. Instructions – Secondary • To decide the leave cases of all employees in BS-18 except study Education (DPI-SE) leave. • To perform duties/ assignments as are assigned by the Education Department. • Coordination for in-service training of teachers. • Coordination with Punjab examination Commission in conduct of 5th & 8th class Examinations. • Preparation of scheme of Internal Merit Scholarship and its transmission to the lower formation. • Preparation of budget of receipts and reconciliation of receipt figures with Accounts General, Punjab. • To prepare replies to the Assembly Questions and consolidate the replies coming from field formation and onward submission to Government.
3. Punjab Curriculum and • Curriculum Development Textbook Board (PCTB) • Implementation of educational policies of the Government in respect of the production of textbooks, supplementary reading material and teaching aids • Publication of textbooks for the primary education, secondary education, intermediate education and teacher’s training courses • Production of supplementary material relating to the textbooks • Production of reference and research material relating to the problems of curricula and preparation of textbooks • Control of the policy, relating to distribution of textbooks and other material. Appointment of agencies for this purpose in Punjab so as to make the textbooks and material available to the students well in time • Holding of training courses for the writers of textbooks • Preparation and publication of reading material on new developments in educational concepts and teaching methods and techniques • Workshops, seminars and courses for effective use of textbooks and reading materials • Conduct research in curricula, textbooks, other reading materials and teaching aids • Exhibitions of textbooks and teaching materials • Maintenance of Library and Resource Centre 4. Quaid-e-Azam • QAED serves as an apex institution for in-service and pre-service Academy of Academic training of public schools’ teachers, and one stop shop for capacity Development (QAED) building needs of school teachers in Punjab and furthering the National Education Policy by focusing on the professional development of public sector’s teacher and equipping them with
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modern and innovative teaching techniques and methodologies by providing leadership and strategic planning to the sector.
• QAED is striving to develop a pool of capable teachers in public schools of the province. Capitalizing on a strong institutional base, including 29 Elementary Colleges for Pre-Service teacher education and an elaborate network district and cluster training and support centers for in-service training. 5. Punjab Examination • Design, develop, implement, maintain, monitor and evaluate a Commission (PEC) system of examination for elementary education. • Formulate policies and programs for conducting examinations. • Collect data from research in order to improve curricula and teaching methodology. • Recommend strategies for capacity building of the teachers and educationists that in turn would improve the assessment system of students. • Identify the areas where improvement in training of the teachers or educationists is required. • Promote public discussions on issues pertaining to elementary education. • Advise the Government on all policy matters relating to the objectives of the Commission. • Approve annual research program and annual budget of the Commission. • Perform functions that may be ancillary to its functions, or as may be prescribed or as may be assigned by the Government 6. Punjab Education • Provide financial assistance for the establishment, expansion, Foundation (PEF) improvement, and management of educational institutions and allied projects. • Provide incentives to students, teachers, and Educational Institutions. • Promote public-private partnerships relating to education. • Provide technical assistance to Educational Institutions for testing policy interventions and innovative programmes for replication. • Rank private educational institutions based on educational standards. • Raise funds through donations, grants, contributions, subscriptions etc. • Assist Educational Institutions in capacity building, including training of teachers. • Undertake any other function as may be assigned to it by the Board with the approval of the Government.
7. Punjab Danish Schools • To demonstrate that all children can excel, if given an equal and Centers of opportunity Excellence Authority • To rekindle hope amongst the under-privileged • To develop ethical, value-driven future leaders • To fight social inequality and alleviate poverty • To contain extremism by inculcating tolerance, human dignity and harmony.
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8. Program Monitoring and • Works in conjunction with the School Education Department, Implementation Unit acting as the monitoring and implementation wing of the (PMIU) Department. • PMIU’s key task with regard to monitoring is to regulate an effective data collection system at the district level.
3.1.2.2 District and Sub-district Administrative Arrangements
District Education Authorities (DEAs) have been established at the district level to ensure effective education service delivery in all districts of Punjab. DEAs are mandated to oversee formal education, non-formal education and special education at the district level. These are also mandated to take a range of initiatives in order to improve access, quality and equity in education service delivery at the district level37. As per the Punjab District Education Authorities (conduct of business) Rules, 2017, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of each DEA is the Principal Accounting Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the district. In practise, DEA powers are vested largely with the CEO of the DEAs, who are answerable to the provincial government (SED) rather than local leaders. The Authority in each district is mandated to implement the policy and standards devised by SED and attached departments for core functions such as curricula and textbooks, assessments, training and quality of teaching, reforms programmes and school management38.
DEAs enjoy executive authority over decisions related to school upgradation, teacher rationalisation, and general responsiveness to school-specific issues. DEAs ensure the provision of education service delivery through district and sub-district education managers including District Education Officers (DEOs), Deputy District Education Officers (DDEOs) and Assistant Education Officers (AEOs). DEAs are assisted by the school leadership and School Councils (SCs) for the implementation of policies and standards of education approved by the government. Under the administrative control of PMIU, the office of District Monitoring Officers (DMOs) was established in 2005 for monitoring teacher attendance, student attendance, distribution of free textbooks, etc. In order to assist the DMOs 950 Monitoring and Evaluation Assistants (MEAs) were also recruited and deployed in all the 36 districts.
3.1.3 Management Processes on Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages
The provincial, district and school level administrative tiers in Punjab are structured to plan, manage and deliver quality education services to all school-age children in the province. An overview of policies and SOPs for key education functions in the province highlight that strong horizontal linkages and vertical operational relations are prerequisite for smooth and efficient service delivery. For provincial entities horizontal coordination and linkages are essential as outputs of one attached department or autonomous body must serve as the input for another provincial entity. For instance, the curriculum standards developed by PCTB must provide guidance to PEC and QAED for designing textbooks, student assessment tests and training packages for teachers’ professional development, respectively. Similarly, in the absence of vertical operational linkages the policies and standards devised at provincial level cannot be
37 Please see Section 93, of Punjab Local Government Act 2013 for details. 38 Government of Punjab. (2017). Notification No. SOR(LG) 38-10/2017 The Punjab District Education Authorities (conduct of business Rules, 2017. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department. Lahore.
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brought into effect. Following process flow on core education functions elaborates the horizontal and vertical linkages required for efficient education service delivery in Punjab.
3.1.3.1 Teacher Recruitment The process for recruitment of teaching staff in schools is elaborated in the Recruitment Policy, 2017-1839. The policy presented a merit-based system for the recruitment of teachers. Key features of the new merit-based system comprise screening test to be conducted by the National Testing Service (NTS), formulation and engagement of District Recruitment Committees (DRCs), and formation of a Complaints Redressal Cell (CRC). The flow chart in Figure 9 below presents the process for recruitment of teachers in Punjab as per the Recruitment Policy, 2017-18:
Figure 9: Curriculum Development Process
The introduction of NTS based induction, establishment of CRC are steps in the right direction which are contributing towards enhancing the transparency of the recruitment process. Nonetheless as observed in case of Balochistan, the process has limitations in terms of adequately assessing subject specific skills, knowledge and competence of the candidates. Similarly, the process does not assign due weightage to the degree-awarding institutes of candidates. In order to ensure the continuity of the reform and making it more robust and responsive to district level needs, a more effective coordination and communication both at provincial and district levels is necessary.
39 Government of the Punjab. (2017). Recruitment Policy 2017-18 for Educators and AEOs. Lahore: School Education Department, Government of the Punjab.
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3.1.3.2 Curriculum Development Under the chairmanship of Secretary, the School Education Department with the assistance of a Steering Committee comprising heads of all provincial education institutions is responsible for making decisions regarding development and revision of curriculum, its approval, monitoring and implementation. Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PTCB) is the key provincial entity responsible for development or revision of curriculum. PCTB is also mandated for the final review and approval of textbooks. It is headed by the Managing Director and supported by Deputy and Assistant Directors. Figure 10 below presents the key steps in curriculum development.
PCTB is the lead institution for curriculum development and during this process requires strong coordination with SED, BISE, PEC and QAED at provincial level. However, it was observed that mostly the coordination and information sharing is on a limited scale thus impacting the quality and relevance of the process. Whereas, curriculum implementation requires coordination, communication and capacities both at provincial and district levels.
Figure 10: Curriculum Development Process
3.1.3.3.Textbook Development and Distribution
Like curriculum development, textbooks development is also one of the key mandates of PCTB. Out of the two academic wings of PCTB, the manuscript wing is primarily responsible for development of textbooks and learning materials based upon approved curricula and student learning outcomes. The process for textbooks development is elaborated below in Figure 11. The textbooks development process in Punjab is guided by the scheme for the development of textbooks and supplementary reading material related to textbooks. According to the scheme, in order to develop the textbooks in all subjects PCTB engages the author/group of authors, editor/group of editors, person(s) and agency/agencies through an open competitive process. Out of the manuscripts developed by selected authors, editors, person(s) and agency/agencies top three manuscripts per subject per class are selected by PCTB. The Board pays the cost for these manuscripts and copyrights of selected manuscripts of each subject at each grade remain with the PCTB. The author(s)/editor(s)/agencies whose manuscripts are finally selected for use as the textbook are paid royalty by PCTB for each selected textbook and for the number of
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years that textbook is printed by the Board. The responsible author(s)/editor(s)/agencies are required to make annual improvements in textbooks and if the author(s)/editor(s) refuse to respond to improvements suggested in the textbooks then the Board has the authority to withhold their annual royalty payment.
Figure 11: Textbook Development Process
Following sub-sections capture the education service delivery challenges and capacity needs at provincial, district and sub-district levels in Punjab.
3.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier
The following sub-sections identify gaps between the assigned responsibilities and actual functions performed by key provincial institutions and officials; institutional and administrative bottle necks; coordination and communication challenges; and capacity and financial needs and constraints in Punjab.
3.2.1. Administrative Inefficiencies, Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps
There are observable issues in terms of mandated roles of various institutions working under SED, which include mandate overlaps, duplication of roles and responsibilities, and implementation of limited mandates. Following are some of the key challenges in terms of mandated roles and performance thereof:
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i. Over the years the role and mandates of key provincial institutions have been redefined and at times expanded through various There is no laid down and notifications. For instance, the role and elaborate written procedure for mandate of PMIU gradually expanded over coordination and past few years through different notifications. communication between SED PMIU initiated its function as an and the attached institutions. implementation and monitoring unit under Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme (PESRP), however, in 2003 it was mandated to manage and oversee the Education Management and Information System (EMIS) of SED40. So, after being introduced as a dedicated counterpart to the SED, PMIU has now evolved into a de-facto monitoring and implementation wing of the Department. The unit is now mandated to manage the annual school census (ASC) and monthly monitoring system of the department. These mandates of PMIU have been added through official notifications and there is no comprehensive administrative document or rules that elaborate new mandates and management processes of SED, its attached departments and autonomous bodies. The absence of a consolidated document on the mandates, responsibilities and management processes at provincial level results in blurring lines of responsibilities and at times overlaps between provincial entities. These blurred lines of responsibilities at times lead to unrealistic expectations in allied departments, for instance PMIU now assumes that SED should seek technical advice of the Unit for every new plan and reform design.
ii. The Directorate of Public Instruction (Schools) used to be the focal implementation agency for SED till 2001. DPI used to take lead in not only planning and budgeting process but also ensured implementation of development initiatives of the department. The divisional and district tier managers reported to the DPI. Additionally, it also performed the essential monitoring and evaluation of district and sub-district tier managers. It also used to generate monthly progress reports on development projects across the province. Thus, assisting secretariat in all the key functions related to education service delivery. After the introduction of devolution of powers in 2001, the reporting line of the districts was changed from DPI to the Secretary, thus instead of devolving the powers the process centralized it further. Considering the longstanding role of DPI in managing the planning, development, and implementation functions for education service delivery, it would have been more efficient to have the PMIU placed within the mandate of DPI, instead of making it a semi- autonomous entity. The fragmented reform initiatives and interventions over the years instead of strengthening it have made a functioning institution redundant. iii. Overlap in mandates is also visible between PMIU and PEC as various student assessments are being designed and conducted in the province. For instance, PEC is mandated to design, implement and report on standardized assessments for all students of Grade 5 (primary school) and Grade 8 (middle school) in all public schools in Punjab. At the same time, PMIU manages six monthly assessments at Grade 3. Assessments are primarily a mandate of PEC, but the additional assessments conducted by PMIU are not coordinated through PEC. There is need to improve alignment and synergies in these assessment routines to improve design, conduct, reporting and use of student learning achievement data.
40 PMIU – Programme Monitoring and Implementation Unit. (2014). PESRP Reforms. School Education Department. Government of Punjab. Lahore. pp. 5
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iv. A number of provincial education institutions are also performing limited mandated functions. For instance, Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) is mandated to raise funds through grants and donations41 and marketing its services. However, it has not yet been able to successfully raise funds except for government financing and support from development partners. Likewise, Budget & Planning (B&P) Wing of the SED is mandated to undertake budget estimation, its preparation, approvals from competent authority, execution and internal auditing. Out of the mandated responsibilities, the auditing function of the B&P Wing is rarely performed and there is a long backlog of such cases.
3.2.2. High Turnover of Senior Officials
The study highlights the emerging challenge related to high turnover at senior positions in During only last six months, the provincial education institutions. Senior SED has had its 4th officials at SED and PMIU have recently administrative secretary. started to face transfers and postings. The results indicate that there are frequent transfers and postings in key education departments which have an impact on effective functioning of the department. For instance, in the course of only last six months (since June 2018)42, the SED has had its 4th administrative secretary. Also, before the appointment of current PD of PMIU in November 2017, there was no regular PD of the Unit for about two years. It is also important to highlight that there was an added interest by officials to join attached institutions like PMIU and QAED as they received financial incentive for working in attached departments. This incentive has now been taken back with effect from 1st July 2018 through a government notification.43
3.2.3. Capacity and Human Resource Deficits
QAED, formerly known as the Directorate of Staff Development (DSD), is mandated to undertake training and capacity development of teachers and education managers in the province. In order to perform this, QAED is running a number of training programs including Punjab Education and English Language Initiative (PEELI), School Leadership Development Program (SLDP), as well as promotion-linked and induction trainings. The study at hand highlights that out of QAED’s mandated responsibilities, the department could not perform the feedback and analysis function mainly due to dearth of requisite trained human resource44.
41 Section 10 (1) of Punjab Education Foundation Act, 2004 states: There shall be established a Fund which shall vest in the Foundation and to which shall be credited– (i) grants made by the Federal, Provincial Governments and the local bodies; (ii) income from investments made by the Foundation; (iii) donations, endowments and subscriptions from organizations and individuals; (iv) revolving funds placed by the Government at the disposal of the Foundation; (v) donations, endowments and grants from international organizations, subject to approval of the Government; and (vi) all other sums received by the Foundation from any other source. 42 Please see information available on official website: https://schools.punjab.gov.pk/oursecretaries 43 Finance Department. (July 2018). Notification No. FD.SR-I9-20/2006 Project Allowance for Projects, Programme, Policy and Policy Cells. Government of the Punjab. Lahore 44 This challenge was also pointed out in previous evaluations of the department, which include Third Party Validation (TPV) study conducted by UNESCO and World Bank in 2007, besides, the World Bank review of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and DSD in 2010-2011. Both studies identified the challenge of insufficient human resource at DSD that is required to carry out important functions like analysis, reporting and feedback on trainings.
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Another case of lack of qualified officials is the case of B&P wing of the SED. In the B&P wing of SED, the staffing gap is very severe as against 60 sanctioned positions in the unit only 45 are currently filled-in. It was also noticed that at times the computer operators from schools are engaged to work with B&P wing so that backlog could be reduced.
3.2.4. Political Will and Support
Punjab has been successful in achieving number of goals and targets set in education reforms roadmap and previous five-year sector plan. One of the main contributing factors to this achievement has been the political will and ownership at the highest government level in the province. Owing to political leadership’s ownership of the reform agenda and continuous performance management through well-known ‘stocktake’ routines, Punjab has demonstrated sustainable improvement in education governance and outreach. The study indicates that discontinuity of the established routine of stocktaking of the education reform process has serious consequences for the quality of service delivery at the district and sub-district tiers.
3.2.5. Political Economy of Education Service Delivery
Policy, planning and management processes in Punjab is also a function of political economic considerations. In this regard, the development schemes for the education department in 2011- 12 provide valuable insights. School education department identified 1664 development schemes for provision of missing facilities and infrastructure across schools in Punjab as highlighted by the data. These schemes reflected the needs of schools at the local level and the SED made sure that schools were identified in accordance with set criteria. At the same time, public representatives were also given discretion to identify development schemes relating to improvement in schools. It is important to note that in an overwhelming 1315 cases, the schemes highlighted by the public representatives were at odds with the schemes identified by SED on the basis of data and evidence. This chasm between the needs-based schemes highlighted by data and the ones identified using the discretion of public officials provides valuable insights into the political economy of education service delivery in the province.
3.2.6. Operational Coordination and Communication Challenges
There is no laid down and elaborate written procedure for coordination and communication between SED and the attached institutions. Currently, such interactions are done on needs basis. During the previous regime, quarterly meetings called the Stocktakes were held under the Chief Minister. It provided an opportunity to bring together all the key education stakeholders in the province, review the progress on key indicators and reform initiatives and improve accountability across departments and districts.
Presently, there is no platform that could bring together all the stakeholders, except on a need- basis where select attached departments of the SED may meet. The absence of a regular meeting forum or platform leads to lack of ownership, accountability and involvement of all stakeholders, and it also contributes to slippages and poor performances. Most importantly it leads to a lack of shared vision and poor coordination among key provincial entities and partners.
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In the absence of an effective communication forum, the coordination and operational linkages between attached departments (PEC, PCTB, QAED and PMIU) have become weak. For instance, PEC, alongside conducting Grade 5 and 8 annual examinations, is mandated to provide feedback to QAED for designing its teacher training programs in light of the weak areas identified through the examination. Also, PEC may undertake research to inform and improve curricula. However, apart from the annual report published by PEC, there is no sharing of information that might benefit QAED and PCTB. Furthermore, PEC and PCTB boards have representation from other bodies including SED, QAED etc., and while board meetings are the only platform available to raise coordination issues, the assessment finds out that this forum has not been utilized to discuss and improve inter-departmental coordination.
There are also no forums as such where the representatives of various departments could meet to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to education budgets and resolve them. In particular, there is need to discuss the challenges related to transfer and release of funds as well as fund utilization and reallocation. Besides operational and budget coordination gaps there is also challenge of disconnect in storage and use of data available with different provincial entities such as PMIU, DPI, PEC and PEF.
3.2.7. Delays in Transfer and Release of Funds
There are significant delays in transfer of funds from FD to the SED and districts. For example, in case of PEF, the 1st Quarter of every financial year is challenging for PEF as payments are released late by the FD. Because PEF has to make payments to schools on monthly basis, it has to address the financing shortfalls by making stop-gap arrangements; for example, through its endowment fund. A recent third-party validation (TPV) of PEF informed that for financial year 2016-17, the first quarter’s payment was made by the Finance Department on 2nd September 2016. For 2017-18, the first tranche was released on 18th August 201745.
3.3 District and Sub-District Service Delivery Challenges
This study highlights following challenges and constraints at the district and sub-district levels:
3.3.1. Frequent Transfers and No Performance Framework
Like the provincial tier, frequent transfers and postings are a big challenge among other things at district level. Frequent postings and transfers act as a barrier in the way of effective education planning and service delivery. This study finds that there are frequent transfers of district managers, with the appointment timeframe ranging from 3-4 months to 1-1.5 years. Frequent transfers impede continuity, ownership and accountability of reforms. A recent example on this count is the transfer of seventeen (17) CEOs by the Chief Minister in one day. Such large-scale transfers tend to erode the commitment and willingness of the education managers for effective education service delivery. Short term appointments of key officials also create challenges for international organizations and development partners implementing projects and programs in the district as they need to start afresh with every new official who needs time to get on board. Alongside frequent transfers, there are also no performance management frameworks available
45 I-SAPS. (2018). Third Party Validation of Punjab Education Foundation Programme. Department for International Development.
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for the district and sub-district education officials. This weak accountability at devolved education management level leads to poor service delivery.
3.3.2. Average Time Spent on Different Tasks
The study finds out that out of an average 8 working hours of the district managers in Punjab, around 17.5% of the time (1.4 hours) is spent on activities which are not directly related to education service delivery. These include time spent attending to calls and visits by public representatives, attending to RTI requests by NGOs and civil society organization, public- dealing etc. 14% time (1.1 hours) is spent on school visits, 32.5% time (2.6 hours) on administrative matters including correspondence, file-work, record-maintenance, staff service related issues etc, 3.75% of time (0.3 hours) in dealing with the accounts office and accounts related matters, 8.75% time (0.7 hours) in data collection from sub-district tiers and reporting to respective education departments and attached bodies, 17.5% of time (1.8 hours) in meeting/coordinating and following up with the staff at sub-district tiers on challenges related to service delivery as well as the way forward, and 6.25% of time in planning of activities for the day (0.5 hours).
It is important to note that the time spent on non-productive activities as well as that spent on administrative activities take up much of time of district mangers. In case of Punjab, it stands around 50% time of officials and leaves only around the same time for matters related to strategic planning and execution of activities to improve education service delivery.
3.3.3. Job Descriptions and Awareness of Mandated Roles
Most of the district and sub-district officials are found to be aware of their respective job descriptions (JDs) that clearly explains their assigned role and responsibilities for education service delivery. 13 percent of the officials informed that they are not aware of their JDs and exact responsibilities. Lack of orientation among these officials regarding their mandated roles has bearing on the quality of service delivery at the school level.
The study also indicates that 92 percent of the officials who know about their JDs, claim that their key roles and responsibilities that they are performing currently are in line with the given JDs. The officials who do not have their JDs learnt about their assigned responsibilities through training (17 percent), on job support (41.5 percent) or instructions from higher authority (41.5 percent).
3.3.4. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality
In order to improve enrolment, the officials place emphasis on contact with the community. The officials engage the head-teachers and teachers in door-to-door campaign in school’s catchment area. Advertisements and banners are also placed at prominent points in the area and the local prayer leaders are also requested to encourage people to enrol their children through public announcements. The officials largely rely on the head-teachers and teachers to improve students’ attendance through meeting with parents and community leaders who could influence the parents in sending their children regularly to schools. Many officials reported that they have introduced non-financial rewards to encourage the head-teachers and teachers to ensure minimum attendance of students. District officials mostly use surprise visits to schools to keep a check on teachers’ attendance. They also use other tools including phone-calls and
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Watsapp to check on whether teachers are on-time and present in the schools. To improve quality of teaching and learning in the schools, the district education officials ensure that AEOs visit each school at least twice in a given month. The Monitoring and Evaluation Assistants (MEAs) not only records the school visits by the AEOs, but also takes test from sampled students enrolled in grade-III. This test, called the LND-test (Literacy and Numeracy Drive), however, is not conducted for students in other grades.
3.3.5. Time Spent on Different Tasks during School Visits
This study indicates that during school visits, an official spends around 3½ hours (215 minutes) in one school on average. During the visit three major tasks performed by the officials include community mobilization (20 percent of total time spent), student achievement assessment (16 percent of total time spent) and mentoring support (16 percent of total time spent). Observation and monitoring of learning environment on average receives least time of an official during the school visit.
AverageTime Spent on Tasks during School Visit (in Minutes)
Administration and Funds Utilization 25
Community Mobilization 42
Monitoring of Learning Environment 23
Mentoring and Support 34
Students' Achievement and Assessment 34
Teachers and Students Attendance 24
Others 33
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
3.3.6. Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub-District Tiers
Districts are not involved in the process of planning or policy development, and the frequently changing policies cause an ever-present challenge for the districts. New policies require time to be implemented, but the urgency on the part of province to implement and not taking districts into confidence, while planning, leads to ineffective implementation of reforms. Also, target setting is generally done at the provincial level without much consultation with the districts. The centralized nature of top-bottom reform design creates lack of clarity among district and sub-district management about the focus, intent and desired outcome of the reform initiatives and planning targets. An important example of disconnect between province and districts is witnessed at the design stage of teachers’ continuous professional development (CPD) initiatives. The districts are engaged by the province only for nominating the teachers for pre- designed trainings and their role in needs’ identification and CPD design is kept minimum. Likewise, districts, school heads and teachers are not much engaged in the processes of curriculum and textbook development.
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At the district level, the Deputy Commissioners also lead and coordinate a forum called the District Review Committee (DRC). This intra-district coordination led by the deputy commissioners is an effective mechanism for progress review and addressing any challenges in effective service delivery at the district level.
Notwithstanding the effectiveness of DRCs, the study finds that that there is little coordination between top tier of district officials and officials at sub-district levels. Similarly, there is no institutionalised mechanisms that could allow for increased coordination and oversight of district coordination and engagement at schools and community levels.
School head teachers coordinate with the sub-district officials only through monthly meetings. Meetings are held at the cluster level where issues and challenges are discussed along with progress against key indicators on access and quality of education. However, there is no communication and strategic coordination on the role of School Councils as key actors in education reform success and service delivery improvement.
3.3.7. Delays in Budget Release and Low Absorptive Capacity
Delays in transfer and release of non-salary budgets to the districts and schools have also In 2016-17, 23 percent of the been observed. For the ongoing financial year, allocated education budget the 1st tranche of non-salary budgets was remained unspent. A major released to the districts on 30th August 2018. reason for this ties to the lack of Because of delay in transfer of non-salary coordination within SED and budgets and various other issues, schools are between SED and other unable to fully utilize the allocated budgets. departments like Finance. For example, the TPV of NSB done by I-SAPS indicates that around 23 percent of schools reported half or even less utilization of funds during 2015-16.
Because of the intra-department and inter-departmental lack of coordination, there are also challenges of low budgetary releases and the absorptive capacity of the education department is also affected. For example, in 2016-17, out of the total allocated budget for education, only 77 percent could be spent.
3.3.8. Lack of Institutional Capacity for Evidence-Based Planning and Budgeting
The DEAs lack capacity and skills to carry-out needs-based planning and target setting in line with the strategic priorities set at the provincial level. Owing to centralized top-bottom planning process, the plans and targets set at provincial level generally do not conform to the local realities as it is mostly done using provincial level aggregate data (in some cases, district data). As a result, the local level challenges remain largely under addressed.
In the absence of evidence-based planning, the budget allocation and utilization in districts is also not effective. Evidence indicates that an inverse relationship exists between the proportion of out of school children of 5-16 years’ age and per student spending at district level. For example, district Rahim Yar Khan is the most disadvantaged in this regard as 47 percent of its
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school-going age children are out of school, yet it receives one of the lowest per student budgets in the province.46
3.3.9. District and School Capacity Needs
The study indicates that district education officials require capacity development support to perform their mandated functions more efficiently. Around 23 percent of the study’s respondents agreed that they need training to equip them better for their responsibilities.
The following areas have been identified through this study for capacity building of district managers to help improve education delivery. These areas include:
a. School level monitoring and mentoring b. Data-driven and needs-based strategic planning and target setting c. Whole school improvement planning d. Budget preparation and execution e. IT based approaches for education management
The study also identifies areas for developing capacities of head teachers in the areas of student assessments and community mobilization. The areas identified for capacity development of head teachers include:
a. School leadership b. School budgets and financial records c. Departmental rules and regulations to better manage schools and teachers.
46 I-SAPS. 2017. Allocate it Right: Decreasing Equity Challenges in Punjab. Islamabad. pp. 9.
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SINDH
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SINDH: Education Governance and District Service Delivery Capacities
4.1 Education in Sindh at a Glance
Sindh has 55,244 educational institutions from pre-primary schools till degree colleges including all public, private and other public institutions. Out of these institutions only 11,193 institutions are specifically designated for girls, whereas, there are 10,526 institutions that offer co-education. 47 There has been slight increase in the enrolment of children in public and private schools (pre-primary till higher secondary) of the province in past two years, where enrolment increased from 7,768,415 in 2016 to 8,019,842 in 2017.48 While there has been some improvement in the enrolment rate in recent years, Sindh continues to face the access challenge as around 35 percent of primary school-age children in Sindh are currently not in schools. Evidence also highlights gender disparities at primary school-age, as more girls (44 percent) compared to boys (28 percent) are out of schools in Sindh.49 There is also considerable difference in male (67 percent) and female (44 percent) literacy rates in the province. The net enrolment rate (NER) at primary level in the province is 48 percent, which again highlights gender gap i.e. 52 percent for boys and 44 percent for girls.50
4.1.1. An Overview of Education Policy Landscape
National Education Policy 2009 has been adopted as the overarching policy framework for education in the province. In the light of constitutional obligation under Article 25-A51, Government of Sindh enacted The Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013. Sindh is also the only province in Pakistan that has developed the rules of business under the Act, 2013. Moreover, the province has Sindh Education Standards and Curriculum Act 2014 which aims to clearly define the role of various attached departments and autonomous bodies in curriculum and textbooks revision and development, and teachers’ pre-service and in-service training. In addition to the Act and the rules of business, the legal and policy framework for access to quality education in the province also includes Sindh Education Sector Plan (SESP) 2014-18 developed by School Education and Literacy Department (SELD).
SESP is the key strategic document that provides a comprehensive and all-encompassing plan for addressing education access, quality and governance related challenges. SESP has seven thematic components that provide a clear picture of government priorities and strategies to be implemented over five years starting from 2014. The sector plan is being managed and implemented by the School Education and Literacy Department (SELD) and its allied provincial entities.
47 NEMIS. (2018). Pakistan Education Statistics, 2016-17. Academy of Education Planning and Management, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Government of Pakistan. 48 Ibid. and NEMIS. (2017). Pakistan Education Statistics, 2015-16. Academy of Education Planning and Management, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Government of Pakistan. 49 NEMIS. (2017). Pakistan Education Statistics, 2015-16. Academy of Education Planning and Management, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Government of Pakistan. Pg. 22. 50 Government of Pakistan. (2018). Chapter 10. Education. Economic survey of Pakistan 2017-18. 51 The Gazette of Pakistan. (2010). Ex.Pt.1, Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act 2010, Act No X of 2010. P267.
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4.1.2. Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools
The key actors in education service delivery in Sindh and operational relations at province, district and school levels are explained below:
4.1.2.1 Provincial Institutional Setup SESP is the key strategic document that steers government’s priorities and agenda for education reforms in the province. SELD is the main department responsible to manage and oversee legislation, planning, management, financing and service delivery in the education sector. SELD is assisted by its allied provincial entities and district education management for implementation of the sector plan and for performance of key education functions (see Figure 12).
Figure 12: Education Administration in Sindh - Regional Directorate
The key allied provincial entities supporting SELD include Reform Support Unit (RSU), Provincial Institute of Teacher Education (PITE), Directorate of Curriculum, Assessment and Research (DCAR), Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority (STEDA), Sindh Textbook Board (STB), Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), Standardized Achievement Test (SAT), Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh (DIRPIS) and Directorate of Literacy & Non-Formal Education (DLNFE).
Major roles and responsibilities of these attached institutions are provided in the Table 4 below:
Table 4: Matrix on Key Provincial Departments and their Assigned Responsibilities
Provincial Institution Responsibilities and Functions Assigned
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School Education and Literacy Department, Sindh 1. Directorate of • Each regional directorate is responsible to provide strong School Education (DSE) leadership in all matters relating to education in respective (Primary/Elementary), region. Secondary and Higher • Ensures implementation of government policies, rules and Secondary) regulations. • Acts as main point of contact in relation to education in regions. • Provides oversight of the operations and delivery of education services in schools. Develops and maintains effective and positive relations with staff at regional, district and Taluka levels. 2. Provincial Institute of • Responsible for pre-service teacher education and continuous Teachers Education professional development programmes based on school education (PITE) standards and curriculum for developing professionally competent teachers
3. Directorate of • Curriculum Development /Review of all subjects for classes (I to Curriculum, XII) Assessments and • Capacity Building of Teachers, Head Teachers, Supervisory Research (DCAR) personnel, Educational Managers and School Management Committees. • Development & Execution of Educational Programs, Projects and Schemes under Public & Private sector both. • Dissemination of Educational Policies Plans and Programs. • Conducting Research in Education. • Assessment of Achievement of Teachers and Students in Sindh.
4. Sindh Textbook Board • Development of Textbooks. (STBB) • Printing and Publication of Textbooks from Class I to XII in All Three Languages (URDU, SINDHI, ENGLISH) • Marketing of the textbooks to private education provider. • Monitoring of textbook delivery to public schools. 5. Sindh Teachers Certify and accredit teacher education programmes and ensure Education and quality of both pre-service and in-service teacher education Development Authority programmes to prepare professionally competent teachers to (STEDA) teach curriculum effectively. 6. Reform Support Unit • To create a capacity that would strengthen the Education (RSU) Department's ability to adopt and implement the education policy and strategy. • Install a well-integrated and functional monitoring system through an Institutional Tracking System for tracking the outreach of incentives. • The Unit's areas of expertise are data collection, data analysis and its institutionalized impact on policy and strategy. • Coordination of Policy and its implementation. • To ensure education of equitable quality for all to fully harness the nation's human potential
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7. Sindh Education • Conceptualize and spearhead projects for the establishment Foundation (SEF) of educational institutions especially in less developed or less privileged areas • Evolve programs for raising the standard of education (quality) and improvement in literacy rate (access) • Conduct research or surveys or hold workshops, conferences and symposia to study the educational system to identify its shortcomings and make suggestions for its improvement • Provide financial help or grants to various NGOs and other educational agencies
4.1.2.2 District and Sub-district Administrative Arrangements
The Education Management Reform (EMR) Policy of 2009 highlighted that the management of education could not keep pace with the devolution process since 2001 in which many of the education management responsibilities were devolved to the district government. There was no clear division as far as management responsibilities were concerned which caused more problems instead of solving them52. As a follow up to the EMR Policy 2009, Government of Sindh introduced a major reform in the education governance by establishment of Education Management Cadre (EMC) in 2014.
The education management has been branched in three distinct services. The newly introduced services include, School Executive Service (SES), School Management Service (SMS) and School Finance Service (SFS)53. The province is divided into six regions, i.e. Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpur Khaas, Shaheed Benazirabad. Under the new organizational structure, Director School Education (Primary) and Director School Education (Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary) hold the responsibility at the regional level (see Figure 13).
52 Sindh Education Sector Plan, 2014-18. 53 Education and Literacy Department Notification No SO (B&F) E&L/RE-DESIG-POSTS/2014-15 (DISTRICT) / 2014, was issued in pursuance of Sub-rule (2) of rule 3 of Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules 1974. The APT Rules 2014 provides the new structure of education management in Sindh.
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Figure 13: Sindh School Education Department (Field Formation)
At the district level, the education offices are headed by District Education Officer (DEO) Primary and District Education Officer (DEO) Elementary / Secondary & Higher Secondary. At the district level the DEOs are assisted by Deputy District Education Officers for Primary and Elementary / Secondary/ Higher Secondary. At the Taluka (Sub-District) level, Taluka Education Officers (TEOs) and Assistant Education Officers (AEOs) hold the responsibility. At the School tier the head-teachers are divided in three categories; Senior Principal heads Comprehensive / Higher Secondary Schools and Principal heads Comprehensive / Secondary Schools. Similarly, Senior Head Master / Mistresses are posted as heads of Elementary / Secondary Schools and Head Masters / Mistresses for managing Campus / Cluster Hub Schools. The financial matters are assigned to Director Finance under the newly created School Finance Service. Director Finance is assisted by Deputy Directors Finance and Assistant Directors Finance at the district tiers54.
Introduction of the new Education Management Cadre is aimed at addressing the limitations of governance and management in the school education sector which have constrained the department in achieving the target of performing schools and improved learning outcomes. As a continuation of reforms, School Consolidation Policy assigns additional responsibilities with delegation of administrative authority at the respective tiers. DEOs have been assigned the responsibilities to, chalk out annual work plan, resource planning and management, financial management, procurement management, human resource management, oversight of the distribution process of text books, early childhood education, reporting and record management and monitoring55. Similarly, under the School Consolidation Policy 2011 TEOs are mandated
54 Notification [No SO (B&F) E&L/RE-DESIG-POSTS/2014-15 (DISTRICT) / 2014] 55 School Consolidation Policy 2011: Responsibilities of District Education Officer
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to identify and recommend for consolidating/merging Schools, delegation of administrative powers, annual working plan, resource planning and management, financial management, annual work planning for school development, procurement management, financial management, human resource management and development, Early Childhood Education (ECE), management of SMCs and Record Management56.
The assigning of new roles and expanded scope for the education managers at the District and Taluka tiers under the School Consolidation Policy 2012 brought forth new challenges. The SED while working closely with the education managers have tried to address these with the introduction of the School Clustering Policy 2016. The education managers, especially the DEOs have been assigned additional roles including; cluster formation, activity planning for policy implementation, staffing of CHS Head, guiding teachers and coordinating with various line agencies of the SED57. Similarly, the TEO has also been assigned new responsibilities of Cluster Identification, Verification and Support to the Academic and Administrative Cluster Management58.
4.1.3 Management Process in Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages This sub-section explains the management processes designed for performing core education functions in Sindh. The process flow elaborated in the flow charts also indicates the horizontal and vertical operational linkages required for education policy implementation and effective service delivery.
4.1.3.1 Teacher Recruitment The process for recruitment of teaching staff in schools is elaborated in the Recruitment Policy, 2017.59 The policy presented a merit-based system for the recruitment of teachers. Key features of the new merit-based system comprise screening test to be conducted by the National Testing Service (NTS), formulation and engagement of District Placement Committees (DPCs) and providing a Dispute Resolution Mechanism (DRM). The flow chart in Figure 14 presents process flow for recruitment of teachers in Sindh as per the Recruitment Policy, 2017:
Figure 14: Teacher Recruitment Process Flow
56 School Consolidation Policy 2011: Responsibilities of Taluka Education Officer 57 School Clustering Policy 2016: Responsibilities of DEOs 58 School Clustering Policy 2016: Responsibilities of TEOs 59 Government of the Sindh. (2017). Recruitment Policy 2017 for Teachers and Non-Teaching. Karachi: School Education Department, Government of the Sindh.
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The above process flow indicates that the system of merit-based recruitment of teachers in Sindh has been introduced, however it has yet to be made part of the established governance routines. Additionally, the absence of effective accountability mechanisms to ensure the robustness of the system seriously impacts the effectiveness of the process. The recruitment process is ensuring merit, however the process has inadequacies on the count of evaluating subject specific knowledge, competencies and skills of the candidates. Additionally the feedback loop to inform the recruitment process with the teachers’ relevant agencies such as STEDA, PITE etc. is not in place. In order to align the process for having a direct impact on improved quality of education service delivery, it remains of significant importance to ensure effective coordination and communication both at provincial and district levels.
4.1.3.2. Curriculum Development
Under the chair of Provincial Minister for Education, the SELD with the assistance of a Curriculum Council comprising heads of all provincial education institutions is responsible for making decisions regarding development and revision of curriculum, its approval, monitoring and implementation. Besides the Curriculum Wing at the SELD secretariat Directorate of Curriculum, Assessments and Research (DCAR) is the key operational entity responsible for development or revision of curriculum. It is headed by a Director and supported by Additional, Deputy and Assistant Directors. Curriculum Wing at SELD Secretariat plays the key role of coordination for the curriculum development process. Additionally, the Curriculum Wing also acts as the secretariat for the curriculum council. Figure 15 presents the process flow of curriculum development:
Figure 15: Curriculum Development Process Flow
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DCAR takes lead in the curriculum development and during this process requires strong coordination of SELD, DCAR, BISE and PITE at provincial level. Whereas, curriculum implementation requires coordination, communication and capacities both at provincial and district levels.
4.1.3.3.Textbook Development and Distribution In Sindh the process of textbooks development, printing and distribution is guided by the Policy on Sindh Textbook and Learning Material (production, certification and distribution), 2014. As per the Policy, 2014 the STBB is responsible to manage authorship, production, copyrights, printing and distribution of textbooks and learning material in the province. At provincial level STBB is required to work with other provincial departments to ensure transparent and effective delivery of services. STBB is required to conduct all procurements in line with Sindh Public Procurement Rules. DCAR is the competent authority to review textbooks and learning materials for alignment with the school education standards and curriculum goals. After approval and printing of the textbooks, STBB is required to develop an effective distribution strategy using EMIS supported technological innovations in delivery and tracking of textbooks down to schools and classrooms.
4.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier
The following sub-sections identify gaps between the assigned responsibilities and actual functions performed by key provincial institutions and officials; institutional and administrative bottle necks; coordination and communication challenges; and capacity and financial needs and constraints.
4.2.1. Administrative Inefficiencies, Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps
The assessment at provincial level pointed out following challenges in performance of mandated functions of key provincial education institutions:
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a. In-service teacher training rests with PITE. However, recently, the results of SAT for grade 5 and 8 spurred RSU to outsource training of select teachers in Mathematics, Languages and Science to private service provider. Although this decision was taken in a joint meeting of different departments but since the decision had support at the highest policy level, therefore it met very little objection from PITE and DCAR. The outsourcing in this case is reflective of the limitations of the dedicated institutions for teacher training in Sindh.
b. Different allied provincial institutions in Sindh have been assigned almost similar functions related to capacity development and trainings. In the official documents, all of these provincial entities have been assigned slightly different functions; however, in reality, this has resulted in a plethora of directorates and entities. These institutions include Curriculum Wing, PITE, STEDA, Directorate of Human Resource and Training, and Directorate of Teacher Training Institutions.
c. It is important to highlight that a relatively new Directorate of Human Resource and Training (DHRT) that has been assigned the function of conducting needs assessment for the teachers in the province. The role of directorate has been slightly differentiated from PITE by mandating it to conduct need-based assessments across the province and give input to PITE on where the trainings must be carried-out. However, establishing a separate entity of needs-assessment is going to increase the financial burden and administrative complexity of provincial education management. A more cost-effective and less complex way of mapping needs could be to conduct training needs assessments (TNAs) by PITE in coordination with regional directorates of schools (secondary and primary). The second overlapping function of DHRT is to centralize the recruitments of the teachers in SELD. But this function could also be performed by existing setup of SELD and allied institutions.
d. Directorate of Curriculum, Assessment and Research (DCAR) previously carried out research around curriculum and textbooks but it has not done any research in last several years. One of the main reasons for this is the capacity deficit at DCAR staff. SELD has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iqra University where the staff of SELD would get the opportunity to do MPhil, PhD and other research related courses.
4.2.2. Frequent Transfers of Senior Officials
There have been instances of frequent transfer and postings at the Directorate of School Education (Secondary and Elementary), Karachi Region. Between 2001 and 2018, there have been 18 transfers and postings at the post of Director. It is important to share that only in 2012, there have been 5 transfer/postings at this post. Later, over a period of 3 years (2015-2018), 6 officials were transferred from the said post. The frequent transfer and posting at the senior most management level has implications for the planning, services and pace of education reforms.
4.2.3. Political Economy of Education Service Delivery
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There are a number of stakeholders that exercise influence on the policy, planning and management processes at the provincial as well as district levels in the province. Teacher unions and teachers are a major group that exercise influence often to the detriment of education service delivery at school level. The teachers and teachers’ unions potential to influence and disrupt the reform process is based on multiple factors including their presence across the province, mobilization capacity, ability to endure long strikes, political patronage and ability to influence the electoral process. Teachers often exercise this influence owing to their organization and their ability to articulate their demands. However, group incentives and interests of teacher unions largely revolve around package of benefits and promotions, and often at the cost of student needs. The study indicates that due to their vested interests, teacher unions in the province have so far been able to resist significant changes aimed at improving service delivery. These include accountability procedures, teacher rationalization etc. among others. As a result, the quality of service delivery continues to be problematic on major fronts including supply of teachers and quality of teaching and learning experience across government schools.
4.2.4. Staffing Gap and Ad hoc Appointments
Another important issue at the SELD and allied institutions is of staffing gap and appointments based on ad hoc basis. Following table presents the staffing gap at DCAR:
Table 5: DCAR Staffing Status
Position Sanctioned Posts Filled-in Posts Additional 3 0 Director Subject Specialist 21 17 BPS – 18 Officers 5 2 BPS-17 Officers 5 5
It is important to note that in order to bridge this staffing gap appointments are were made to DCAR but 9 out of 17 officials appointed as Subject Specialists have still not joined the Directorate and continue to work on their previous positions. Similarly, research positions in PITE are largely filled through internal transfers and postings on ad hoc basis. As a result, the newly posted incumbents lack requisite skills to carry-out research and other mandated responsibilities. It is evident from the fact that both DCAR and PITE have been unable to produce required research around curriculum, textbooks, learning materials etc.
4.2.5 Lack of Need-based and Demand-driven Budgeting
Like other provinces, Sindh also faces challenges in budgeting. Though total budgetary allocations at provincial level have increased over the years, some departments still face challenge in getting the budgets required to perform their mandated functions. For instance, DCAR presented the scheme for conducting diagnostic assessments in the province, but this scheme was not included in the allocated budget for the current year. DCAR also faces challenge with reference to release of funds. Owing to the funding deficit regular diagnostic assessments are not conducted by DCAR. The review indicates that only 4 diagnostic assessments have been conducted in the province since 2009. 4.2.6. Coordination and Communication Challenge
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The challenge related to effective coordination and communication was more pronounced for the Directorate of Schools (Secondary and Elementary Education). The DSE faces challenge of weak coordination with PITE and DCAR. It is important to highlight that PITE has almost never coordinated with the DSE regarding the subject-specific needs of the teachers or about any particular geographical area where such trainings need to be imparted. Moreover, there is no formal provincial forum in Sindh where various allied institutions of provincial education department could come together to discuss the overall performance of key entities and plan a joint and coordinated response for improving education services. In this regard, RSU is in the process of developing a strategy document to improve the coordination between various departments and reduce overlaps and redundancy issues.
4.3 District and Sub-District Service Delivery Challenges
This study highlights following challenges and constraints at the district and sub-district levels:
4.3.1. Frequent Transfers and Postings
Frequency of transfers for district officials varies from district to district, with most frequent transfers of staff completing tenure as low only 2 months. Frequent transfer and posting of key district officials impact the overall performance of the district unfavorably.
4.3.2. Management Capacity and Skills Gap
The study finds that a vast majority of district managers joined the education department as school teachers (primary, elementary, secondary). As they were posted on managerial positions over the course of their career, the officials did not receive any corresponding specialized training or capacity building program to prepare them for their new roles as managers. The absence of any capacity building opportunities coupled with the fact that officials have been repeatedly identifying areas in which they need training is indicative that most officials are facing challenges in smooth delivery of education services at the district and sub-district levels.
4.3.3. District Top Tier’s Average Time Spent on Key Tasks
On average, around 21% of the workday of district managers is spent on activities not directly related to the service delivery of education. Similar to other provinces, administrative matters take up most of the time (around 23%) of these officials. The activities related to data collection from the district and sub-district education officers, coordination and follow-up meetings with education officials, and monitoring of school processes take on average 11.25%, 23.75% and 21.25% of education managers’ average time. The study found that education managers spend on average little to no time on planning their daily, weekly or monthly activities.
4.3.4. Lack of Orientation on Job Descriptions
Sindh has developed and notified job descriptions and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of officials from Directors to the Head Teachers in 2017. The data collected for this study indicates that two-third of sub-district officials shared that their job descriptions (JDs) explain their role and responsibilities for education management and service delivery. Almost all of the officials confirmed that their job descriptions contain the actual responsibilities they are performing currently. At the same time, the study also found that a significant number of
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officials, around 29%, were not aware of the job description for their positions. The lack of awareness and orientation of job descriptions and the mandated roles hinder the ability of the education officials to play an effective role in education service delivery. The officials who are not aware of their JDs learnt about their assigned responsibilities through training (33 percent), on job support (50 percent) or instructions from higher authority (17 percent).
4.3.5. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality
To increase enrolment, district officials along with head-teachers and teachers, carry out mass community engagement campaign before the start of academic year and after the summer vacations. In their drive for enrollment, they involve community influential and religious leaders to convince parents to enroll their children, particularly girls, in schools. The officials also organize door-to-door visits to establish contact with community and identify children of school enrollment age. The study found that the installation of biometric machines at school levels to record teacher attendance has resulted in significant improvement in teachers’ presence in school. In order to improve students’ achievement, officials reported that the students performing better at school are given awards and prizes for encouragement and motivation. However, the study did not find any strategies that officials use to monitor and improve teaching learning practices inside classroom.
4.3.6. Sub-district Official’s Time Spent on Different Tasks during School Visits
During a school visit, an official on average spends around 2½ hours (145 minutes) in one school. During the visit, two major tasks are performed by the officials, including teachers and student attendance (27 percent of total time spent) and mentoring support (25 percent of total time spent). Observation and support on administration and fund utilization receive least time of an official during the school visit.
AverageTime Spent (in Minutes)
Administration and Funds Utilization 16
Monitoring of Learning Environment 27
Mentoring and Support 36
Students' Achievement and Assessment 27 Teachers and Students Attendance 39
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
4.3.7. Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub-District Tiers
District-level coordination meetings are being conducted on monthly basis in all districts. Survey data and interviews with district officials inform that district level coordination and communication is also satisfactory as all survey participants reported either moderate or a lot of coordination across different levels of education administration.
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However, the data related to budget allocation and expenditure reveals that the coordination between provincial and district tiers is not up-to mark in terms of utilizing the allocated resources. For example, in 2016-17, out of the total allocated budget for education, only 83 percent could be spent.
In majority of the cases, the school head teachers also have good coordination with district officials through regular visits and meetings. However, in case of few districts, the district managers hardly conduct any visits to the schools and meetings with officials are not regular.
4.3.8. Lack of Competent Teaching Resource in Sufficient Numbers
There is presently acute shortage of head-teachers at school level, and the department deals with such cases by giving temporary charge to existing teachers. There is also a deficiency of subject specialists at the secondary level. Those who are assigned to teach science subjects are not from the subject-specialist cadre but are the ones who have studied those subjects while completing their course-work for their degree programs.
4.3.9. District and School Capacity Needs
The study identifies the need for capacity building of district managers to enable them to perform their assigned responsibilities more efficiently. The following key areas for capacity building are identified in this regard:
a. Research and report writing b. Use of information technology (IT) for data compilation and analysis c. School monitoring and classroom observations d. Communication and coordination e. Planning and monitoring textbooks distribution f. Financial planning and record management The schools are also in need of more and better trained teachers. The study also points towards the need for training of head-teachers in areas like school monitoring, communication, general administration, reporting, community mobilization and lesson planning.
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KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA
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KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA Education Governance and District Service Delivery Capacities
5.1 Education in KP at a Glance
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province faces challenges of inequitable educational access and quality as around 2.38 million children of 5-16 years of age are out of school in the province.60 As per recent data KP province has 27,524 thousand primary, middle and higher secondary public sector schools with 4.49 million students and 131,610 thousand school teachers.61 The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) at primary level for boys in KP is 58 percent compared with 47 percent for girls. There is a huge decline in NERs at the middle and matric levels in KP as only 21 percent and 10 percent of the age-appropriate population is enrolled at middle and matric levels, respectively.62 The Gender Parity Index (GPI) in enrolment stands at 0.74 in KP, the GPI at primary level is 0.84 while at secondary level it significantly drops to 0.60. The overall literacy rate (10 years and above) of the province is 53 percent in 2015-16, which is below the national average (58 percent). There is a marked difference in male (72 percent) and female (36 percent) literacy rates in the province. 63
5.1.1 An Overview of Education Policy Landscape
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED) has adopted National Education Policy 2009 as the guiding framework for education sector in the province. In order to be compliant with the constitutional obligation under Article 25-A Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Free Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education Act was enacted in 2017. The law provides for free and compulsory education for all children in the province.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Education Sector Plan (ESP) 2015-20 provides comprehensive and all- encompassing policy guidance to deal with the challenges related to access, quality and governance of education. ESP vision and targets indicate that the Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED) is strategically planning and carefully prioritizing actions for sustainable transformation of the sector ultimately leading to provision of quality education to all children in KP. Besides providing policy guidance, ESP also points towards the need to address management, planning and implementation capacity gaps at all governance tiers for successful implementation of the plan and its targets.64 An important feature of ESP in KP is that it aggregates needs identified in all districts at provincial level, besides it also contains costed targets for key institutions and education functions at the provincial level.
5.1.2 Education Management and Service Delivery Structure: Province, Districts and Schools
The education management and service delivery structure in KP consists of provincial, district and school tiers. The key actors in education service delivery and their operational relations at province, district and school levels are explained below:
60 NEMIS (2018). Op. cit. p. 41 61 NEMIS. (2018). Op cit. 62 PSLM, 2016 63 Government of Pakistan. (2018). Op. cit. Chapter 10.. 64 Elementary and Secondary Education Department. 2015. School Sector Plan 2015-2020, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). pg. 18.
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5.1.2.1 Provincial Institutional Setup
E&SED is the key provincial department in KP that is responsible for education policy, planning, service delivery and monitoring. Directorate of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is the key provincial entity that manages the planning, budgeting, human resource management and monitoring functions under the policy guidance of E&SED. DESE directly manages the district education management and it also acts as a bridge between Secretariat of E&SE and district management. The allied institutions of E&SED at provincial level, which can be seen below in Figure 16, include Directorate of Curriculum and Teachers Education (DCTE), Provincial Institute for Teacher Education (PITE), Regional Institutes for Teacher Education (RITEs), Planning Cell, Provincial Education Assessment Centre (PEACE), Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF), Education Sector Reforms Unit (ESRU), Education Management Information System (EMIS) and Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU).
Figure 16: Mapping Education Administration- KP
The following table presents the roles and responsibilities of attached institutions of the E&SED.
Table 6: Matrix on Key Provincial Departments and their Assigned Responsibilities
Provincial Institution Responsibilities and Functions Assigned 1. Directorate of • Financial Management functions including budgets (both Elementary and provincial & district), accounts, internal and external audit of Secondary accounts. Education (DESE)
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• Human resource development functions comprising recruitment (provincial cadre posts), personnel database, posting, transfer, promotion & grant of leave. • In-service training. • Performance evaluation. • Preparation of seniority List (provincial cadre posts) • Preparation of Provincial Development plan (5/10 years). • Consolidation of district development plans. • Preparation of concept paper/feasibility reports for projects. • Preparation, monitoring and coordination of foreign aided projects. • Preparation & processing of PC-1 for approval of DDWP/ ECNEC • Literacy & Non-formal Education. • Physical Education (scouts- Girls guide- Tournaments) • Managing functions at District Education Office level 2. Provincial Institute • Conduct and test innovative Pre-Service & In-Service teacher training of Teachers programs Education (PITE) • Training of Master Trainers. • Monitor and assess teachers training programs. • Design and conduct research in teacher education, evaluation and assessment. • Develop training materials, etc. • Serve as a Provincial Resource Center in education trainings. • Coordinate educational training programs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. • Organize and Conduct educational workshops/seminars as and when required by the Department. • Supervise & facilitate bridging Courses for teachers to equate Diploma in Education/ADE. • Design and maintain Teacher Education Management Information System (TEMIS). 3. Directorate of • Achieving excellence in elementary and secondary teacher education by Curriculum and producing professionally sound and value-oriented teachers for quality Teachers education in the province. Education (DCTE) • Undertake all academic, teacher education, curriculum development and research assignments with the aim to meet the highest national and international standards. 4. Education • Providing information to all users to enable these users to conduct their Management different tasks more efficiently Information • Enabling decision-makers to take better decisions and justifying them, System (EMIS) based on concrete information • Enabling planning and policy development to address objectively identified issues, set quantified targets, and realistically estimate the resources required for implementing plans and policies • Contributing to improving the efficiency of day-to-day operations of the education system by providing relevant and reliable information • Support efficient monitoring of attainment of the stated education goals, by providing complete, reliable and timely data. • Support planning, decision making, supervision and management to: o Facilitate the efficient direction of resources to the needy areas and eliminate/minimize wastage. o Accurate and reliable information o Diagnosis of weaknesses and strengths
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o Identification and Selection of priorities areas o Resource allocation
5. Education Sector • Reforms in Policy Development, Planning Coordination, Monitoring and Reforms Unit Evaluation of various programs under implementation in the Elementary (ESRU) & Secondary Education Department. • Monitor implementation of Education Sector Reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. • Effective monitoring of distribution of free textbooks, the stipend program for girls, teacher’s attendance and reforms under implementation. • Monitoring of Training and re-organization of PTCs. Ensure monitoring of PTCs funds. • To ensure that the development funds placed at the disposal of the PTCs for provision of missing facilities and construction of classroom are being effectively utilized. • Collection and Analysis of Data from Education Management Information System (EMIS) for Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation purpose. • Reforms in Boards. • Reforms in Training Institutions. 6. Independent • Responsible for ensuring that data for all key performance indicators are Monitoring Unit collected regularly on monthly basis and uploaded using Smartphone. (IMU) • Provide Elementary & Secondary Education Department and its development partners with a viable means of ensuring that education sector reforms are efficiently developed and effectively implemented. • Support the establishment of performance monitoring mechanisms. • Increase public awareness of the status of school facilities and infrastructure and the level of education service delivery in the province, district and the school level. • Provide access to information on key indicators to increase social accountability. • Increase social accountability to improve governance, service delivery outcomes, planning and resource allocations to the sector 7. Elementary • To take all such measures as it deems necessary for the promotion, Education improvement and financing of education development of human Foundation resources in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through strengthening of (EEF)65 elementary education in the private sectors in line with the education policy of Government. • To improve literacy, with particular focus on women, through opening of new community and non-formal schools and employment of teachers. • To improve quality of education through effective and systematic teachers training programme. • To promote community participation and ownership of elementary education programmes at the grass root level. • To give loans to an individual or non-governmental organization for establishment of elementary education schools. • To introduce innovative educational programmes relating to literacy and skill-oriented disciplines for the exceptionally disabled, related and disadvantaged children
65 Also called the Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF).
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8. Private Schools • Register and regulate private schools. Regulatory • Supervision of their curricula, scheme of studies and academic schedule. Authority (PSRA) • Formulate policy, guiding principles and criteria for the establishment and registration of private schools in the province. • Categorization of schools based on criteria to maintain minimum standards of education.
5.1.2.2 District and Sub-district Administrative Arrangements
The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has devolved the subject of education to the district governments66. The KP Local Government Act, 2013, authorizes the District Government for operation, management and control of devolved offices67, education being one of them. District governments are responsible for the provision of education services but the linkages between elected local governments and district education management are not effective. The KP Local Government Act, 2013, requires allocation of development grant for local governments by the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) which is to be not less than thirty percent (30%) of the total development budget of the province. The grant shall be in addition to the establishment charges budgeted for the devolved functions and transfers in Lieu of Octroi and Zilla taxes68. District education management in KP owing to its weak linkages and administrative relations with local governments is not effectively benefitting from the finances available with devolved elected government. These additional development financing can help improve education service delivery in each district.
The district education management works under the administrative control of DESE and it comprises District Education Officer (DEO) male, DEO female, Deputy DEOs, Sub DEOs and Assistant SDEOs.
Besides provincial ESP, KP has also developed district education plans (DEP) for each district in the province. KP DEPs have been developed using district specific data and are responsive to unique needs of each district. Unlike Balochistan, KP employed bottom-up planning approach to make sure that each DEP responds to the needs of entire school age population in that district. The unique features of KP DEPs are that they are not only costed but also aligned to the policy priorities and goals set in provincial ESP. Implementation of DEPs and delivery of key education services require that district education management establishes effective operational relations with the province, local governments and schools. At school level the district education management is assisted by the school leadership and Parent Teacher Councils (PTCs) for effective education service delivery.
5.1.3 Management Processes on Core Education Functions: Horizontal and Vertical Linkages
Following process flow on core education functions elaborates the horizontal and vertical linkages required for efficient education service delivery in KP.
5.1.3.1. Teacher Recruitment
66 First Schedule, Part A, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013 67 Section 13, KP Local Government Act 2013 68 Section 53-1(a) & 4, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013
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The process for recruitment of teaching staff in schools is elaborated in the Teachers’ Induction Policy, 2017. The policy presented a merit-based system for the recruitment of teachers. The flow chart in Figure 17 presents that process flow for recruitment of teachers in KP as per the Teachers’ Induction Policy, 2017:
Figure 77: Teacher Recruitment Process Flow
The above process indicates that the system of merit-based recruitment of teachers in KP requires effective coordination and communication both at provincial and district levels.
5.1.3.2. Curriculum Development
Under the chairmanship of Secretary, the E&SED with the assistance of a Steering Committee comprising heads of all provincial education institutions is responsible for making decisions regarding development and revision of curriculum, its approval, monitoring and implementation. Directorate of Curriculum and Teachers Education (DCTE) is the key provincial entity responsible for development or revision of curriculum. DCTE is also mandated for the final review and approval of textbooks. It is headed by the Director and supported by Deputy and Assistant Directors. Figure 18 presents the process flow of curriculum development:
Figure 18: Curriculum Development Process Flow
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DCTE takes lead in the curriculum development and during this process requires strong coordination of DCTE with E&SED, BISE & PITE at provincial level. Whereas, curriculum implementation requires coordination, communication and capacities both at provincial and district levels.
5.2 Horizontal Operational Constraints and Capacity Challenges: The Provincial Tier
The following sub-sections present the opportunities and challenges identified after review of administrative structures, management practices, operational linkages and core capacities at the provincial level in KP. It also points out specific areas for improvement in education planning, management and service delivery capacities.
5.2.1. Overlapping Mandates and Institutional Gaps
The assessment identifies a number of challenges in terms of mandated roles of various institutions working under E&SED. These challenges include mandate overlaps, blurred lines of responsibilities and implementation of limited mandates. Following are some of the key challenges in in relation to mandated roles of key provincial institutions:
a. In KP, most significant overlap in the mandates is between the EMIS and IMU. Both the institutions are performing similar functions with minor variation. Both the entities are collecting data on education indicators, but their data are not aligned or integrated. Currently the two systems are functioning independently and do not share information with each other. Data and information collected by both the entities can be integrated to provide more robust data for education planning, management and monitoring in the province. In this regard, the mandated functions and scope of both provincial entities should be redefined and made more dynamic to ensure that education managers and planners receive most recent and comprehensive data.
b. EMIS is performing its mandated roles but to a very limited extent. This is because of the capacity issues at hand, and involvement of their staff in other non-EMIS related tasks, for example, as focal person for IT projects.
5.2.2. High Turn-over of Senior Officials
The study results indicate that frequent transfers is a major challenge for the senior most positions of the E&SED. Most recently, there have been frequent transfers at the post of secretary of the department and there were instances when the secretary was transferred after duration of a few months. It is important to note that only in the course of one year, the education department in KP has had its 6th administrative secretary. Excessive transfers of senior management of E&SED is a serious issue that adversely affects quality of education service delivery at all tiers.
5.2.3. Communication and Coordination Challenges
For the purpose of regular coordination and communication, the E&SED convenes frequent meetings to discuss departmental plans and progress on various targets. Moreover, the department also conducts quarterly progress review meetings; budget utilization meetings and
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stocktakes meeting to ensure the progress against different initiatives. However, institutions like ESEF and PITE face certain coordination challenges. For example, ESEF faces coordination and communication challenges as it is required to communicate only through E&SED. Hence, the long communication route consumes a lot of time and at times results in delays when ESEF desires to get input from the allied provincial departments. Similar challenge also exists in the case of PITE.
5.2.4. Low Share of School Education in Budget Allocations
During 2014-15 to 2016-17 the share of primary and secondary education in the education budget of KP has decreased compared to higher education budget. The share of higher education budget has increased from 12 percent of the total provincial education budget in 2014-15 to 19 percent of the budget in 2016-17.69 This increase in higher education budget does not accompany a significant increase in the number of higher education students in the province during these years. Not undermining the importance of higher education, it is important that school education receives sufficient budget to improve education services and to address the challenges of out of school children, student drop-out, low transition from primary to secondary education and educational quality issues.
5.2.5. Political Economy of Education: Disparities in District Wise Public Spending
An overarching challenge in context of improving district level education service delivery is that public spending decisions are not always based on need. The allocations are driven by political expediencies, thus giving rise to disparity in number of schools, facilities in public schools, and supply of teachers. This is evident from inter-district disparity in case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
For instance, in KP for the fiscal year 2015-16, out of the total provincial budget of Rs. 488 billion, Rs. 120 billion were earmarked for education. Despite the fact that this is a huge budget, the money reaching the districts presents vast inequalities. An analysis of the recurrent education budget data indicates that number of districts like Peshawar, Mardan, Mansehra, Swat, Abbottabad, Lower Dir and Dera Ismail Khan expensed more than Rs. 4 billion in 2014- 15. These seven districts combined absorbed more than 32 percent of the provincial budget of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On the other hand, districts like Hangu and Tor Ghar had education expenditure below Rs. 1 billion. These disparities exist not only in terms of absolute district- wise expenditure on education, but also at the level of per child education expenditure across districts. For instance, districts including Tor Ghar and Hangu spent much less than the provincial average for per child expenditure on the education
5.3. District and Sub-District Service Delivery Challenges
This study highlights following challenges and constraints at the district and sub-district levels:
5.3.1. Frequent Transfers in District Management
This study identifies frequent transfers of district officials in KP. The district officials at senior administrative positions have been serving anywhere from 3 months to a little over two years.
69 I-SAPS. 2017. Allocate it Right: Decreasing Equity Challenges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Islamabad. pp. 6.
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In few cases, the posts remained even vacant for a few years. Frequent transfers and delay in appointments at senior management positions act as a hurdle in the way of effective delivery and obstruct continuity, ownership and accountability on the government side. Implementing agencies, national or international, face challenges due to frequent transfer of officials as they have to re-build relationships with district management, and in many cases the programmes go a few steps back with each new official who needs time to get up to speed.
5.3.2. Management Capacity and Skills Gap
The education managers started their careers as school teachers and were later promoted to become education managers. These officials had not received any specific trainings on education management or leadership. For effective delivery of services and efficient functioning, it is important to build capacity of officials in skills that are relevant to their positions and important for ensuring improved service delivery in education in the district. For instance, courses in areas like data analysis and statistics, inspection and evaluation, HR management etc. can be very useful.
5.3.3. Coordinating District Education Management with Local Government System
In KP, education is one of the mandates of elected local governments, but this study identifies that linkages between education management and elected local governments are weak. Local government with their financial envelop and mandate of accountability offer a good opportunity to support improved education service delivery. According to KP Local Government Act, 2013, the district governments receive 30 percent of the development budget under the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) award and as per the Section 6.5.1 of the Planning and Development (P&D) guidelines 2015, local governments have to spend 20 percent of this budget on school education. At the districts level, alignment and coordination between working of education management structures and elected local government is fragmented and all the efforts and available finances are not used efficiently.
5.3.4. District Management’s Average Time Spent on Different Tasks
Similar to other provinces, administrative matters take up most of the time of district education managers’ workday. Around 2.4 On average, 15% of the time of hours (30%) of district managers are spent on district managers in consumed issues related to staff service related matters, in matters not directly related to attending to court cases, conflict management improving service delivery at among staff, transfer and posting of education the school level. officials/teachers etc. After administrative matters, school visits also take up much of the officials’ time (22.5%) due to the distance between schools and district education offices. The study’s data also indicates that considerable portion of education managers’ time, 15% goes to matters that are not directly related to improving service delivery at the school level. The officials nevertheless feel compelled to attend to the calls and visits by various public representatives and political influential people for fear of repercussions. Officials also spend on average around 10% of their time on meeting with officials at district and sub-district tier to discuss and resolve various challenges such as enrolment, students’ achievement, missing facilities and etc.
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5.3.5. Initiatives to Improve School Participation and Quality
The study finds aggressive engagement by the officials and school staff with the community during the enrollment campaigns including door-to-door visits, organizing walks at busy places within their communities, and involving the religious leaders to encourage people to have their children enrolled in schools. As compared to other provinces, the use of community walks and involvement of religious institutions like mosques as a strategy to increase enrollment is significantly higher in KP than in other provinces. Once the children are enrolled in schools, many schools also rewards students to encourage regular attendance. The officials in KPK, similar to those in Punjab, use surprise visits as a strategy to ensure teachers presence in schools. In addition to the surprise visits of the education official, IMU staff also visits and reports teacher attendance across all districts. Many officials also assess students on random basis during their visits to assess students’ learning, however this practice is not common among all officials.
5.3.6. Disconnect between Planning and Budgeting, and Local Level Challenges
KP has developed district education plans but mainly using the aggregate district level data available with the province. The aggregate data is not sufficient to identify the intra-district inequities and disparities that need to be addressed through targeted planning and service provision. There is need to improve localized targeted planning by collecting and utilizing local (union council and village level) data that depicts local level challenges, especially highlighting inequities and vulnerabilities. The sub-district targeted operational plans can then be aggregated at district level and like the most recent practice district plans could be aggregated to add to provincial ESP. This way educational inequities can be identified, and targeted remedial actions can be taken utilizing all available resources.
5.3.7. Time Spent on Different Tasks during School Visits
During an observation visit, a district official spends around 3½ hours (198 minutes) in one school on average. During the visit, two major tasks performed by the officials including student achievement assessment (23 percent of total time spent) and mentoring support (17 percent of total time spent).
AverageTime Spent on Tasks in School Visit (in Minutes)
Administration and Funds Utilization 28 Reporting and Data Collection 25 Monitoring of Learning Environment 23 Mentoring and Support 33
Students' Achievement and Assessment 45 Teachers and Students Attendance 25 Others 19
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
5.3.8. Coordination and Communication between Province, District and Sub-District Tiers
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The role of the province is crucial in ensuring effective service delivery at the district level, whether it relates to timely releases of budget, supply of textbooks on time, planning teacher training for the teachers or other activities, and for all these activities close coordination with the districts is crucial. On province-district coordination, delays have been observed in textbook delivery at times, and sometimes the provincial authorities do not respond in a timely manner to district queries or needs. At the district level, monthly review meetings are conducted on regular basis. These meetings focus upon issues and challenges and review progress against various key education indicators. This study identifies that there is poor coordination between district officials and schools; with officials hardly visiting the schools and the meetings are sporadic and much fewer in frequency.
5.3.9. District and School Capacity Needs
This study finds the need of building the capacity of district officials in order to enable them to perform their assigned responsibilities more efficiently. Around 83 percent of the district officials agreed that they need training to equip them better for their responsibilities. The areas identified in this regard are:
a. School monitoring b. Budget preparation and financial management c. Data collection, analysis and report writing d. Record keeping e. IT training f. Community mobilization g. PC-1 preparation
Regarding the school principals, the following training needs have been identified through this study:
a. School and staff management b. School budgeting and financial management c. Communications and use of IT d. Reporting e. Community mobilization f. Student assessments
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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Conclusion and Recommendations
The report concludes that effective education service delivery is compromised due to serious overlapping, unclear, and at times missing official mandates; operational challenges; administrative loopholes; and capacity deficits at the provincial and district education departments. It is also exacerbated due to poor horizontal (within province and within districts) and vertical coordination across the education tiers (province to district to schools). The study highlights significant gaps, and in a number of cases overlaps, between practices and mandated roles of the wings and attached institutions of education departments.
Existing job descriptions and rules of business and regulatory frameworks are not sufficiently clear or detailed when it comes to coordination across entities and hierarchies, whether horizontal or vertical. It is evident that bureaucratic and administrative routines and clear protocols are not in place. Various offices of the education departments, particularly at the district tier, respond to education challenges in an ad hoc manner instead of offering systematic and sustainable solutions to the challenges of education service delivery. Best practices are not systematically identified and then embedded in the system when it comes to routine operations. Districts also do not play an active role in strategic planning despite the fact that they are best placed to identify issues, set priorities and design localized, targeted responses.
In terms of mandates and policies, there are certain areas that need to be strengthened. In order to ensure the necessary routines and create a culture that ensures effective service delivery, there is a need to create SOPs, make sure they are well understood, and then hold officials accountable for them. Furthermore, the study highlights skill deficits among officials at various levels of district education administration for effective education service delivery which need to be addressed to improve the chances for more effective inter-level education management in support of school-level service delivery.
In view of the above discussion, following are some recommendations to improve education service delivery:
1. Devise a Consolidated Framework Clearly Delineating Roles, Responsibilities and Linkages of each Entity at Provincial and District Level Over the years the role and mandates of key provincial institutions have been redefined and at times expanded through various notifications. This results in overlaps in mandates. There is need to bring all provincial entities together to deliberate upon their mandated roles and responsibilities. Any overlaps, duplications and blurred lines of responsibility should be eliminated with mutual consultation of all stakeholders under the guidance of education department and political leadership. Each province should develop a consolidated framework or rules that should clearly define and elaborate the mandate and responsibilities of each provincial education entity as well as district and sub-district management. While finalizing mandates and responsibilities of departments their operational linkages and coordination linkages (both vertical and horizontal) should also be discussed, finalized and documented.
2. Political Will and Support to Address Political Economy Challenges
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The culture of assigning overlapping mandates to existing departments or establishing parallel structures to perform overlapping functions is not just a technical and administrative issues, it is also a political challenge. Political decisions influence every aspect of education management and service delivery ranging from legislation to budgetary allocations to provision of required administrative and teaching staff in the department and schools. Considering this, there is need to create and influence political will in every province in favour of clearly defined mandates, improved management practices for targeted planning, needs responsive budgeting and sustaining education reforms that demonstrate significant results. To manage strong political interests and promote evidence- based decision making there is need to a) generate evidence on the political economy that causes the emergence of parallel structures and/or assigning of overlapping mandates to existing attached institutions, and b) garner strong political will to discourage and even reverse the practices of establishing parallel structures and assigning overlapping mandates to provincial institutions.
3. Minimize or Avoid Frequent Transfers of Senior Officials and Education Managers Appointment of senior education management officials for a considerable time period is a pre-requisite for effective education service delivery. In this regard, the education departments must ensure that senior provincial and district staff complete their mandated tenure of 3 years before their transfer/posting in line with the service rules. Moreover, transfer/postings should be based upon well-defined and merit-based criteria, which would accord due weightage to seniority, staff performance, duration at existing post, etc. This merit-based and criterion-driven approach to transfers and postings will help ensure effective education planning, service delivery and accountability at provincial and district levels
4. Improve Accuracy, Depth and Integration of Data Systems The education department in each province should integrate all available data-sets and information sources (e.g. EMIS, monitoring unit data, assessment data and teacher’s information system) on one accessible portal. Besides integration at one platform, the depth and diversity of data should also be improved especially by regularly collecting data on quality indicators, social and economic inequities, disability profiles, etc.
5. Capacitate and Create Specialized Pool of Education Managers Provincial governments should design programmes and career pathways for capacitating not only existing managers that have teaching background but also for aspiring school leaders and teachers. Through well-designed career pathways and professional development courses, specialized pool of education managers should be developed that is capable of managing effective education service delivery.
6. Improve Vertical and Horizontal Communication and Operational Linkages of District Education Management District education management is not adequately represented at the policy-making, planning and budgeting processes both at provincial and district levels. There is need to improve role of districts in provision of missing facilities, designing CPD programs for teachers, allocation of non-salary and development budgets and designing direct interventions to improve learning outcomes in the schools. Engagement of district
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management with provincial entities in policy-setting, planning and financing on key education functions will help to improve ownership, understanding and management of province-led initiatives at the district level. Within the district there is need to improve coordination, communication and operational linkages of district education management with the elected local governments, district administration and stakeholder forums like DEGs in Balochistan. Improved vertical and horizontal coordination of district education management will create the momentum for swift and successful implementation of plans and strategies to improve quality and outreach of education services.
7. Enhance Institutional Capacities for Equity-responsive Targeted Planning and Budgeting at District Level Enhanced capacities at the institutional and individual levels are required to make the education policy, planning and budgeting processes more responsive to equity challenges and local needs of each district. Each province should develop comprehensive capacity development programmes to enhance knowledge and skills of education managers at provincial and district levels towards making pro-equity and gender responsive plans and budgets. The capacity development efforts should also sensitize the education managers about the approaches and planning techniques to reduce or manage political influences in favour of needs-based planning and equity responsive budgeting.
8. Devolve Functions related to Administrative and Financial Matters to the District Level Provincial Governments must devolve some administrative functions and financial matters to the district level. Based on the principal of subsidiarity, functions such as recruitment of staff on contract basis, building of additional classrooms, purchase of furniture and other equipment, teachers transfer and posting etc. must be devolved to the appropriate level of district education administration for effective service delivery.
9. Developing Operational SOPs There is need to identify, embed and institutionalize, and share best practices for effective service delivery. In order to embed and institutionalize the best practices for effective service delivery, there is a need to develop operational SOPs dealing with planning, coordination and monitoring at provincial and district levels. The best practices need to be identified systematically and should then disseminated widely to ensure effective adaption and scale-up.
10. Improve Coordination and Linkages between Student Assessments, Teacher Training and Textbooks Development The study highlights that student assessments and examinations should be on the centre- stage for teachers training and textbooks/materials development. The findings of assessments and examinations must drive teachers training programs, teachers training modules and the development of textbooks and learning materials to ensure alignment between core education functions. This will help to improve design and delivery of quality education services.
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