Submitted By:
Mashraky MUSTARY
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Education, Sophia University, Japan
Lecturer, Department of Public Administration, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Bangladesh
Article
Over time there has been the adoption of the new mode of governance. The new way of governing is identified as decentralized school governance. Globally, a number of countries have been found to adopt these new means of governance. It is seen to apply the local governance in order to make the decisions. It also involves the members of the community. It has been seen as the solution to different issues in schools such as the poor performance of the students, the dropouts that have been found common among most schools, and also with the purpose to create democracy in the school body. There is a lot of evidence to show that this mode of governance has been trusted and also applied by a lot of schools in the world. This is through cases that have been reviewed and also the projects that are in relation to the arguments.
Bangladesh has also some use of the system. They can apply the models to ensure that students can complete their studies in the best way. They focus on helping poor students. This is done by identifying the needy and helping them in one way or another. There are free studies, and lunch and also free uniforms. This means that the student will be able to complete the school. In addition, there are also factors used in attaining this such as the school administration and also coming up with the committees that are going to propel the progress of the students and the performance of the workers such as the teachers.
Benefits have been identified according to the decentralized school governance. The needy students are easily identified and covered by the school, therefore, enhancing performance and reducing the rate of dropouts. There is also evidence that through the committees held in schools, the students can be exposed to scholarships and sponsorships that help them in their studies. In addition, the schools can foster the best performance by comparing different schools and hence checking their performance which makes them perform well. There is also the creation of democracy in the governing system. This is realized by ensuring that there is no corruption and bias in the school. The workers are protected, they can report any cases of abuse. There is also fairness in what they are assigned to do. There is a low level of exploitation in such cases. Through this study, a number of factors surrounding the system have been brought out more clearly.
Decentralization in schools simply means transferring the tasks of administration from the Education Ministries to the local governments, the school as well as the community. Decentralized governance in schools involves forming local councils which involve the principal parents, members of the community, student representative as well as teachers. The main aim of the councils is to help in making decisions as well as exercise control by providing checks and balances to the school administration including the principal. This study focused on the effects of the impact of decentralized governance in Bangladesh schools to determine the outcome of its implementation. It aims to determine the relationship between school outcome or achievement and decentralized governance and provide explanations using the available literature. In assessing the outcomes or the impact of decentralized governance, the paper explored the functions of the local councils, the factors that hinder its implementation, and cases when its authority may be quashed. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative research methods. Case studies applied for the qualitative method while quantitative data were validated using the qualitative information obtained. The two were used to complement each other. Interviews were used to gather information. The study combined the cases with interviews for individuals who were involved in the implementation process of decentralized governance, literature review, secondary data as well as observations.
The study has found that there is evidence both at the international level and local level (Bangladesh) that decentralized governance in schools improves the outcome of the school. The empirical study showed that there is a statistical difference between schools that have embraced decentralized governance and those that have not. Some of the benefits that have been identified are such as the students completing school and also reducing the dropouts. The school performance has also been identified to go up. There is also a bit of democracy that is created through the use of this mode of governance. The workers are motivated to perform their duties since they don’t feel abused. There is also accountability and transparency in school matters. The parents know the happenings of the school and every other person also knows. This reduces the chances of corruption or fraud. The participation of all stakeholders has also been seen to give big chances to the schools.
This has also been supported by the results of the study especially responses from the first research question which acted as the main objective of the study. However, there are inconsistent results (Ainley and MacKenzie 2000, p.140) which show some variations and this calls for further research in other countries to determine whether the findings will be consistent with those of this study or not.
Moreover, the study identified four factors that affect the implementation process. Leadership was the most influential according to the results and thus it should be given priority when it comes to implementation. However, Khanal (2016, p. 50) found out that availability of funds (budget) was the most influential in his study and therefore future studies should examine the same and find consistency. Other factors discussed include environment and clear objectives.
Relevant Links: https://digital-archives.sophia.ac.jp/repository/view/repository/20190529108
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