UNDP/PAK/77/038 - Strengthening Educational Institutions jn Sind Province

UNDP/PAK/78/008 - Strer^thetiing Selected Educational Institutions in the Punjab

Assignment Report

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY : NOT FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION

PAKISTAN

Educational Administration and Management

by

John I. Nwankwo

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (Unesco)

Paris, 1983

Serial No. FMR/ED/0PS/83/215(UNDP)

UNDP/PAK/77/038 UNDP/PAK/78/008 Assignment Report FMR/ÉD/OPS/83/215(UNDP)

Paris, 31March 1983

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Paragraphs

I. INTRODUCTION ( 1 - 2 )

II. PUNJAB MISSION (PAK/78/008) ( 3 - 1 9 )

Terms of Reference 3 Activities 4 - 5 Findings and Conclusions - Summary 6 - 8 Administrative Staff Qualifications 9 Civil Service Rules and Regulations 10 - 15 Nationalized and "Ghost" Schools 16 - 18 Means to Improvement 19

III. SIND MISSION (PAK/77/038) (20 - 23)

Terms of Reference 20 Consultant's Activities 21 Findings and Conclusions 22 Suggestions for Improvement 23

IV. PUNJAB AND SIND MISSIONS - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (24 - 30)

Administrative Structures and Procedures 24 Staff Development and Training 25-27 Fellowships and Training Abroad 28 National Counterparts 29 Project Coordination 30 - 31

APPENDIX - Reports by Adviser

I. INTRODUCTION

1. This report covers two missions to Pakistan carried out by the consultant. The first, under project PAK/78/008 - Strengthening Selected Educational Institutions in the Punjab - lasted from 29 July to 29 November 1981 and dealt with educational administration and management in the province.

2. The second mission took place during the period 30 November 1981 to 27 March 1982 and 11 August to 7 October 1982 under project PAK/77/038 -Strengthening Selected Educational Institutions in Sind Province. This mission dealt with educational planning and management in Sind.

II. PUNJAB MISSION (PAK/77/008)

Terms of Reference

3. The consultant's terms of reference for the Punjab mission, agreed by the National Project Director, were to assist the Province's Department of Education in its administration and management, and in particular to :

(a) Study and analyse its existing structures and procedures;

(b) organize workshops in educational administration and management for selected officers of the Education Department;

(c) Develop a comprehensive programme for long-term in-service training of educational administrators and managers;

(d) Prepare a manual of job descriptions;

(e) Prepare reports on administration and management.

Activities

4. The consultant studied the available documents on educational administration and management in the Punjab Education Department and discussed them with many of the Department's staff members. He interviewed most of the principal officers, administered questionnaires, visited District Education Offices and selected educational institutions (including primary, middle and high schools) in the urban and rural areas, and observed the work of many administrators, including Deputy Secretaries, Section Officers, District and Assistant Education Officers, and Headmasters.

5. Main areas on which the consultant concentrated were:

(a) Detailed study of the structures and procedures for educational administration and management, identification

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of major problems and suggestions for improvement. A report was prepared and, after circulation to all officers concerned and to Unesco Headquarters, was put into final form and printed (Appendix, document 1);

(b) A two-week workshop on educational structures for administration for 42 administrators and managers drawn from selected institutions and districts and from the Department. A detailed report on this workshop was compiled (Appendix, document 3);

(c) Compiling a manual of job descriptions, including suggestions for the delegation of administrative and financial powers (Appendix, document 2);

(d) Developing a long-term programme for in-service training in educational administration and management.

Findings and Conclusions - Summary

6. The consultant's findings and conclusions on educational administration and management in the Punjab, in summary, indicate that these are in several ways seriously deficient owing partly to lack of qualified administrative staff but mainly to outdated, inadequate or irrelevant Civil Service rules and regulations. These obstruct ready and appropriate administrative and management changes and the creation of structures and procedures to meet educational needs. Areas particularly affected are those concerning the creation of new units or posts, decision-making, communication, "ghost" schools and staff qualifications.

7." Consequently, the Punjab Education Department has made few changes in its administrative structure and procedures during the last twenty years. Attempts made during the past year to introduce changes, such as creating separate Directorates for schools and colleges, and appointing more women to posts related to women's education have encountered serious obstacles under existing rules, and regulations.

8. The result is that the Department's administrative system and physical facilities are unable to cope with the large and complex problems it faces. This is a serious situation for Pakistan's largest province, comprising a population of over 45 million inhabitants.

Administrative Staff Qualifications

9. Over 80% of the Education Department's officers and administrative staff have no formal training in educational administration or in education. Most officers carried out their studies in disciplines other than education. Most top administrators have long experience but in other public sectors such as the Public Works Department, Communications, Public Health, Agriculture,

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etc. This limits their understanding of educational problems and often leads to unrealistic solutions being found. Crucial areas, such as supervision of instruction, programme development and teachers' welfare,often receive only the partial or superficial attention of the top administrators. This situation seriously limits the provision of effective education.

Civil Service Rules and Regulations

10. All appointments and promotions of educational personnel must comply with Civil Service rules. These are often inappropriate for the Education Department, the purposes and problems of which differ from those of other Departments. Main areas in which application of the rules causes difficulties and delays are structuring, staffing, financing, communication and decision-making.

11. Structuring: A new directorate, section or post,can be created in Education only if a corresponding one is created also in Agriculture, Health, Finance, etc.

12. Staffing: Civil Service rules require staff to be classified according to "cadre" system, by which educational staff are assigned to a cadre school, college, establishment, nationalized or other. This system tends to divide staff into different classes and membership of a cadre often becomes more important than appointment to a particular post. The result is lack of incentive to be loyal and slow commitment to the institution on the part of officials assigned to it.

13. Financing: All financial matters must be handled centrally by the Finance Department. This causes considerable delays in getting funds released, even for minor expenditures. Accounting and auditing procedures are very time-consuming. Some education projects have been delayed so long that they were no longer needed by the time implementation began.

14. Communications : All communications must follow the uniform line of command specified for all departments, such as the Post Office or Health Service.This slows vp the solution of even the simplest problem - e.g., a teacher's application for leave - and leads to a great congestion of paper at all levels.

15. Decision-making: The line of command is rigid. Each officer is expected to take orders only from his immediate superior and may take no decisions, no matter how minor, without the latter's approval. The result is that senior officers are heavily overloaded with deciding routine matters which could easily be settled at lower levels. Decision-making is over-centralized to the extent that all decisions on such matters as staffing,

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development schemes and promotions are made by the Education Secretary and the Provincial Minister.

Nationalized and "Ghost" Schools

16. The foregoing functional deficiencies have resulted in considerable operational lacunae, among which nationalized and "ghost" schools are notable. When the Government nationalized all private schools in 1972, many of them continued in buildings rented from the private school proprietors. „ Frequently, the buildings are poorly maintained and the owners often try to expel the schools so that they can let the premises at higher rents. Hundreds of legal disputes are going on between landlords and the Department of Education, adding to the school administrators' workload.

17. "Ghost" schools is the term applied to the hundreds of schools in the Punjab which exist only on paper. These are usually national primary or middle schools of 150 pupils or less, which often have no pupils, no staff, and sometimes no building or proper address. The main ways in which such a situation occurs are :

(a) A school may be approved without financial provision or without staff. Therefore it theoretically exists in a given community as far as the Department is concerned, but does not exist in reality.

(b) Â teacher (or teachers) may be transferred from a school without being replaced. The pupils disperse but, on paper, the school continues to exist. In some cases a transferred teacher continues to draw his salary and allowances from the original school, although that no longer functions.

(c) Â school may be authorized, and staff assigned, but the community fails to provide the land or building for the new school. The staff may then actually draw salaries for working in a school which does not exist.

18. It may be noted that school supervision in the rural areas is very weak, some schools being almost never visited by an inspector. Therefore, the prolonged or permanent absence of a teacher could be undetected for years. In urban areas, many schools are housed in rented buildings and occasionally a school will be moved to a new location without proper notification, leaving behind an unused school building.

Means to Improvement

19. In view of the findings above, the following changes in structures and procedures for educational administration and planning should be considered :

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a) Modification of the Civil Service Rules and Regulations to accord with the unique problems faced by educational administrators. Certain rules and changes are particularly needed in staffing (appointment, transfer, promotion, etc.), academic programmes, supervision, delegation of authority, student welfare and financial controls.

b) Decision-making should be decentralized to help administrators, supervisors and teachers to deal with routine educational problems at the local level. Decision-making should not be confined to the Provincial Secretariat but should be authorized at the divisional district, sub-district and even local ("Tehsel") levels. Separate Directorates of Public Instruction should be established for schools (primary and middle), for colleges for women's education and for technical and teacher education. Each Directorate should be given powers for development and management under the overall control of the Education Secretary. More decentralization of decision-making would assure closer, more effective supervision, more accountability and broader participation in decision-making.

c) The system of communication between schools and administrative offices (provincial, divisional and district) should be improved by monthly reports from the heads of institutions (e.g., headmasters), by providing more supervisors (e.g., Assistant Education Officers), particularly in the rural areas, and by providing more transportation for district officers, especially women officers.

d) To eliminate "ghost schools", greater incentives, such as housing, transport and hardship allowances, should be provided for teachers and supervisors in the rural areas, and appoint­ments and transfers should be more systematically recorded and supervised. The whole system of personnel management, especially transfers, should be critically reviewed to eliminate abuses and make the school service more professional.

e) The problem of nationalized schools should be faced by the Provincial Government. Objective criteria for the rental of school buildings should be established, including the amount of rent, the duration of the lease, the minimum standards of maintenance, etc. In other cases, permanent school buildings should be purchased or constructed. It is evident that considerable expenditure is needed to settle this problem and to end the legal problems at present burdening the Department.

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f) The Province should embark on an intensive staff development programme in the form of short in-service courses for educational administrators, managers and supervisors. (It would be desirable for one or more of the universities to provide for the training of future educational administrators.)

g) Â management information system, badly needed by the Education Department, should be devised and established. Data on all schools, teachers and facilities should be collected and computerized and programmes should be designed to agglomerate and recall specific information needed by administrators.

III. SIND MISSION (PAK/77/038)

Terms of Reference

20. The National Director modified the original terms of reference with a view to ensuring technical assistance on the priority needs of the Sind Department of Education. The consultant was expected to:

(a) analyse the existing structures and procedures used in the planning and management of education in the Province, including the structure and procedures of the Department's Planning and Management Cell^;

(b) study and revise the job descriptions of all administrative posts in the Department and recommend the creation of new posts;

(c) assist in training the staff of the Planning and Management Cell in procedures and methods of planning and management, and of project formulation, implementation and evaluation;

(d) assist in training officers of two Provincial Divisions in educational planning and management;

(e) study and analyse the need for a computerized management information system;

(f) assist with the identification, preparation and revision of new and on-going development projects, including foreign-aided

The Planning and Management Cell had just been established as the nerve centre of Educational Planning and Management in the Education Department. It was argued that strengthening the structure and functions of the Cell would be of long-term benefit to the Department.

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schemes and fellowships;

(g) prepare analytical reports on educational planning and management in Sind Province.

Consultant's Activities

The consultant's activities comprised:

a) Making a study of the Province's educational administration structures and procedures. A draft report was circulated to all concerned for comments and suggestions and a final version was prepared (Appendix, document 4);

b) Compiling and analysing descriptions of all posts in the Department, on the basis of interviews, questionnaires and observation. A Job Description Manual was prepared covering all professional posts in the Provincial Education Secretariat and in all the Directorates and Districts (Appendix, documents 7, 8 and 9);

c) Organizing weekly three-hour training sessions for the staff of the Planning and Management Cell. The training sessions aimed at upgrading the planning and management skills of all the Investigators, Superintendents, Assistant Directors and Deputy Directors of the Cell. Most officers, even those who were least prepared for this type of work, learned, to apply their new skills to their daily activities in the Cell;

d) Assisting with two training workshops, one for the Hyderabad region and the other for the Sukkur region. Seventy-eight Administrators, School Headmasters, District Education Officers and Deputy Directors participated in the workshops;

e) Making a study of the need for a Management Information Service The data and information needed for educational planning and management were identified, and an analaytical report was prepared and circulated for comments and suggestions. A final version was completed and printed (Appendix, document 5);

f) Assisting the staff of the Planning and Management Cell and the responsible Section Officers in the Department with the identification of new development schemes, preparation of project documents and revision of on-going schemes.

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Findings and Conclusions

22. The Sind Education Department has achieved more decentralization of decision-making and has developed more innovative procedures in administ­ering education than some other provinces. The main problems which remain are:

(a) Sind Province has created a number of administrative or specialized bodies, apart from the Department of Education, with responsibility for various aspects of the education system. Examples are the Directorates of Schools, the Directorate of Colleges, the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education, the Board of Technical Education, and the Bureau of Curriculum and Extension. However, the work of these bodies seems uncoordinated. Their functions tend to overlap, leading to duplication of effort and a possible waste of resources.

(b) The quality of educational planning is low because most of the personnel assigned have no training in planning and because the Department, including the Planning and Management Cell, lacks the necessary facilities. Educational planning in the Department is therefore reduced to reproducing or extending previous projections which, in turn, were not based on reliable facts and figures. Most development schemes and projects are turned down because they are based on inadequate information and do not reflect good planning practice.

(c) Several primary and middle schools in the rural areas are without teachers, or buildings. Some have not been visited by supervisors or inspectors for four years or more.

(d) The quality of supervision and inspection is extremely low, Sind having an average of one supervisor for 60 or 100 schools. Most supervisors do not know what to do or look for during an inspection. The District Education Officers and the Sub-Divisional Education Officers, who are expected to visit each school at least once a year, rarely visit more than six schools per year because they are so involved in routine and administ­rative duties.

(e) All categories of staff in the Department, particularly teachers in the rural areas, lack motivation. Teachers' salaries and allowances are very low compared with those of other wage earners, and they receive little or no professional supervision and guidance. Most teachers hope to leave teaching for other work because there are no prospects for

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professional growth (in the form of in-service training) and no prospects of promotion. Therefore, the quality of teaching is extremely low and the level of student achievement is considered to be falling f while the literacy rate is declining rather than rising.

(f) There are no reliable data on education in the province. The statistics on education, provided by the Statistics Wing of the Planning and Development Department, are unreliable and out-of-date. In many cases, different editions of the same statistics offer conflicting information. Existing arrangements for collection of data from schools are ineffective. Heads of institutions are not interested in the collection of data on their own schools. Many District Education Officers are not sure of the numbers of pupils enrolled, the numbers of schools, or even the numbers of teachers in their districts. This makes rational planning and resource allocation impossible.

(g) There is a serious shortage of trained manpower for educational planning and management. There are, moreover, no plans for filling this gap. Even the few officers in the Department who receive training in administration and management abroad (under foreign-aid schemes) are not always assigned to relevant posts on their return. Few of those returning from fellowships are assigned to posts in which their training is needed. Thus, efforts at developing personnel for the Education Department over the years have often been wasted.

Suggestions for Improvement

23. On the basis of the foregoing findings and conclusions the consultant made a number of suggestions for improving educational planning and management in Sind Province. These are embodied in documents 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the Appendix.

IV. PUNJAB AND SIND MISSIONS - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Administrative Structures and Procedures

24, The Education Departments in Punjab and Sind Provinces have been encouraged to delegate responsibilities for educational administration to the local levels. The current practice whereby decisions on minor issues, such as teachers' leave, student discipline, and choice of stationery for office use, are made at the provincial level interferes with effective

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administration. The routine problems of schools and colleges could be handled at the local level. Decentralization can take place only if the departments are permitted to depart from certain current Civil Service Rules and Regulations. Furthermore, local leaders and communities should be involved in making decisions concerning the schools in their communities, such as decisions on the maintenance of school buildings, security, the acquisition of land for new buildings and student welfare and discipline.

Staff Development and Training

25. The serious shortage of trained staff in educational administration cannot be over-emphasized. There is urgent need for the provinces to embark on the systematic training of administrators and planners. Unlike other developing countries, such as India, Nigeria and Thailand, there are no centres for training administrators and planners in either short-term or long-term courses.

26. The existing practice of organizing one-week or two-week workshops cannot meet the needs of the Education Departments. Most of these short-term workshops have shown no visible results because:

(a) There are usually no follow-up programmes to ensure that participants use the skills acquired in workshops;

(b) Many workshop participants are poorly selected. Participants should be convinced that the workshop is relevant to their work, and will assist them to do this more effectively. If they are not motivated, they should not take part;

(c) Some participants are transferred to other posts after training, so that this is wasted.

27. The greatest need at the moment is to design systematic programmes for training administrators and planners, since the educational system cannot develop on sound lines without properly trained personnel. Arrangements might be made with a University, an academy or a staff training school,to provide formal training programmes in educational administration, planning, supervision and management for the staff of the Provincial Departments.

Fellowships and Training Abroad

28. The fellowship components of foreign aid programmes should be strengthened. The national authorities should carefully select candidates for training abroad to ensure that those chosen will obtain the maximum benefit from the training received and will use their newly acquired skills in their work. Â special effort should be made to ensure that trainees are assigned to appropriate posts so that training resources are not wasted.

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National Counterparts

29. Since one of the objectives of external technical assistance to a project is to transfer knowledge, skills and techniques to national staff, appropriate selection, assignment and subsequent employment of national counterpart staff should be ensured.

Project Coordination

30. Pakistan's provinces are receiving technical assistance and external resources to further the development of education. However, some of these inputs have been less effective than they could have been because of poor internal coordination and monitoring. Projects seem to operate in isolation. Specialist personnel, training workshops and even equipment could often be effectively shared. In some cases, equipment is ordered long before the necessary arrangements have been planned for its installation and maintenance. Equipment is often not used because no one has been trained to use it.

31. An effective national body should be established to oversee and ensure the efficient use of external inputs, so as to coordinate, control, and subsequently evaluate, their application. An overall unit should be established to promote sharing of materials and personnel, so that the maximum benefit from external aid can be attained.

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ANNEX I

REPORTS BY John I. NWANKWO

Document No.

1. PAKISTAN - Technical Report EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT IN PUNJAB PAK/78/008 - Institution Building 30 July - 28 October 1981 (LAHORE, 31 October 1981)

2. PAKISTAN - Analytical Report JOB DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB PAK/78/008 - Institution Building: Administration

& Management of Education in the Punjab 1 November - 30 November 1981 (LAHORE, 30 November 1981)

3. PAKISTAN - Project Report WORKSHOP ON EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION & MANAGEMENT 22 October - 5 November 1981 PAK/78/008 - Strengthening Educational Institutions (PUNJAB Education Extension Centre,Wahdat Colony, Lahore, November 1981)

4. PAKISTAN - Technical Report EDUCATION PLANNING & MANAGEMENT IN .SIND: A STUDY OF THE OBJECTIVES, STRUCTURES, PROCEDURES, AND PROBLEMS OF THE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT CELL,WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOLUTIONS AND FOR DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR THE CELL PAK/77/038 - Strengthening Educational Institutions in the Sind. 1 December 1981 - 28 May 1982)

5. PAKISTAN - Analytical Report ESTABLISHMENT OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION IN THE SIND: NEEDS, FEASIBILITY AND OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES PAK/77/038 - Strengthening Educational Institutions in the Sind 1 December 1981 - 31 March 1982) (KARACHI, 28 February 1982)

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PAKISTAN - Project Report WORKSHOP ON EDUCATIONAL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT HYDERABAD: 20 February - 4 March 1982 Organized by: Planning & Management Cell - Education Department Government of Sind (in collaboration with UNDP/Unesco) PAK/77/038 Compiled by John I. NWANKWO (Unesco Consultant) and Abdul Jalil (Deputy Director)

PAKISTAN Government of Sind - Education Department JOB MANUAL FOR PLANNING & MANAGEMENT STAFF Volume I. Provincial Education Secretariat (KARACHI, 28 September 1982)

PAKISTAN Government of Sind - Education Department JOB MANUAL FOR PLANNING & MANAGEMENT STAFF Volume II. Directorate of Education, Sind (KARACHI, 28 March 1982)

PAKISTAN Government of Sind - Education Department JOB MANUAL FOR PLANNING & MANAGEMENT STAFF ' Volume III. Planning & Management Cell (KARACHI, 28 March 1982)