Note No. 01 June 1995 ParticipationintheEducationandTrainingSector Operationsintheeducationsectorcanbegreatlyimprovedbyincreasingtheparticipationofgovernmentofficials, educationprofessionals,localcommunitiesandtheprivatesector.Suchparticipationcanincreasetherelevance andqualityofeducation,improveownershipandbuildconsensus,helptoreachremoteanddisadvantagedgroups, mobilizeadditionalresources,andbuildinstitutionalcapacity.Participatoryoperationsinvolverisksandcosts, however,andcertainpreconditionsarenecessaryforsuccess. PotentialBenefits Box1 StudentandCommunityParticipation Many Bank-assisted and other education inColombia projects have promoted the participation of stakeholders--from government officials and Colombia's Escuela Nueva program was created in the education professionals to community members, mid-1970s to overcome curriculum, training and parents, students and employers--in design and administrative deficiencies in multigrade rural schools. The program incorporates a number of innovative implementation.Suchparticipationcancontribute components, including participation of students in in a variety of ways to meeting the challenges school government, and community participation in facing education systems in developing countries: designing and supporting the school curriculum. to improving quality, promoting equitable In each learning task, self instruction books guide enrollment, and controlling public costs. students to identify examples, cultural elements from their own experience, and local materials to be ImprovingtheRelevanceandQualityof accumulated in the learning centers. Teachers are encouraged to organize meetings with parents and Education discuss the material prepared by the students. Children In a sector where demand is often poorly also participate in health, sanitation and nutrition understood, a fundamental rationale for increased activities. In this way, the school gradually becomes a stakeholder participation is to improve the resource center for teachers, for agencies operating in relevance, effectiveness and sustainability of other sectors and, eventually, for the community itself. projectsbyensuringthatlearningprogramsmatch In addition, Escuela Nueva children are introduced to the needs of the populations they are serving. civic and democratic life through student councils. Students organize into committees to take care of discipline, cleaning, maintenance, sports, school Efforts to make the provision of basic garden, newspaper and library. They also cooperate educationmoreresponsivetocommunityneeds in the instructional process by helping slower students. have included education vouchers for families, This is seen as an essential part of the curriculum as it fund transfers to school boards, and various creates linkages between the school and the community. models of school or community based management. Colombia's Escuela Nueva program Evaluation of the program, which has expanded (Box 1) and the Baluchistan community support rapidly to some 20,000 schools, suggests that educational achievement and civic behavior compare process (Box 2) provide two examples. The favorably with the output of traditional schools, at involvement of parents and other community similar costs per pupil. members in decision making has, in many cases, This note is based on Environment Department Paper No.001, which was written by Nat Colletta and Gillian Perkins as a contribution to the Participation Sourcebook. Copies of the full paper are available from the Social Development Department, Environment and Socially Sustainable development Division, of the World Bank, Washington, D.C. 20433, Fax (202)522-3247. DisseminationNotesrepresenttheviewsoftheirauthorsandarenotofficialpublicationsoftheWorldBank. made the curriculum, teaching materials and for improving technical standards and linking school calendar more appropriate to local training to real employment opportunities. conditions and improved teacher and student attendance rates. The result has been to boost BuildingOwnershipandConsensus morale, reduce drop out and repeater rates, Inasectorassocially,politicallyandculturally improve achievement scores, and expand sensitive as education, stakeholder involvement enrollment demand. in policy dialogue helps to define the values on which policy is based and to develop consensus In nonformal education, there has been a between competing interest groups. It also helps relatively long history of student and community to ensure that proposed changes have the participation. Programs have proved more understanding and support of all the groups on effective in terms of attendance rates, learning whom successful implementation will depend. achievements and behavioral change when learners help identify their needs, design and In some cases where major policy reform has manage learning programs, and participate in been envisaged, Education Commissions have developing learning materials. Not only are such elicited relevant information and views from programs more relevant to the knowledge and many sections of society. Techniques for interestsofthestudents,butalsotheparticipatory facilitating dialogue among stakeholders in policy activities themselves support the learning or project design have included focus groups, process. workshops, conferences and, as in Botswana, innovative use of video technology. The Similarly, the motivation and achievement of Philippines (Box 3) is one of several countries students in vocationalandhighereducation where EDI workshops have been the catalyst for have been enhanced when students and participatory education sector work. community based organizations participate in designing and managing programs to meet their ReachingDisadvantagedGroups needs.Inthesesectors,theparticipationofprivate Participatory methods have often been sector employers has been particularly important successful where formal education systems have Box2 MobilizingCommunitySupporttoPrimarySchoolsinPakistan The community support program in primary education in Baluchistan provides a remarkable example of what can be achieved in adverse conditions through participatory methods. Beginning with a pilot project in 1992, the community support program has already succeeded in establishing 198 new community girls schools in remote rural villages which had no government school and no tradition of parental involvement in schools. Enrollment of girls is 100 percent in many of these villages, with very high attendance rates. To begin the participatory process, community workers went door to door, urging parents to form an association. In each of the villages, education committees have been created, responsible for selecting a site for the school, identifying potential teachers, and monitoring teacher attendance and student enrollment. A local girl, educated at least to eighth grade, has been identified and trained as teacher for each school. After she demonstrates her commitment by teaching for three months on a voluntary basis, mobile teacher training teams are sent to her home village to provide intensive three-month pedagogical training. This home training is needed because of cultural barriers that prevent girls from travelling far. Following the training, the teacher becomes a government employee: government rules, which normally require teachers to have matriculated, have been stretched to accommodate the program. The pilot project resulted from the initiative of a Pakistani consultant. The Bank task manager, with whom she discussed her plans, recognized the potential of this approach and was able to organize USAID funding for the pilot. The consultant subsequently formed a small NGO in order to qualify for funding from other sources, which now include local and international NGOs, USAID, UNICEF and the government of Baluchistan, through a World Bank loan. At the project preparation stage, when the pilot was tried, there was no way of knowing whether the approach would work or not. The success of the pilot led to full acceptance and ownership of the program by the government, and the government itself is now funding the program on a province-wide basis using IDA credit. Because of the experimental nature of the project, World Bank support to the program has only been possible through the new lending approach which supports the entire primary education program rather than selected components. proved least effective--in serving the needs of workshops. Furthermore, project costs may be girls (see Box 2), remote communities and understated when the opportunity cost of marginalized groups. Participatory social voluntary time and effort is very high. These research, as used in the Gambia to investigate the additional costs, however, are generally offset by reasons for low attainment of girls in primary subsequent gains in efficiency. schools (Box 4), can help identify the policy measures needed to counteract the bias against There is some risk that the allocation of costs disadvantaged groups. Expertise in bringing may be inequitable, or place an excessive burden educational opportunities to the poorest on the poor, in participatory projects where communities, and in promoting the education of substantial community contributions are sought. women, is found in NGOs which have experience For example, even the contribution of labor in in working with community based organizations school construction has been found to be beyond and the necessary flexibility to adopt the means of some of the poorest communities. participatory methods. Estimating the ability and willingness of communities or individuals to share in costs MobilizingResources needs to be approached on a case by case basis, The experience of participation through cost in the context of equity objectives. sharing in education has been mixed. Efforts to generate community contributions of cash, Difficulties which have been encountered in materials or labor to school construction, for participatory projects include delays in example, have tended to be most successful in implementation, and dependence on charismatic remote areas where the influence of central project leaders. The risk of abuse by individuals, government bureaucracy is weak. They have local elites or interest groups also has to be borne been least successful when communities have not in mind, as does the potential for misuse of funds. participated in decisions concerning location, design, construction, school management or Commitment to a process of dialogue among education priorities. The support of parents and groups of stakeholders involves its own risks, other community members, through fees or which must all be taken into account: the timing voluntary contributions, is motivated by their and possibility of reaching consensus are having a voice in such decisions and confidence uncertain; political conflicts are liable to be in the value to them of the school or program. BuildingInstitutionalCapacity As in other sectors, participation by Box3 BuildingBorrowerCommitment stakeholders in designing and managing inthePhilippines programs in the education sector can also yield substantial long term benefits beyond the The participatory process used in education sector work individual project, by strengthening the in the Philippines is reported to have called for much institutional capacity for sustained development. more time and patience on the part of Bank staff than The process of participation empowers would have been the case with a more traditional Bank approach, but it is hoped will pay off in terms of individuals and enhances their ability to government commitment. contribute to the wider development process as This work started with an Economic Development new skills are learned and new norms adopted. Institute workshop, focusing attention on the Although these external benefits are very difficult characteristics of effective schools, how schools improve, to measure, they can be inferred from many of why schools were not working well, and what the the project reviews. priorities of reform should be. This was followed by another national seminar on the same subject. A method of broad stakeholder involvement, through a CostsandRisks participatory workshop for project design (the ZOPP methodology), was used with 40 people from each broad geographic zone. From these participants and other Evidence in the education sector suggests that stakeholders, a team was selected to draft a national higher initial costs may be incurred in implementation plan. Having secured ownership in the participatory projects in order to carry out the sector, the exercise is now being extended to the central necessary social research and community work, agencies where the decision to borrow or not ultimately to disseminate information or organize lies. exposed; and there is a risk of generating social are also important to success; in demand driven unrest by raising unrealistic expectations among education projects, communities must have participants. access to the best possible information on technical options, costs, benefits and These costs and difficulties notwithstanding, opportunities. the risks of very expensive failure in participatory projects are judged to be much smaller than in a Because of the need to respond flexibly to typical, top-down education project, where lack developments as the project evolves, making of sustainability may not be recognized until after education projects participatory calls for significant investment is complete. additional skills and greater tolerance of uncertainty on the part of the task manager; and ConditionsforSuccess it puts a greater onus on the quality of project preparation,clarificationofobjectivesandproject The most important preconditions for success supervision. in participatory projects are political will on the part of central government and commitment by Task managers who are promoting key actors. In cases of weak political will, support participation in education projects say that for participatory approaches has been generated success depends on attention to the following by sustaining dialogue and demonstrating critical elements: potential benefits through pilot projects. · early stakeholder analysis and involvement; Institutional conditions may make · information sharing and dialogue among participation more or less difficult to achieve, stakeholders; while simple scarcity of management and · flexibility in the funding, timing and scale of communication skills may be the main constraint projects; to increasing participation in some of the poorest · institutional strengthening; and countries. It is often necessary, therefore, to build · appropriate systems of monitoring and an education or training component into a evaluation, and mechanisms for ensuring participatory project in any sector to overcome accountability. skill shortages. Information sharing and dialogue Box4 ParticipatoryResearchintheGambia An innovative approach was used in a recent survey in the Gambia to gain a better understanding of the reasons for low enrollment and high drop out rates of girls in primary education. In addition to conventional survey methods (including questionnaires in schools, teacher interviews and parent focus interviews), the techniques of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) were adapted to education, to counteract the bias against disadvantaged groups and provide a voice to people who are not usually heard. Thirteen local researchers, including statisticians, Ministry of Education staff and teenage girls (to interview their peers) were trained in PRA methods. After trials in three villages, the team carried out a series of projects in seven villages and seven urban schools. Focus group discussions were held, where community members were asked to explain their problems and how education related to those problems. Villagers constructed matrices of community and educational problems, drew seasonal diagrams on income and expenditure, constructed social-educational "maps" of the village, identified households with girls of school age, and provided a wealth of socioeconomic information. One of the most startling results was the discovery that one quarter of all the school-age girls (those who were pregnant, married, or about to be married) had remained "hidden" from enrollment statistics since they had not been counted by villagers in the initial census. Costs to parents, including indirect costs, and the coincidence of school fee payments with the season of lowest income, were seen as the biggest problems associated with education. As a result of this research, various measures have been introduced, including a change in the timing of fee payments. The work was followed up by a second project, working with two rural communities to examine practical, community based solutions to the problems identified in the first project, and to assess available community resources for implementing such solutions. Options deemed by the community to have the highest chance of success were included in a Community Action Plan. Women in one of the villages, for example, decided to start a communal farm and to devote half the income from sales of farm produce towards school costs for girls.