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Assessment of training needs in educational planning

and management (with special reference to Central Asia)

Consultative Policy Forum, Ashgabat, 6-9 September 1994

Edited by Igor Kitaev

Paris 1995

U N E S C O : International Institute for Educational Planning

Assessment of training needs in educational planning and management

The views and opinions expressed in this volume are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of U N E S C O or of the H E P . The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of U N E S C O or H E P concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.

The costs of the educational forum and of this report have been covered through a grant-in-aid offered by U N E S C O and by voluntary contributions made by several M e m b e r States of U N E S C O , the list of which will be found at the end of the report.

This volume has been typeset using IIEP's computer facilities and has been printed in IIEP's printshop

International Institute for Educational Planning 7 - 9 rue Eugène-Delacroix, 75116 Paris

© U N E S C O September 1995 IIEP/ko'f

Foreword

The streets of Ashgabat are full of shadow even at sunny noon when the rustless rays seem to iron the city. The grown-up trees which were planted after the terrible earthquake of 1948 safely protect the walkers. The effects of the earthquake disappeared, while the effects of the dramatic changes which occurred in late 1991 are yet to be realized and evaluated. That was one of the challenges faced by the participants of the Consultative Policy Forum on Assessment of Training Needs in Educational Planning and Management with Special Emphasis on Central Asia (September 1994).

The collapse of the Soviet Union four years ago not only brought independence to the countries of the region, it accelerated the changes in the mentality of people and their attitudes, even towards such well established things as education. Free education and extremely high literacy level were major achievements of the countries of Central Asia as a part of the former Soviet Union in terms of human development, they shaped the mentality of several generations that education is merely a public good, and its provision is totally under the State competence. Whilst private education did not exist, the public authorities were executing full control over the education system from one centre in M o s c o w .

The strong ideological content of instruction, making it a reliable tool for propaganda guaranteed that the education systems and related bureaucracies were expanding en par with social demand for education. The proliferation of educational bureaucracies in the then centralized systems was spontaneous but not really supported either by relevant research studies or training of the staff involved.

Educational planning was done mostly through the manpower projections, training in educational administration and management was not available, i.e. these disciplines were not studied in higher education institutions, nor postgraduate courses. However, before 1991 the educational bureaucracies were functioning sufficiently well (although often equipped by former teachers, historians or economic planners) because the scope of their responsibilities was restricted to the implementation of the decisions taken by the upper levels of the hierarchy, and reporting on it.

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Foreword

The post-independence education systems in Central Asia were subject to numerous changes (which are described in more detail in this report) but w e would like to stress one which will have a far-reaching strategic impact on them, i.e. the changes in the mentality of the consumers and providers of educational services. During the transition to a market economy and a democratic society, the families and students realized that the range of learning opportunities, previously almost uniform, widened due to the invasion of foreign and locally-made private courses, programmes and other educational initiatives.

While the public education, earlier guaranteed by the State, lost its compulsory and universal nature, and its quality plunged under the budgetary constraints and belt-tightening of the transition period in Central Asia, at the same time private education and joint educational ventures with foreign donors started offering an alternative of a better quality instruction, knowledge base and learning conditions for those w h o had an access to them or was ready to pay.

Inevitably, education became a marketable good with all relevant consequences in terms of equity and efficiency, but it took some 3-4 painful years for the public opinion in Central Asian countries to recognize that, if managed under the previous schemes, their education systems are facing an imminent decay. After the stormy debates in the Parliaments of most Central Asian countries, even the die-hard legislators had to accept such facts of life as differences in quality of education between the schools and regions, mushrooming private education, and tuition and user fees at universities.

The H E P was requested to intervene at the crucial m o m e n t of these developments in Central Asia w h e n both the decision-makers and households in general realized that the previous patterns of educational management and finance based on social demand and unlimited free delivery of education would be unbearable for the State. Consequently, the consumers of educational services became more and more demanding to the w a y the education systems are managed and to the staff in charge.

In our conversations with the staff of the Ministries of Education and other public bodies in charge of education and training, w e felt h o w radically changed both their functions and the essential requirements to their performance on the part of all other major actors, i.e. decision-makers, legislative bodies, families, students, teachers, enterprises etc.

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Foreword

F r o m being not more than an instrument of implementation of the prescribed policies, the staff turned into a nucleus of educational management in charge of strategic planning, policy formulation, project development, monitoring and evaluation. Needless to say that in the decentralized context m a n y of these functions were completely new even for the experienced personnel, m a n y - changed their nature, and even many more were delegated to the lower levels of educational administrations or disappeared.

Our Central Asian colleagues mentioned to us that they are daily confronted by unprecedented problem-solving in terms of snow-balling requests, appeals, pressures, demands and complaints, n o w coming both in top-down, as well as bottom-up manner, vertically and horizontally. O n e should certainly not underestimate the survival skills of the seasoned bureaucracies in Central Asia but the current agenda is no longer defensive, as it used to be, it is increasingly output-oriented and pragmatic in terms of value-added outcomes.

It was obvious that the training/retraining needs of the staff are enormous but the challenge was to identify and assess them, on the one hand, in the strategic perspective of educational reforms in the countries of Central Asia, on the other hand, within the priorities of the civil service development in these countries.

The H E P was invited to contribute to this capacity-building through its comparative advantages of international experience and competence in research and training in the areas of educational planning, administration and management. The role of the H E P in this regard was to provide a realistic help with due respect to the current and emerging training needs of the Central Asian clientele, and its o w n available resources.

The involvement of the Institute in educational development in Central Asia is a continuum of events always focussed on particular objectives and target groups. It started in 1993 with a pilot workshop on education, employment and h u m a n resource development (Tashkent, September 1993) which facilitated our first contacts and co-operation links with the clientele in the region.

The Ashgabat Forum in this sense became a landmark which identified the modalities and variables of the training needs and the extent to which the IIEP could address them. Under the circumstances when even the basic data

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Foreword

on education development in the countries of the region is often not available, the Forum helped to collect, through a specially prepared and customized questionnaire, a valuable information which served the purpose of a detailed analysis, presented in this report. Moreover, on the basis of this data and the exchanges of views, the Forum formulated the target groups, the modalities and the priorities in training needs in Central Asia such as patterns of educational finance and use of information for management and evaluation of education.

The readers interested in analysis of recent education developments in Central Asia and in the methodology of training needs assessments will receive substantial inputs from reading this report.

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Contents

Foreword v

I. A n overview of the assessment of training needs in educational planning and management with special reference to Central Asia by Igor Kitaev 1

II. Synthesis o f questionnaires a n d reports o f Central As i a countries by George Skorov 25

III. Synthesis of questionnaires a n d reports o f Non-central Asian countries by André Maguen 31

IV. Planning and monitoring education systems by Serge Péano 51

Appendices 59

Appendix 1. H E P questionnaire used in the assessment of training needs 61

Appendix 2. Programme of the Forum 82 Appendix 3. List of Participants 85 Appendix 4. List of papers 87

IX

I. A n overview of the assessment of training needs in educational planning and management

with special reference to Central Asia

by Igor Kitaev

1. Introduction

The formerly centrally-planned countries of Central Asia and Mongolia are n o w facing the challenge of overcoming the incompatibility of the uniform and centralized educational systems of the past with the n e w requirements of independence, national identity and integration into the world markets.

The conclusion of an H E P workshop in Tashkent (1993) was that "a basic issue confronting the Central Asian Republics n o w is the incompatibility of their existing education systems with n e w requirements and international standards" (1). The reforms announced in 1991-1992, aimed at bringing the national education systems closer to internationally acknowledged standards in education, were impeded by inadequate national capacities, in particular in the area of educational management and staff qualifications.

Certain efforts to decentralize and deconcentrate the management of educational systems and to delegate more responsibility to the regional and local authorities and institutions have already produced serious discrepancies and side effects in the countries of the region, due to these inadequate capacities in the experience and skills of the staff.

In response to requests from the governments of the countries of Central Asia and Mongolia, the H E P organized, in co-operation with the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, the Consultative Policy Forum on Assessment of Training Needs in Educational Planning and Management with special emphasis on Central Asia, held in September 1994 in Ashgabat. The origin of the Forum was a demand on the part of the newly independent countries of Central Asia to benefit from the international competence

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The assessment of training needs in educational planning and management

accumulated by IIEP in capacity-building in these areas, which are vital for the on-going educational reforms in the region.

The beginning of co-operation between Central Asia and multilateral agencies showed that before starting staff training (or retraining) in the area of educational planning and management, a closer look is needed at the training needs of the clientele - its priorities, contents, types of training, categories of staff, etc.

Merely copying training schemes tried in other regions of the world, even those that have been successful, m a y not correspond with the specificities of the educational systems in Central Asia. Consequently, the Forum was designed to elaborate some c o m m o n 'terms of reference' between IIEP and the countries of the region, i.e. to bridge the gap between the training opportunities provided by the Institute and the various training demands in Central Asia. Several countries from the neighbouring regions were also invited to share their national experiences and approaches to the issues of professional staff training in educational planning and administration.

All five countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - participated in the Forum, as well as Mongolia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. According to the evaluation of the participants, the Forum succeeded in establishing the link between the training opportunities provided by the IIEP and the various training needs in Central Asia, and identified these needs by priority target groups, content, types and modalities of training, etc.

While the overall level of competence and training of the staff in the ministries of education and other public bodies and authorities in charge of educational management is high, training should also be flexible and updated to the n e w skill requirements and the drastically changed environment.

Referring, for example, to Kyrgyzstan, the World Bank observed that "a generally strong education system and a satisfactory supply of educated and trained people are a m o n g Kyrgyzstan's most valuable assets" (2).

Previously, within the centrally-planned mechanism, the main tasks of the civil servants in Central Asia and Mongolia were the execution of the prescribed policies and orders and reporting. Today, however, following independence, the main tasks involve full-fledged co-ordination, management, programming and evaluation.

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An overview with special reference to Central Asia

The U N D P " H u m a n Development Report" on Kazakhstan observes that "the system's fundamental deficiency was a tendency to give priority to ideological form over substance, to theory over practice, and to mediocrity over talent . . . In consequence, the natural links between the various disciplines of education which are necessary for advancement and progress were severed and each discipline became more and more isolated. A s a result the demand for people with the requisite knowledge, skills and expertise is not being met (3)."

The n e w education law in Kyrgyzstan, for example, sactions educational institutions as legal entities, and it confines the central Ministry's role to policy making and standard setting, leaving local bodies to implement education within the framework of national guidelines (4).

Further sharing of the well-established international expertise in educational management in the region is considered by the countries of Central Asia and Mongolia to be an essential prerequisite for the adaptation of the existing mechanisms of educational decision-making and management to innovative approaches and system requirements, revitalization of educational bureaucracies and building the capacities designed to meet the diversified training needs of the staff at different levels of educational administration.

The contemporary interpretation of capacity-building in education is a combination of three inter-related components: training, institution-building and creating a supportive environment. Training and retraining of an adequate number of competent specialists in educational planning and management is the most obvious - if not the most important - component for the success of the reforms in public administration and education in Central Asia.

Section II of this report (pages 24-35) has a particular documentary value because it synthesizes the most recent data and information on current developments in the educational systems in Central Asia, previously not available abroad, and gives a detailed analysis of the training needs of these countries. Section III (pages 36-50) does the same for the non-central Asian countries. This document includes, in particular, the syntheses, the responses of the countries to the H E P questionnaire and analysis of them, and a synthesis of the discussions during the Forum. Hopefully, it will help compensate for the existing 'information vacuum' on the region, and it m a y

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also become a useful reference guide for the formulation of follow-up activities in the region.

2 . Organization a n d conduct of the f o r u m

The Consultative Policy Forum was the first international event of such dimension organized by U N E S C O / П Е Р in Turkmenistan after independence. The meeting was opened by M m e . Abat Ryzaeva, Deputy Prime-Minister (Social Affairs) and M r . R . Karaev, Minister of Education of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan's President, M r . Saparmurat Nyazov, sent his greetings to the participants. The meeting was covered by the national press and the mass media in the Commonweal th of Independent States.

The participants (see Appendix 3) came from all five countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - as well as neighbouring countries with traditional historical and cultural ties with the region - China, Mongolia, Iran, India, Pakistan and Turkey. The Central Asian participants were senior level officials of the central level of educational administrations - Chiefs of the Education sectors in the Cabinets of Ministers, First Deputy and Deputy Ministers in the national Ministries of Education, key researchers and government experts.

The level of representation was extremely competent and constructive. In spite of many logistical difficulties - war in Tadjikistan, political turmoil in Kyrghyzstan, restructuring of educational administrations in the other countries, lack of direct flights between the capitals of the region, insufficient infrastructure and communications - i.e., all the significant factors to be borne in mind in future U N E S C O / П Е Р activities in the region - it was considered essential to have representatives from all five countries present.

A m o n g the non-Central Asian participants, four (from China, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey) were former H E P trainees w h o contributed meaningfully to the work of the Forum.

The meeting consisted of three main parts (see Appendix 2: Programme of the Forum)'.

(i) a presentation by П Е Р of a modern concept of planning and monitoring of educational systems followed by the national reports on:

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• current and expected trends in educational planning and management in the participating countries;

• implications of educational planning trends in terms of training needs of the professional staff at the central level;

e description of existing national capacities in educational planning and management.

Appendix 4 shows the list of national reports presented at the Forum. T h e objective of this part was to present a theoretical and methodo

logical vision by H E P on the modern interpretation of educational planning, monitoring and management Central Asia and neighbouring countries. The participants were expected to identify the priorities of their educational policies, which in turn would determine the amount of capacities - first of all as regards qualified staff - required for their implementation.

(ii) an assessment of training needs at the central level of educational systems.

This exercise was based on the questionnaire {seo. Appendix 1) specially designed:

9 to diagnose the skills and qualifications of the available staff; to define in detail the priority problem areas and, consequently, the staff requirements; and

» to review the existing staff qualifications, its background and training needs depending on the staff level and its responsibilities.

The expected outcome of this part was to obtain a preliminary picture on staff development at present and its dynamics for the coming years.

(iii) ways and means for developing the national capacities for training in educational planning and management in Central Asia.

Under this item, H E P presented a paper on the "International agenda in building national capacities for educational planning and management and assessment of training needs for educational systems in Central Asia". The

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paper asserted that, with all due respect to the training needs and demands of the recipient countries, the Institute cannot satisfy them all at the same time. A rational selectivity and prioritization which matches the training areas, modalities and the target groups identified by the countries of the region with the training opportunities available at H E P , m a y be an appropriate model for our co-operation.

The participation of the neighbouring non-Central Asian countries in this exercise was particularly useful because of their long-term experiences in confronting the problems of capacity-building in educational planning and management. The experiences of the N I E P A in India and the Chinese National Institute for Educational Research were considered interesting examples.

Objectives

The objectives of the Forum were to:

(i) help to collect original information and data on actual developments in the educational systems in Central Asia and the neighbouring countries which will be a useful resource base for the follow-up activities in the region;

(ii) facilitate the exchange of national experiences in educational development, planning and management and a certain co-ordination of these policies in the region. The Forum was a unique occasion for participants to meet, exchange views and get recent information on the developments and patterns of reforms in the countries of the region;

(iii) identify priority training needs for different categories of professional staff at the central level of their educational systems in the areas of educational planning and management;

(iv) establish the links between the above priorities and the training opportunities available at the H E P , and the experiences of the neighbouring countries in educational capacity-building;

(v) formulate the design and contents of the regional strategy for capacity-building in educational planning and management in co-operation with H E P , i.e. the patterns of the forthcoming events to be jointly organized by the Institute and the countries of the region.

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3. Background: educational reforms in Central Asia

3.1 Regional context of the education reforms in Central Asia

Before the breakup of the U S S R , the crucial issues of educational planning were concentrated at the central, state level. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all the countries of the region moved rapidly towards decentralization - or, to be more precise, déconcentration - of the public administration, including educational systems; that is, delegating wide responsibilities to the regional authorities and higher educational institutions. At the same time, the uniform educational models inherited from the U S S R were transformed, to take more account of the national specificity and the relevant experiences of the market economies in particular, the United States of America and Turkey, which m a d e the educational policies in the region more diversified and appropriate

The debates over which model of development, in particular, educational development and educational staff (re)training, is more appropriate for the countries of Central Asia, will be never-ending unless the variety of not merely applications of euroasian approaches but, moreover, various combinations of these applications, is recognized.

For instance, C u m m i n g s (1995) challenges the prevailing Westernisation proposition and advocates a distinctive Asian h u m a n resource approach in global perspective whose components are as follows: (i) the state coordinates education and research with a firm emphasis both on indigenous value transmission and the mastery of foreign technology; (ii) high priority is placed on universal primary education while state investment at the secondary and tertiary level is limited primarily to critical areas such as engineering and the sciences; (iii) individual students, their families, and the private sector are expected to provide critical backup for the education provided by the state; (iv) the Asian state in seeking to co-ordinate not only the development but also the utilization of h u m a n resources involves itself in manpower planning and job placement and increasingly in the coordination of science and technology (5).

" W h a t are the circumstances which promote learning? W h a t are the limits, if any, on the transmission of organisational practice across national boundaries?" - are the questions asked by Smith and Meiksins (1995). " W e

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need an integrative model of cross-national differences, which is both able to explain w h y convergence pressures co-exist with those promoting diversity, at the same time as separating the precise influence these different forces have. W e need a theory which explains w h y some societies play the role as standard-makers, which is clearly evident in the way the U . S . and Japan are considered, at the same time as recognising the limitations on one society adopting the standards generated in another" (6).

The Academy for Educational Development ( U S A ) quotes Mrs.Galina Islamova, an economic planner in Almaty w h o observes with regard to Central Asia: "Perhaps the system w e eventually build will be a mixture of Western and Asian values, a mixture of the individual and the community" (7).

A s Kaser and Mehrotra (1992) noted, "although technical skill levels in Central Asia m a y be lower than the Soviet average, the Central Asian states have a relatively well-educated population" (8). Consequently, the objectives of the announced reforms had a definite qualitative rather than quantitative nature. In spite of the evident diversification of current educational policies in Central Asia, there was a considerable degree of similarity in the content of the reforms and relevant educational legislation. All the countries of the region have adopted n e w educational laws that m a k e provisions for the following policy changes, in addition to significant changes in the curriculum:

* reducing the length of compulsory education from 11 to 9 years, in order to avoid educational wastage and cut the expenditure for the higher levels of the educational system;

e allowing private and other types of non-public education at all levels, in particular in higher education;

e converting teaching and learning from the Cyrillic to the Latin or local alphabet and promoting the use of local languages for instruction;

e gradually introducing tuition fees in higher education and various types of user fees at lower levels;

э discontinuing second shift evening courses and, in some cases, higher education by correspondence;

« discontinuing the practice of guaranteed employment for graduates.

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Apparently, however, these initial operational changes met the need of doing 'the most obvious and necessary' changes, but were not sufficient for more long-term strategic changes for the development of the educational systems. Changes in the educational policies of the countries of Central Asia have still been very frequent in recent years, subject to fluctuations in the political and economic context, social demand for education and orientations of decision-makers. If a relevant, and perhaps flexible legal framework to facilitate the rational evolution of educational systems is designed and accepted by consensus by the power groups, legislation m a y not need to be amended as frequently as before.

However, not all of these extreme measures were properly planned or executed. Therefore, at present, a certain reverse trend towards more centralization of educational administration in the countries of the region is being noted, for the following reasons: (i) the newly-independent educational systems did not have sufficient and sustainable capacities at the lower levels, which had negative implications in terms of equity and efficiency; and (ii) n e w state legislation, in particular educational legislation, was designed at the initial stages of the reforms and could not foresee all the peculiarities of the subsequent developments. The trend towards a stronger role of the State as an instrument of change in the Central Asian context is often borne in mind. O n e of the lessons of the initial period of reforms in the Central Asian context, as observed by Rana (1993), was that "unless the political situation dictates otherwise, gradualism can work. Government regulatory intervention has an important role to play during the transition period." (9)

Social demand for education, which was previously guaranteed by the state and satisfied at all levels of education except higher, but including continuing and non-formal education, can no longer be met due to the economic and financial stringency of the transition period. The implications are evident both in terms of equity and efficiency - after the 9-form, an additional 'filter' was introduced at the secondary level to reduce enrolment for the remaining two years; tuition fees in public institutions and 'booming' private institutions at the tertiary and post-graduate levels was evidence of a more selective 'value for m o n e y ' concept of education (i.e. admission to each further level of education is a result of competition for better academic achievement or a readiness to share the costs of education).

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According to the World Bank, "the system of training and education was operating under an assumption of economic planning that will not exist in the future. With the restructuring of the economy will c o m e a very large demand for training and retraining programs in conjunction with the climbing rate of unemployment. The content of training prgrams and courses will need to change to reflect the needs of a market-oriented economy. This is true both for pre-employment training and for the retraining that will be needed as a part of the transition" (10).

While the decision-makers must resist and moderate the social demand for education (taking into account demographic growth and the fact that the population is not yet used to these changes) by regulating free admission to higher education institutions, awarding fellowships (so-called stipends to 'tuition-free' students) and implicitly promoting private education, real educational expenditures are declining drastically in all the countries of Central Asia.

The level where educational managers and decision-makers have the most space for manoeuvre in cost-reduction and cost-sharing is without a doubt in higher education, because of its elitist nature and the acceptance by the population of its 'paid' character. The measures which are c o m m o n for management of higher education in Central Asia are:

e up to 20 per cent of the intake in higher education institutions are students paying tuition fees;

e establishing a student-teacher ratio, e.g. 8:1 for day students and 35:1 for correspondence students (11);

• setting up of n e w and further development of the old universities and other higher education institutions in the regions (in the cases of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan).

Student loans, although widely discussed as a means of cost-recovery in higher education, were not yet introduced.

The decline in the internal efficiency of education (related to the difficulties with n e w teacher recruitment, lack of textbooks and equipment, etc.) is on par with unsettled patterns of educational management, i.e. the restructuring of the national Ministries of Education and redistribution of their functions, a lack of qualified staff, re-examination of information

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systems, basic techniques, projections and statistical indicators, multi-shift schools etc.

3.2 Rapid expansion and diversification of training needs in the region

The unexpected independence of the Central Asian countries in 1991, and the 'sudden' shifts towards democracy and a market economy had a serious impact upon the civil service and public administration in general. Ronnas and Sjöberg (1994) distinguished the following salient features of the transition period in Central Asia as having particular relevance for the public administrations:

e for a number of reasons, transition inevitably results in a weakening of the state; the administrative capacity is weakened by the shift from direct central planning to indicative planning and the use of n e w and unfamiliar tools for policy-making and policy implementation in an overall environment over which the state has largely lost control and can no longer expect direct and predictable responses to policy measures;

e there is a severe lack of reliable information and statistics. Therefore, policy-makers and planners lack an information base at a time w h e n it is needed more than ever; the changes have had a demoralizing effect on the cadres staffing the bureaucracy. Their previously subservient status and a lack of a full-fledged and sovereign state apparatus can only compound the weaknesses of the state (12).

W e can add to this analysis the fact that the job opportunities which were previously available only in the public sector jobs, in particular in the public administration, rapidly lost their prestige and value. The transition to a market economy created m u c h better-paid jobs outside the civil service in the private and informal sector, notably in the booming banking, finance and commercial services, and provoked a serious 'brain drain' from government of the most bold and entrepreneurial personnel. The repeated reshuffling and restructuring of the public administrations at the central level under the decentralization strategy multiplied these effects, but were not complemented

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by the establishment of adequate capacities at the regional and local level. A s a result, the governments of the Central Asian countries, which were expected to serve as an instrument for reform, lacked qualified personnel. The staff evaluations which took place during the initial period of reforms were mostly formally executed in a ' top-down' manner.

Moreover, the bureaucrats w h o remained from the Soviet administrations, apart from lacking incentives and motivations, were in need of retraining and adaptation of their qualifications to the n e w functions and environment. In this regard, the ministries of education in the early 1990s suffered seriously from under-funding and the exodus of qualified personnel.

A s the World Bank reported on Uzbekistan, "the staffing of central administration [in the Ministries of Education and Higher Education] has also been reduced considerably in recent years in response to the financial crisis. This reduction of central management, frequently undertaken in countries during periods of austerity, represents a false economy, since it weakens the capacity of the center to lead the system toward greater overall efficiency" (13). Fägerlind and Kanayew (1994) confirmed that observation during their mission to the region by an example on teacher retraining, characterising the current policies towards staff retraining in general: "... mostly due to lack of resources, the change from the Soviet model was not dramatic in any country. In the old system there was a tradition of retraining teachers every fifth year in special institutions at the regional level. Because of shortage of trained social scientists, as well as n e w materials to be used in retraining teachers, this scheme is not functioning well today" (14).

A n international symposium on social policies during economic restructuring, organized by U N I C E F and U N D D S M S in Beijing in 1994, also concluded that "cost-reduction and greater efficiency in the use of public resources, even in sectors such as health and education, can be realized by better management and the reallocation of resources" (15).

At the same time, one should not underestimate the actual amount of adaptation of the educational systems and mechanisms of its administrations, which found themselves in a situation w h e n introduction of changes is most lucrative. Cesar Birzéa (1994) observed for the 'countries in transition' that educational administration is "already obliged to modify its authoritarian and hierarchical structure... This evolution, although timid, but undeniable and irreversible, m a d e useless old data bases which were over-centralized,

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limited exclusively to quantitative information and selected according to the criteria convenient for the decision-makers" (16).

Obviously, any stage in the process of programming, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the educational reforms in Central Asia will require serious efforts in national capacity-building. For example, the implementation of such urgent tasks as teacher training or textbook development will necessarily depend on the quantity and quality of the professional staff of the ministry of education involved, i.e. its qualifications, competence and capacities for planning and management. A s in any process of change, n e w requirements and skills are evolving as a precondition for effective and efficient staff performance to respond to n e w objectives, while some previous skills naturally become redundant.

Stufflebeam et al. (1985) define needs assessment as "the process of determining the things that are necessary or useful for the fulfilment of a defensible purpose" (17). M o r e broadly defined, needs assessment is the process of delineating, obtaining, and applying information to determine what is useful or necessary to serve a defensible purpose.

With regard to personnel and its training needs, there is n o w an overall need to re-examine, update, strengthen and institutionalize initial and on-the-job training for educational planners, administrators and managers, especially in the broader context of the intersectoral approach suited to the development of h u m a n resources. Finding ways and means to 'multiply' as quickly as possible the scarce financial and h u m a n resources available is a pressing challenge.

Beyond these specific skills, however, there is the growing need for training to consider the attitudinal implications of n e w challenges of educational development. Again, there is the challenge of broadening the means of scope of education, of enhancing the environment for learning, and of strengthening partnerships requires planners and managers to think quite differently about the complexity of the system in which they work, its interrelation with other sectors, and its dependence on linkages with learning activities and with actors outside the confines of the formal school.

If w e assume that training or retraining of professional staff is an essential element for the development of educational systems in these countries, then, logically, an important first step would be to assess the training needs of the personnel responsible for planning and management at

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the upper and middle levels of the educational hierarchy. This exercise should serve the essential purpose of 'auditing', i.e. re-examining the current performance of the planning and management mechanisms already existing in Central Asia at different levels of the educational systems - first of all at the national level, of the ministries of education.

This assessment should at the same time review the available training and retraining national capacities in the area of educational planning and management - to what extent they correspond to the emerging training needs, are they sufficient to cope with the increased demand, what kind of upgrading they require in terms of contents and teaching staff, qualifications of trainees, etc.

The outputs of this analysis have to ultimately result from the gap between the current staff situation and the staff capacities necessary to achieve the announced goals of the educational reform in a given country and in the region.

Finally, it is essential to realize that the countries of Central Asia are entering a n e w stage of their educational development which requires an adaptation of the existing mechanisms of educational decision-making, planning and management to innovative approaches and changing system requirements. This assessment of the training needs for the educational systems was designed to become an essential reference point for further activities in the area of educational planning and management in the region.

3.3 Supply and demand paradigm for educational capacity-building in Central Asia

H o w and to what extent can the international agenda in national capacity-building in educational planning and management be applied to the newly independent states of Central Asia? H e y n e m a n (1994) observes that the education sectors in these countries "must be visionary in their methods of restructuring, ensuring the best use of available resources" (18).

For example, Caprio and Levine (1994), addressing the issues of reforming finance in what they called transitional socialist economies, suggested a mix of bold steps and caution in reforming existing institutions, "development, rather than reform. Given the relatively high educational

14


levels in transitional socialist economies, strategies that emphasize training and building skills ... will yield high returns" (19).

T h e task m a y seem enormous in the light of the recognized incompatibility of the past uniform and centralized education systems in the region with the n e w requirements of national identity and international standards. The temptation to try to bridge the gap to internationally acknowledged standards in the short term is impeded by inadequate capacities at all levels, in particular in the area of educational planning and management.

For the same reason, certain hasty attempts to deconcentrate and even decentralize some elements of educational systems in Central Asia, and accelerate emphasis on national identities which appeared in the early 1990s, were not viable and were later adjusted to the realities of the circumstances. Consequently, after an initial period of questioning almost everything inherited from the recent past, and a rush to indiscriminately adopt available imported models, the road to educational reform in the region has become more gradual and predictable.

The demand in Central Asia for well-established international expertise in educational planning and management can eventually be met only if considerable efforts are m a d e on both sides - from the countries themselves and the international agencies, including the H E P - to define c o m m o n terms of reference for matching the increasing demand with the numerous options for supply.

For m a n y reasons, existing international experience and practice in educational planning and management, even if successfully implemented in other regions, m a y not always be applicable in the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union, in terms of the contents, teaching/learning methods or expected outcomes. Consequently, it would be advisable for Central Asian authorities to be selective and even critical in their proposals for co-operation, since making the wrong choices for staff training policy during this initial period of co-operation might incur heavy opportunity costs or send misleading signals to the educational systems in the region.

In other words, the international expertise in capacity-building to be tried out in the countries of Central Asia needs to be previously 'screened' by the national authorities and flexibly adjusted with respect to the specifics

15


and traditions of the region. Not only the contents, but also the sequence of training has to be carefully programmed according to the priorities determined by the governments from the ' m e n u ' suggested by the international agencies.

Obviously, all outstanding issues of educational capacity-building in Central Asia cannot be meaningfully addressed at the same time - the priority should clearly be to guarantee, first of all, the quality of the routine services in educational planning and management provided by the national ministries of education, such as arrangements for the beginning of a n e w school year. Methods of the training and retraining staff should be reviewed to avoid misunderstandings, misinterpretations and other communication problems caused by the differences between the clientele's background and conventional western patterns.

Selectivity and great precision in the provision of the staff training and retraining do not exclude, however, a broad variety of training schemes and possibilities for the region, depending on the nature of the target groups, subject area, practical utilization of knowledge and skills etc. A s H E P experience suggests, 'direct' delivery of expertise to the region has to be complemented by a strategy to upgrade and revitalise existing training capacities, renovate the machinery of educational bodies - beginning with the ministry of education - while the long-term effect and consistency of capacity-building should be guaranteed by a definite political commitment on the part of the governments. Educational research and dissemination will ultimately also have their role to play in feeding national capacities with the inputs required.

4. Conclusions and recommendations

4.1 National reports

T h e national reports showed that in terms of educational capacity-building (excluding the implications of the curricula changes), the educational systems in the countries of Central Asia are passing through a critical period:

16


• the educational reforms face difficulties even in the maintenance of the previous standards of education in terms of internal and external efficiency;

• the professional staff of the ministries of education is being cut by 25-30 per cent;

e the civil service is losing out to the private sector in the competition for qualified staff;

• the reduction in the length of different levels of education and increase in the duration of free compulsory education to 9 years caused turbulence in the regulation of the student flows and provision of teacher services;

• real public funding of education is decreasing; e regional authorities were not prepared to assume greater responsi

bilities for administration and funding of primary and secondary education, whereas the ministries of education (with the exception of Uzbekistan) lost control over them. Local funding of primary and secondary education and vocational training put these levels into crisis because the collected local taxes are not sufficient during the transition period to pay even the salaries. The teachers' salaries are constantly delayed and kept at a marginal level and school construction is frozen;

e information systems are not compatible with international norms, and monopolized by the state statistical agencies.

All the countries of the region attempted their o w n policy, administrative and institutional responses, as well as keeping their o w n rhythm of changes and reforms. In Uzbekistan, for example, virtually no changes were m a d e in the structure and performance of the centralized educational system. O n the contrary, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan deconcentrated their systems very deeply, leaving the ministries of education without meaningful administrative and financial control over the regional authorities. In Kyrghyzstan this scheme, which was tried initially, is being replaced by returning teacher recruitment and remuneration to the ministry of education.

The U N D P " H u m a n Development Report" describes the situation in Kyrgyzstan as follows: "General education is funded from the local government budget and local governments are responsible for the prepara-

17


tion and execution of that budget. The Ministry of Education establishes standards for all budget items allowing for some difference across areas due to differences in development levels. In some regions local budgets are insufficient to cover general educational costs because of the economic crisis" (20).

It was clear, however, that there are still opportunities to at least ' m a k e the best' out of a bad situation, i.e. to soften the negative impact of the negative developments. The countries of the region chose different ways and means to address the promising policy responses suggested by the participants of the meeting were:

e rationalization of the structure of the ministry of education and its interrelationships with the other public bodies involved in educational planning and management. Worth mentioning in this regard, a recommendation by the World Bank experts on Uzbekistan "to strengthen the central administration of the Ministries of Public Education and Higher Education as needed by:

establishing larger, more viable units and ensuring the coordination of functions increasing the number of adequately trained specialized staff ensuring that the budget allocation for administration represents an adequate share of the sectoral budget providing better information services to staff both on the sector nationally and on practices in other parts of the world" (21).

search for an appropriate model of co-ordination between the central level and regional authorities with regard to primary and secondary education, on the one hand, and the central level and autonomous higher education institutions, on the other hand.

e adoption of a stable model of educational funding and budgeting which would (i) maintain the previous norms of internal efficiency, (ii) guarantee at least a commensurate level of teacher salaries, and (iii) explore the use of cost-sharing, cost-recovery, income-generation and other means to improve the situation in spite of the shrinking educational budgeting.

18


4.2 Assessment of training needs

The professional staff of the ministries of education and other public bodies in charge of the educational planning and management in Central Asia has had m a n y years of formal education and training. Their number varies from 10 (Kyrghyzstan) to 40 (Kazakhstan) employees in the ministries of education (from 30 to 70 employees at the central level in general) depending on the size of the public administration and its horizontal decentralization.

In general, this staff requires a higher educational degree to hold their positions, although the actual profile of education and training received m a y not correspond to the job description. The type of higher education acquired by the staff involved in educational planning in Central Asia is mostly pedagogical (teaching and curriculum development), (this is true, for example, for up to 70 per cent of the staff in the case of Kyrghyzstan, more than 60 per cent in Turkmenistan, and about 45 per cent in Kazakhstan). Degrees in economics, finance, public administration and similar profiles are characteristic features of the relevant staff in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (more than 40 per cent) and to a lesser extent in Turkmenistan (21 per cent) and Kyrghyzstan (10 per cent).

Retraining and advanced training is mainly available at present at teacher training institutions or at intensive courses on macroeconomics and business administration. Intensive specialized training was targeted at school principals and finance officers. The qualification problems were caused by the fact that:

* disciplines such as educational planning, administration and management did not exist at higher education institutions at the national level. Those functions were performed either by macro-economists or, in most cases, by teachers or experts in curriculum development in particular school subjects;

e the issues of educational planning and management were traditionally split 'horizontally' between a number of public bodies, i.e. the Ministry of Finance was in charge of costs and funding, the State Statistical Agency was in charge of all data collection and processing, the Ministry of Labour was in charge of labour market

19


analysis and manpower projections etc. However, the division of responsibilities between the staff of the Ministry of Education (in charge of routine management of the system) and the small-scale sector of education at the Cabinet of Ministers (in charge of policy co-ordination and implementation control) appeared to be justified.

e recent changes in the functions performed, i.e. an increase not only in their complexity but qualitatively, involving n e w dimensions of routine management, first of all concerning administrative, funding and budgeting functions in a decentralized setting. For example, textbooks are still free in Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan and Turkmenistan, while in Kazakhstan and Kyrghyzstan user fees were introduced but the question of paying procedures has not yet been resolved.

43 Recommendations

The final discussion on design and contents of training programmes for Central Asia produced a number of important recommendations:

1. The level of competence of the professional staff at all levels is high, but it must be adapted to n e w requirements and the n e w environment. Previously it was mainly the execution of the already prescribed policies and orders; today it calls for full-fledged co-ordination, management, programming and evaluation. T w o issues of utmost interest identified by the participants for the purpose of educational capacity-building in the countries of the region can be considered topics for co-operation with H E P in the coming years:

(a) optimal patterns of division of the responsibilities between the central and regional/local authorities in a decentra-lized/deconcentrated environment ( 'who does what' regarding enrolment projections, recruitment of teachers, funding and budgeting, including teacher salaries and programming of capital construction, monitoring and evaluation of quality of education, management of information systems etc.), and/or

20


(b) variables of organization and management of the funding and budgeting mechanisms in the educational systems of Central Asia, including (i) the implications of decentralization/ déconcentration and (ii) the alternatives of cost-sharing, income generation etc. In this regard, the reference was m a d e to a recommendation by the World Bank on Uzbekistan on "preparation of a long-range (10-to 15-year) integral development strategy for the sector, including its institutional development needs. This can be prepared in 24 months with technical assistance (expert services) and training (through such sources as the U N E S C O International Institute for Educational Planning) establishing the nucleus of the planning machinery, elaborating a developmental program, and identifying projects for Phase II" (22).

2 . Senior level staff (education sectors in the Cabinet of Ministers, upper echelon in the Ministries of Education etc.) and the training of trainers in educational planning and management should be considered a priority regarding the target groups of professional staff.

3. Short-term forums and courses and in-service training m a y be the most appropriate response for the countries of Central Asia. This should be gradually complemented by the revitalization of the national training capacities and their adjustment to n e w specializations in educational planning and management. Intensive training courses on specific subjects m a y be organized after a serious adaptation of the existing training materials. The format of the policy forums organized by H E P for the countries of

the region seems to be the most appropriate as it allows senior officials in charge of educational policy formulation and implementation control - a key category of staff in the present deconcentrated educational systems - to meet for a short period of time. The forums can also serve the important objectives of sharing national experiences, which are becoming more and more diversified in the region, and increasing awareness of the participants about the relevant solutions to their problems experimented in other regions. The selection of the topics should correspond to the priorities identified by the countries, as well as to the competence available at H E P .

It was recommended that the next policy forum for the countries of the region on educational finance (deconcentrated and decentralized patterns of

21


funding and budgeting, alternatives for cost-sharing and cost-recovery, income-generation in educational establishments, variables of private education etc.) take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan in September 1995. This initiative was proposed by the Kazakh delegation to the Forum.

22


References

(1) Sanyal, Bikas, et al., (1993), "Education, Employment and H u m a n Resource Development in Central and Western Asia", Report of a Sub-regional Workshop, Tashkent, 3-14 August 1993, U N E S C O , Paris, p.4

(2) The World Bank, (1993), Kyrgyzstan: The Transition to a Market E c o n o m y , The World Bank, Washington, D . C . , p.l 17

(3) U N D P , (1995), Kazakstán: The Challenge of Transition. H u m a n Development Report 1995, U N D P , Almaty, p.58

(4) The World Bank, (1993), Kyrgyzstan: Social Protection in a Reforming E c o n o m y , The World Bank, Washington, D . C . , p.99

(5) C u m m i n g s , William, (1995), "The Asian H u m a n Resource Approach in Global Perspective", in Oxford Review of Education, Vol.21, N o . l , p.67

(6) Smith, Chris and Meiksins, Peter, (1995), "System, Society and Dominance Effects in Cross-National Organisational Analysis", in W o r k , Emplyment & Society, Vol.9, N o . 2 , p.252

(7) Fiske, Edward, (1995), "Investing in Change: Training Free-Market Economies and Democracies in the N e w Independent States of the Former Soviet Union", A c a d e m y for Educational Development, Washington, D . C . , p.25

(8) Kaser, Michael and Mehrotra, Santosh, (1992), "The Central Asian Economies after Independence", Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, p. 55

(9) Rana, Pradumna, (1993), "Reforms in the Transitional Economies of Asia", Occasional Papers N u m b e r 5, Asian Development Bank, Manila, p. viii

(10) World Bank, (1994), Turkmenistan, A World Bank Country Study, The World Bank, Washington, D . C . , p.l 13

23


(11) Poisk, No.24 , 3-9 June, 1995

(12) Ronnal, Per and Sjöberg Orjan (eds), (1994), "Economic transformation and Employment in Central Asia", International Labour Office, Ankara, pp. 2-3

(13) The World Bank, (1993), Uzbekistan: A n Agenda for Economic Reform, A World Bank Country Study, The World Bank, Washington, D . C . , p.203

(14) Fägerlind, Ingemar and Kanayew, Alexander, (1994), "Civic Education in Central Asia", Report of the mission undertaken for the Section for Secondary Education, Division of the Renovation of Education Curricula and Structure, U N E S C O , 12-21 December 1994, U N E S C O , Paris, p. 14

(15) U N I C E F and U N D D S M S , (1994), Summary Report: International Symposium on Social Policies During Economic Restructuring: Child Health, Basic Education and Social Protection, organized by U N I C E F and U N D D S M S (Beijing, 18-21 July 1994), U N I C E F , N Y , p.7

(16) Birzéa, Cesar, (1994), "La Planification de l'Education en Situation de Crise: Le Cas des Pays en Transition", in Canadian and International Education, Vol.23,No.l,June 1994

(17) Stufflebeam, Daniel et al, (1985), "Conducting Educational Needs Assessments", Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing, Boston, p. 16

(18) Heyneman, Stephen, (1994), "Education in the Europe and Central Asia Region: Policies of Adjustment and Excellence", Internal Discussion Paper, The World Bank, Washington, p. 23

(19) Caprio, Gerard, Jr., and Levine, Ross (1994), "Reforming Finance in Transitional Socialist Economies", in The World Bank Research Observer, Vol.9, No.l,p.21-22

(20) Uzbekistan, ibid., pp.205-206

(21) Uzbekistan, ibid., p.215

(22) U N D P , (1995), Kyrgyz Republic: H u m a n Development Report 1995, U N D P , Bishkek, p.26

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II. Synthesis of questionnaires and reports of Central Asian countries

by Georges Skorov*

1. Post-independence trends in educational development

This paper is written on the basis of the national reports of five Central Asian countries at the Consultative Policy Forum on Assessment of Training needs in educational management (Ashgabat, 6- 9 September 1995) and their responses to the H E P questionnaire on the subject. Central Asia in this report includes five countries: Kazakhstan (population 16.9 million), Kyrgyzstan (4.4 million), Tadjikistan (5.4 million), Turkmenistan (3.7 million), Uzbekistan (21 million)

In 1995, the countries of Central Asia entered their fourth year of post-independence development. While a good deal has already been achieved by these countries in the fields of nation-building, development of democracy and transformation of the economy, after they assumed the responsibility for their domestic affairs, m u c h remains to be done. O n e of the areas in which priority action in the coming years would be c o m m e n d able is managing change in education.

* The author, w h o is a Visiting Professor, Н Е С Graduate School of Management, Paris, wishes to express his gratitude to Mrs . Maral Sh. Durdyeva, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, and M r . Kerim A . Agaev, Special Assistant to the President for Education and Science, Republic of Turkmenistan, for their generous information and valuable guidance. However, all the responsibility for the interpretation of data used in the report rests with the author alone.

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The education and training systems of the Central Asian countries are under heavy pressure to adjust and respond to the demands placed upon them by the transition to a n e w society and a market economy. All the republics of Central Asia have resolutely engaged in reforming their education and training systems, notably by reducing the length of compulsory schooling from 11 to 9 years, radically overhauling the content of education in history and other humanities courses, improving teaching in national languages and strengthening foreign language courses (English, French and Arabic), preparing the introduction of n e w textbooks and teaching aids in Arabic or Latin script, reducing the length of higher education to four years, introducing private and religious schools, establishing n e w international links in education and considering other innovative measures.

However, these positive signs of national revival cannot conceal some negative trends in educational development, which, if left unattended, m a y bring about heavy losses, acute social problems and economic difficulties. The most dangerous a m o n g these trends is an overall curtailing of education, particularly at the secondary, specialized and higher levels (10 to 20 per cent fall in enrolments over the past three years registered in smaller republics).1

The lack of statistics for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan prevents us from elaborating this point further. However , there is clear evidence that all republics of Central Asia experience, to a different degree:

* a significantly reduced funding of education; e shrinking enrolments; » the shortage of trained teachers;

the deterioration of physical plant (school buildings and instructional equipment), the growing shortage of school places and enlargement of second and third shifts in general education;

e worsening situation with regard to supplies (paper, textbooks, furniture, audiovisual aids, libraries, laboratories); declining quality of education.

1. See statistical annexes to country papers presented at the Consultative Policy Forum on the Assessment of Training Needs in Educational Planning, Administration and Management with Special Emphasis on Central Asia, Ashgabat, 6-9 September 1994.

26

Synthesis of questionnaires and reports of Central Asian countries

These trends are reflected in different ways at all levels of the education systems. At the primary and secondary levels the situation is complicated by a confused relationship between the central administration and provincial, district and municipal authorities in managing the education system. Under the current regulations the local authorities must cover from 60 to 80 per cent of the expenditures of compulsory schooling. But they are unable to do so because they cannot rely, as was the case in the past, on agricultural and industrial enterprises as suppliers of funds for the pre-school and primary school levels and for maintenance of school facilities. Privatized enterprises try to get rid of all social assets which keep d o w n their profitability. The recession also impairs the ability of the enterprises to pay taxes. Local authorities have no alternative sources for raising revenues, nor does the central educational administration have the budget to fill the gap.

Under the circumstances, the primary and secondary schools are being heavily underpaid, with all the consequences that implies. Capital investment in primary and secondary education in the region fell during the past three years on the average five times in real terms. A significant proportion of the school buildings (at least 10 to 15 per cent) are dilapidated and considered to be unsafe. Between half and two-thirds of schools lack space and work on two and three shifts, affecting from 25 per cent (in Uzbekistan) to 35-40 per cent (in Turkmenistan, Tadjikistan, Kyrgyzstan) and just under 60 per cent (in Kazakhstan) of the total enrolments. S o m e schools have no canteens; only some of the pupils receive a hot meal (18 per cent in Tadjikistan, about 50 per cent in Uzbekistan); and the nutritional content of food is below the established standard.2

Teachers' remuneration remains a serious problem. Despite some special efforts to keep teachers' salaries at least at 50 per cent of the average pay of the industrial workers, that proved to be an impossible task in most countries of the region because of the continued inflation. The salaries of secondary school teachers in Tadjikistan fell in 1994 more than 20 times as compared to 1990 level (to 4.7 per cent in real terms). M a n y of the better teachers are being lost to commerce and services.

2. Ibid.

27


T h e overall expenditure on general education per student in Central Asia is estimated to have declined 2 0 per cent in 1991 from the 1990 level and must have fallen m u c h further in the subsequent three years as the share of education in the G D P dwindled four to five times throughout the region during that period. Shifting the responsibility for financing education from the national to local budgets has had a particularly pernicious effect on vocational and technical training. In Kazakhstan the change in the source of finance led to the "actual dislocation of the vocational and technical training system".3

Higher education has also been adversely affected by the strained fiscal situation in the region. H o w e v e r , in addition to financial constraints, the main problem at this level appears to be caused by a steady erosion of the university teachers corps under the double effect of the 'brain drain' to the private sector and the ongoing exodus of the Russians, as well as by a decline of interest in higher education studies on the part of the secondary school graduates. T h e lack of motivation to pursue higher education and post-university studies has m a n y causes, a m o n g which one could cite a severe insufficiency of student grants and the difficulty to earn one's living at a time of growing unemployment; lack of guarantee of job security and uncertainties in prospective earnings; a change in values which puts material gains above the prestige of university education.4

A useful insight into the state of education development in Central Asia is provided by the H E P questionnaire circulated in 1994 a m o n g the education officials in five countries of the region5. According to the responses received, all countries admitted that 'long- and mid-term implications of the 'current' educational reforms, policies and innovations have not been entirely clear'. While experts from only three countries

3. S. Kaidaulov. " O problemah obrazovania v Kazakhstane" (On the problems of education in Kazakhstan). Almaty, 1994, p. 3.

4. O n the employment situation in the region see "Economic transformation and employment in Central Asia". Ed. by Per Ronnas and Orjan Sjberg. ILO, Ankara, 1994, pp. 23 - 43 and others.

5. IIEP Questionnaire, Paris, 1994.

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(Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan) spoke frankly of the 'shortage of competent educational planners and administrators in the Ministries of Education and other government departments dealing with education at the central level', all five experts singled out the issue of retraining educational planners and administrators as a 'priority problem of educational development in the region'. F rom the responses to the H E P questionnaire it appears that four countries (excluding Uzbekistan) suffer from the 'lack of reliable statistical data on education and experience difficulties in their retrieval ' . Four countries (excluding Kazakhstan) have problems in 'assessing and controlling quality of education'. Experts from all five countries pointed to the 'shortage of trained teachers and auxiliary personnel', 'inadequacy of their qualifications, particularly in rural areas', a 'wide gap between staffing of urban and rural schools', the 'lack of school buildings and classes and their unsatisfactory condition', an 'acute shortage of textbooks' and 'two and three shifts schooling' as problems requiring priority action. The real cost of education in the present inflationary circumstances, according to the responses received on the H E P questionnaire, is 'far from being clear' everywhere (except Kazakhstan), the 'budget procedures are inefficient (lack of accountability, delays in transfers, etc.)'; there is a feeling, at least, in three countries (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan) that the 'breakdown of financial outlays for education has no clearly defined criterion', while in one country (Turkmenistan) there appears to be 'no single educational budget'.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that the education sector in all these countries is far too large relative to the level of national income. At the time of the Soviet Union, that discrepancy was overcome by means of huge transfers from the central to the local budgets, reaching from 20 to 40 per cent of the national revenues. With these financial subsidies gone and a drastic shrinking of the government revenues as a result of a deep economic recession, the share of education in their G D P typically fell by half and sometimes even more, while the G D P itself considerably shrunk in real terms. That alone would have been enough to cause major problems in any society.

But, in addition to financial constraints there are at least two more factors adversely affecting the development of education in the region. O n e factor is the departure of trained cadres from the public sector to more

29


lucrative occupations in the private sector. T h e other is the internal inadequacy of the education system inherited from the past to the requirements of a newly emerging economy. T h e departure of cadres affected both the teachers' corps and the administrative personnel of the education systems. T h e growing shortage of trained teachers tends to influence the quality of education, while the decrease of the number of experienced educational planners and administrators affects the efficiency of education as a social sector.

Apart from the attraction of higher paid jobs in the private sector, the reduction of central educational administration w a s due to a deliberate government policy aimed at achieving savings in public spending. In all republics of Central Asia, except Uzbekistan, the three government departments in charge of education (general, vocational and higher) were merged into one Ministry of Education, which in Kyrgyzstan is responsible for science as well. A s a result of restructuring, the professional staff of the Ministries of Education has been significantly cut (four times in Uzbekistan, according to the World B a n k , at least one-third in other countries). Departments and sectors in the Ministries of Education are small (about 3 to 5 people each), narrowly specialized and lack the critical mass to effectively manage sectoral activity, to say nothing of coping with n e w challenges of transition to a market e c o n o m y . "This reduction of central management frequently undertaken in countries during periods austerity," rightly points out a World B a n k report on Uzbekistan, "represents a false economy, since it weakens the capacity of the centre to lead the system toward greater efficiency"6.

Reductions across the board in the number of staff at the central administration level seriously affected the duties of those w h o stayed (up to 68 per cent of all cadres in Turkmenistan, according to the H E P questionnaire). Despite the fact that all countries tried to upgrade the skills of those engaged in educational planning and management in 1992 to 1994 (from over half of the total in Kazakhstan to four-fifths in Turkmenistan), the staff reductions significantly reduced the capacity of Central Asian republics to

6. Uzbekistan. A n agenda for economic reform. The World Bank, Washington D . C . , 1993, p. 203.

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reform their education systems. The situation varies a m o n g the countries, but there is a general feeling in the region that considerable damage was done to educational development by arbitrary staff reductions at the centre and that urgent efforts must be m a d e to strengthen the existing institutional framework.

O n e of the key foundations of the educational reforms carried out in the region during the past two years was a significant decentralization of educational management. A number of prerogatives of the central educational authorities, notably funding of primary and secondary education and vocational training, as well as school maintenance, have been passed on to the regional and district levels which were ill-equipped for the n e w tasks and, in addition, suffered themselves from the drain on their h u m a n resources and inability to raise sufficient revenues. A s a result of an excessive and inadequately prepared decentralization of management a number of problems, such as keeping teachers' salaries in line with overall pay rises and m a n y months' payment arrears accumulated at the local level, while the central authorities had no effective levers to redress the situation in the regions. A hasty decentralization of educational management led to controversial results, because a rational organization of relations between the centre and the regions is still a subject of continuous debate in all the countries, and appears to be no less complex a problem in the national republic than in the federal state. That is particularly true with regard to education, which is by nature based on single standards accepted throughout the entire country.

Although the situation in the region is far from being homogenous, the overall balance of staff reductions in the central administration and shifting controls in m a n y areas of educational management to the regional and local levels have been largely deceptive. The overall efficiency of the education and training system has decreased. The least damage appears to have been done in Uzbekistan, where two ministries of education have ultimately been preserved after the reorganization. In most other countries of the region there is n o w a clear desire to reverse the trend of excessive decentralization and strengthen the power of central management of the education system.

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2. Educational capacity building7

The process of economic and political transformation in the region will largely depend on the stock of national manpower skills. In order to expand and reorient this stock, the governments of the Central Asian countries should enhance the capacity of the education and training system by transmitting a n e w knowledge and adapting it to the needs of each country. This requires a considerable overhauling of the entire educational system in the light of international experience.

Changes are needed to cope with the principles of a market economy, a n e w system of ownership and a n e w set of values. That brings us to the problem of cadres recruitment for managing the education system. Strengthening management at the centre emerges as a priority measure to adapt the education system to the needs of nation-building and a market economy. Without strong central leadership no effective guidance could be provided to provincial and district authorities and no meaningful reform of education system would be carried out. If no adequate solution is found to solving the problem of central management, the future of education and all it implies for nation-building in Central Asia will be in jeopardy. O n e can distinguish two aspects in staffing the central educational administration -quantitative and qualitative. The first concerns a shortage of the trained staff in the public administration resulting from the departure of the most able and experienced specialists to the private sector. Keeping salaries of the staff at an appropriate level seems to be vital but not sufficient. Specific measures for training officials in public administration, including educational planning and management, should also be considered. The increased attention paid to management training for private enterprise throughout the region is a positive development, but that does not meet the needs for trained staff in the public administration. Adequate specialized training must be organized to solve that problem. The second aspect concerns the skills of the officials w h o are currently in charge of education throughout the region. These people were trained for solving problems very different from those with which they have to cope today on a day-to-day basis. The standard function

7 . Based on analysis of replies to the H E P Questionnaire, Paris, 1994.

32


of the education managers in the pre-independence era consisted mainly in implementing the directives received from the centre and reporting on the results achieved. Today the officials in charge of education are called on to deal with entirely n e w problems, such as:

Policy formulation for the development of education; » Overhauling the content of education and devising new curricula; • Analysis of the existing situation, forecasting future needs and

identification of priority tasks to be solved; « Preparation of a long-term plan and related short-term pro

grammes for the development of the school system; « Elaborating an appropriate management of the education system

and assessing its staff development needs; • Training a n e w generation of teachers and preparing n e w

textbooks and audio-visual aids; e Assessment of the results achieved.

These and m a n y other similar problems require particular skills and experience, which the overwhelming majority of the present educational administrators do not yet have. It is difficult to see h o w the development of education in the newly independent republics of Central Asia can be dealt with without improving the competence and basic skills of those w h o are responsible for it. Training the n e w staff to replace those w h o left and upgrading the skills of those w h o are currently employed to help them meet the challenge of the post-independence era seems to be an obvious answer to the problem of recruitment of cadres for managing the education development.

3. Needs for international assistance

Three issues arise in this connection:

(1) H o w m a n y people are required altogether to manage education in each of the Central Asian republics and what should be their educational level and qualification profile?

(2) H o w should the upgrading of the available skills best be done?

33


(3) W h e r e should the retraining take place?

T h e first issue should be treated on a long-term basis and requires special elaboration which goes beyond the scope of the present report. Wi th regard to the second and third issues, which are of immediate concern for the countries of the region and which could be dealt with on a short-term (one year) and mid-term basis (three to five years), the following approach m a y be suggested. Wi th regard to educational qualification profile no rigid recommendation should be m a d e , since in most countries educational planners and administrators are recruited from different professions. That is also true at present of Central Asian countries. S o m e indication as to the background of their education managers has been provided by the H E P questionnaire. According to this document , nearly all educational planners (from 9 0 per cent in Kazakhstan and 93 per cent in Turkmenistan to 100 per cent in Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan) have a higher education diploma and s o m e a doctorate degree (10 per cent in Kazakhstan, 11 per cent in Turkmenistan and 27 per cent in Tadjikistan).8 F r o m the point of view of the educational background most of the planners received either pedagogical training (70 per cent in Kyrgyzstan, 6 0 per cent in Turkmenistan and 45 per cent in Kazakhstan) or training in economics (45 per cent in Kazakhstan and 4 0 per cent in Uzbekistan). F r o m 10 to 2 0 per cent of the total have been trained for technical and engineering professions and the remaining 7 to 10 per cent received either agricultural or humanitarian education other than economics.9 This does not provide a conclusive answer as to what should be an ideal background for the educational planner but it does give an indication as to a possible mix of basic subjects required to learn specific skills of the educational planning. A s for the w a y s of tackling the problem of upgrading the skills of the present educational planners, administrators and managers, here are a few suggestions. According to the H E P questionnaire, the total number engaged in educational planning and management at the central level in the region is about 2 8 0 persons. Roughly one-third of them (slightly more than 9 0 persons) are on the staff of the Ministries of Education, the rest

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

34


belong to the Ministries of E c o n o m y and Finance, Ministries of Labour and units attached to the Prime Ministers' offices. There are also unfilled vacancies, estimated conservatively between 10 to 15 per cent of the total in the Ministries of Education alone, but there is little chance of them being filled soon.10 Given an equally urgent needs to upgrade the skills of officials dealing with education in the national administrations in all countries of the region, it seems that retraining should be done on a regional rather than a national basis. There are at least three arguments in favour of that stand: L & i

Firstly, the number of officials, broken d o w n by profession to be retrained in each particular country, is far too small to m a k e the retraining on a national basis economically worthwhile; Secondly, grouping officials by interest groups from the neighbouring countries would enlarge their view of the situation in the region as a whole. It would also enable them to share their experiences in dealing with similar problems and m a k e their learning more effective. Contacts established at the refresher course on a working level would be useful for future co-operation. Thirdly, a regional refresher course would m a k e a single foreign language of instruction perfectly appropriate. Given the present political and economic situation in the region, retraining of the selected national groups from all five countries m a y first be done on a rotation basis in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. A follow-up in the light of the results achieved m a y be considered later to be held in Tadjikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The initial target for the number of officials to be retrained over the next three years m a y be fixed at half the present number, that is, approximately 150 persons. The number to be retrained annually would thus be limited to 50 persons. The group itself would consist of three sub-groups of about 17 persons each, assembling specialists in statistics collection and retrieval, educational planning, financial and accountancy matters. The profile of the sub-groups m a y be further specified in accordance with the wishes of the interested countries. A three-week refresher course can

10. Ibid.

35


be held in 15 sessions, comprising lectures and seminars, which m a y include:

• 3 general sessions c o m m o n to all participants; e 10 sessions specially tailored to meet professional

interests of each of the three groups; e 2 concluding sessions c o m m o n to all.

Participants should undertake to share their newly acquired skills and techniques with their colleagues in the aftermath of the course.

36

III. Synthesis of questionnaires and reports of non-central Asian countries

by André Magnen*

A m o n g the six non-Central Asian countries participating in the Consultative Policy Forum (China, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan and Turkey), four -China, India, Mongolia and Turkey - filled out the official questionnaire, and all of them submitted a country paper in English. The present synthesis summarizes the main points raised in these questionnaires and country papers. The first section outlines the trends in educational planning and management, the second describes the institutions and staff involved in these activities, the third identifies training needs, and the fourth summarizes the information on national training capacities.

A s an introduction to these sections, some socio-economic and education indicators on the six countries concerned are given in Table 1. A s the table shows, there is a marked heterogeneity between the six countries in terms of population, area, wealth and economic development, and their educational level does not seem to bear any relation to their economic resources. For example, China, India and Pakistan have similar G N P per capita but, according to official statistics, in China 78 per cent of the people (68 per cent of the w o m e n ) are literate, in India 48 per cent of the people (34 per cent of the w o m e n ) are literate, and in Pakistan 31 per cent of the people (21 per cent of the w o m e n ) are literate. It is not surprising therefore that one should find as m a n y differences as similarities between the six countries as far as training needs for educational planning and administration are concerned.

* André Magnen is an IffiP Consultant with a vast expertise in educational management and finance.

37

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38

Synthesis of questionnaires and reports of non-central Asian countries

1. Current and expected trends in educational planning and management

1.1 Educational policies and general management

Changes in economic development policy

In China and Mongolia the present shift from a centrally planned to a socialist market economy entails changes in educational planning and management, particularly in educational subsectors such as vocational, technical and higher education, whose purpose is to train students for employment. Planning in these subsectors has henceforth to take into account the demand from private enterprises and self employment, from both a quantitative and qualitative point of view, as well as the fluctuation of manpower demand in accordance with the market.

Decentralization

A trend towards decentralization is found in all six countries. In some, its implementation is fairly advanced -for example, India, where the expansion of primary education and literacy courses is planned and monitored at district level through District Committees involving w o m e n . In China the administration of basic education is decentralized so as to adjust it to local needs. In Mongolia the policy is to organize teacher-training courses locally instead of centrally, and to involve local leaders in school management. In Turkey the training of teachers is chiefly done through in-service courses which are financed and planned centrally, but organized in each province, and the need to decentralize educational management at school level is also felt. The need to correct the excessive centralization of the education systems in Iran and Pakistan has been recognized.

39


Emphasis on expansion or quality

In all six countries education policies aim both at expansion and quality improvement. However, in China the emphasis seems to be more on quantitative expansion while in Mongolia it is on quality.

Private education

In Iran and Mongolia there is a new government policy to promote and support private education. The expansion of private education and the establishment of a partnership between public and private education are among the goals of the current education plan in Pakistan.

Vocational and technical education

The expansion of job-related training through apprenticeship, vocational or technical education is among the major government policies in China, Iran, Mongolia and Turkey.

12 Access to education

Preschool education

In China, Mongolia and Turkey the expansion of pre-school education is an important government goal.

Primary and secondary education

China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey intend to complete the universalization of primary education and continue the efforts already initiated to generalize junior secondary. In China the goal is nine-year compulsory education, and in Turkey eight-year compulsory education. In Mongolia primary education is universal and the plan is to complete the generalization of secondary education.

40


The means used by governments to increase access to primary and junior secondary education combine the construction of n e w schools, the deployment of n e w teachers and accompanying measures. For example:

e India plans to reduce the average walking distance to school to one kilometre by opening n e w schools in rural areas. The recruitment of female teachers is not mentioned, but India stresses the need to involve w o m e n in district committees.

e China is exempting poor people from paying textbook and school supply fees in order to increase enrolment rates.

e Iran is implementing an extensive plan to provide free student meals in deprived rural areas. This has already resulted in an increase in enrolments and a decrease in the dropout rates among the beneficiaries.

Adult literacy

India is devoting considerable efforts to district-based literacy and post-literacy programmes.

1.3 Quality of education

India, Iran and Mongolia intend to reduce the number of dropouts, but no mention is made of the means to be used. India and Mongolia are developing non-formal education for dropouts.

All six countries are implementing plans to improve the quality of primary and secondary education. A m o n g the means used or envisaged are:

• the development of educational research in order to analyze existing problems of educational quality and their causes;

e an improvement in teacher welfare and salaries to boost teacher morale (China, Mongolia, Turkey);

e the training of more qualified teachers (China, Mongolia); e the systematic in-service training of teachers (Turkey); e the adjustment of school timetables to fit students' occupational

needs, in particular for girls (China);

41


9 curriculum review to make it student-centred or flexible and adjust it to student interests (Iran, Mongolia, Turkey);

e the development, free distribution or subsidizing of textbooks and teaching aids (China, India, Iran, Mongolia, Turkey);

• the development of science, technology and computer training in secondary schools (Turkey);

• the partnership of vocational/technical schools with industries (Turkey);

e the establishment of special projects to improve the quality of education such as 'Operation Blackboard' in India which covers educational aids, redeployment of schoolteachers as well as school buildings.

1A Financing of education

Increased access to education and quality improvement will require increased government funding in the future: in China 4 per cent of G D P as against 2.3 per cent in 1990; in India 6 per cent of G D P as against 4 per cent in 1994. In Iran, government expenditure on education has recently increased, reaching 5.75 per cent of G D P in 1993 as against 4.1 per cent in 1990.

In addition to increased government funding, plans are being made to mobilize other resources for educational development: local funding through decentralization in China; private contributions in India; promotion of private education in Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan; income earned through schools' productive projects in Mongolia; and contributions from enterprises through a fund for the development of apprenticeship and vocational education in Turkey.

Cost-efficiency measures are also planned to generate economies: in India through systematic cost analysis at all levels; and in Mongolia through consolidation of small secondary schools.

42


1.5 Interface with Central Asian countries

A m o n g the trends reported above, those related to decentralization and mobilization of non-government resources for education are of particular interest for Central Asian countries.

Following the recent decentralization, Central Asian countries are looking for ways of co-ordinating central ministries and regional authorities with regard to the management of primary and secondary schools on the one hand, and the central level and autonomous higher education institutions on the other. A trend towards decentralization is observable in the six neighbouring countries, but the experience of India is m u c h more advanced and m a y be especially instructive for Central Asian countries with regard both to school education and to higher education. The experience of China in the administration of primary education and of Turkey in the management of in-service training m a y also be of interest.

Following the inability of central governments to continue assuming full responsibility for funding primary and secondary schools, Central Asian countries are looking for additional resources to complement local funding and maintain the previous norms of quality and internal efficiency. Efforts m a d e by several neighbouring countries in this direction m a y be worthwhile to investigate, for example, the efforts of:

e Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia in promoting the development of private education; India in eliciting other forms of private contributions;

e Mongolia in developing productive projects in schools; 9 Turkey in establishing a fund for the development of vocational

education; ° China, India and Turkey in introducing or maintaining user fees

for school textbooks.

43


2. Institutions and staff involved in educational planning and management

The major institutions involved in educational planning and management are government bodies.

At central level they include Ministries of Education or their equivalent (State Education Commission in China); Planning Commissions or their equivalent, with Education sections; and Ministries of Labour and/or Population. Ministries of Education usually have a Department of Planning (Board of Research, Planning and Co-ordination in Turkey). Sometimes other major bodies are involved in educational planning or management, such as Educational Management Information Centres (China, Pakistan), National Council for Educational Research and Training (India, specific responsibility for education surveys), National Institute for Educational Research (China), Policy Regulation Agency (Mongolia), Professional Education Observatory (Mongolia), separate bodies or Task forces in charge of particular projects (e.g. National Literacy Mission in India). Universities also have Education Planning offices and conduct research on educational planning (India).

At provincial level there are often smaller scale replications of central government agencies.

Educational planning tasks are shared between central and provincial agencies, usually predominanly at the central level. In all cases, however, school mapping is a provincial or local responsibility.

Given the size of the country, the preparation of five-year and ten-year educational plans is an enormous task in China. Preparation is preceded by extensive surveys organized by the State Education Commission and executed by the provincial agencies. The surveys and the preparation of the education plans mobilize hundreds of thousands people in the provinces under the guidance and monitoring of hundreds of central staff w h o constitute the backbone of the educational planning structure.

In India m u c h of the educational planning work is done by central government bodies in charge of project planning, co-ordination, appraisal and execution, including the National Literacy Mission amongst others.

Because Mongolia is a nomadic country, planning the location of schools has some special features. Every year the school m a p has to be

44


revised and decisions have to be taken on the opening or closing of primary and secondary schools, the establishment of boarding facilities and of double or triple shifts etc., in order to follow the movements of population groups.

O f course the number of specialists involved in educational planning will vary widely according to the population,.size and political organization of the country: 12 in Mongolia (of which three at upper level), 250 in Turkey (all of them at upper level), 3,300 in India (400 at upper level), several hundred thousands in China.

3 . Evaluation of training needs

A s stipulated in the guidelines, the country papers deal only with the needs for short-term training (i.e. less than a year). Unfortunately they do not indicate, even approximately, the number of staff to be trained but only the major areas and skills for which training is deemed necessary.

According to the four replies to the questionnaire, the personnel with the greatest needs for training is the executive staff of the Ministries of Education, starting with the upper level, except in China where the greatest needs are at middle level. The most appropriate ways to provide that training would be: first, international training seminars or workshops of short duration outside the country, and second, regional intensive courses/workshops in the country or in a neighbouring country.

The priority subjects of training to be provided are examined in detail here below.

3.1 Education policies and general management

In China and Mongolia, the shift to socialist market economies requires that education planners become familiar with educational planning methods used under market economies, including labour market analysis. They can be trained in these fields through courses at h o m e or abroad, or through exchanges of experience. Iran and Turkey also express similar needs concerning interface techniques between socio-economic development requirements and educational planning, particularly labour market analysis.

45


In the perspective of decentralization and democratization, education planners in India, Pakistan and Mongolia need training in methods of participative planning and co-ordination.

India and Turkey express a need for training in educational statistical methods, computerized Management Information Services and data-based decision-making; and China in the design and use of computer software for educational planning purposes.

Other needs are expressed by Turkey {diagnosis of education systems and education policy analysis), Iran (analysis of external efficiency), and Mongolia (school management and teacher management).

3.2 Access to education

A s mentioned above, all six countries have large programmes for expansion of primary and/or secondary education in order to reduce educational disparities between areas and between sexes. For this purpose, educational planners in Iran and Mongolia need training in techniques for planning the location of schools (school mapping). In Mongolia training in this field should take into consideration the nomadic character of the country.


Quality improvement is a c o m m o n goal of the six countries. Three of them mention training needs for this purpose. Pakistan considers training in educational planning for qualitative improvement as a priority for educational planners in the country. India and Turkey mention difficulties in assessment and control of educational quality in schools.

3.4 Financing of education

Training needs in educational financing focus on two different areas -cost analysis and project design and implementation. In India and Iran educational planners need training in cost analysis (including the costing of educational plans, cost/efficiency analysis, cost/benefit analysis and the design of more efficient budgetary procedures). India, Iran and Turkey express their need for training in project work: project identification and

46


preparation (Iran, Turkey), appraisal (India), implementation (India) and monitoring and evaluation (India, Iran).

3.5 Training methodology

Pakistan needs training of trainers in the following areas: methods to train a large number of officers at district level, development of teaching manuals, and interaction with educational planning institutions in other countries.

3.6 Interface with Central Asian countries

The major training needs in Central Asia are linked to the present educational crisis: the shift of national economies towards the market system; the decrease in public funding of education in real terms; the decentralization of the management and funding of primary and secondary education; the incompatibility of the present national information systems with international norms; and the call upon external donors to finance educational investments.

S o m e of these needs coincide with those of neighbouring countries:

• the need expressed by China and Mongolia for making their educational planners more familiar with educational planning methods used in countries operating under a market economy; the need of India, Pakistan and Mongolia for training in -participative planning and co-ordination with a view to decentralizing educational planning and management;

e the need of India, Turkey and China for training in educational statistics, management information systems and the design and use of computer software;

e the need of India and Iran for training in cost analysis and budget procedures;

e the need of India, Iran and Turkey for training in the design, implementation and monitoring of education projects.

47


4. National training capacities in educational planning and

management

India. A m o n g the six countries under review, India has the most developed system for specialized training in educational planning and administration. For this reason, information on training capacity in India is explained below in more detail than for the other countries.

The apex institution, the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration ( N I E P A ) , provides in-service training programmes to national officers working at central, state, district and institutional levels within the country both in school education and in higher education. Education officers from other developing countries are also admitted. T o focus its courses on relevant and crucial aspects, N I E P A conducts a research study before each n e w programme is launched. Forty-eight programmes with 1,155 participants were organized in 1992/93. A s this was insufficient to meet the demand of key persons working in educational planning and administration all over India, N I E P A also conducts 'training of trainers' programmes in collaboration with state and district professional training organizations, and thus builds up their capacity to conduct programmes for the officers in their respective areas.

Apart from N I E P A , there are institutes at central and state levels for providing generic training to all officers of central and state government through induction and in-service courses. These generic courses include training in administration, law, district and regional planning, project elaboration, appraisal, etc. Occasionally these central and state institutes are engaged in specific training pertaining to the education sector.

China

Although there is no national specialized training institution for educational planning and administration in China, the Chinese National Institute for Educational Research is performing some training functions in this field. However no information on its training capacity and experience is given

48


either in the questionnaire or in the Chinese country paper. In addition, some universities offer academic courses in educational planning and administration; short and medium-term courses can also be conducted in these universities.

In-service training for educational planning and administration staff is conducted in the field during the large- scale operations required all over the country for surveys on the demand for and education of qualified manpower, and for the formulation of the national education development plans. These operations mobilize hundreds of key staff and hundreds of thousands of auxiliary staff w h o thus receive some on-the-job training.

Pakistan

The A c a d e m y of Educational Planning and Management ( A E P A M ) , somewhat similar to N I E P A in India, provides in-service training courses of 1 week to 3 months to educational planners and administrators all over the country, with an annual output of 1,400 graduates. T w o provinces have decided to establish provincial academies of educational planning and administration to cater for their o w n needs at lower and medium levels.

In addition, the Allama Iqbal O p e n University ( A I O U ) offers a correspondence course in educational planning leading to an M . A . degree. The content, derived from H E P , P R O A P and N I E P A courses, has been redesigned to fit local needs.

Turkey

The Institute of Public Administration for Turkey and the Middle East, with a capacity of 150 persons, provides training for educational planners and administrators, but no data are given about the content, level and organization of training.

Education faculties of universities in big cities have the capacity to provide training for educational planners, but it would appear that this capacity is not used.

Formerly, in-service training courses were organized every year to meet the needs of the Ministry of National Education in co-operation with

49


Universities but, due to the economic crisis no such courses were organized in 1994.

On-the-job training takes place within education projects through the co-operation of national and foreign consultants.

S» Interface with Central Asian countries

T h e experience of N I E P A and possibly other specialized educational planning and administration institutes is of interest for Central Asian countries wishing to develop their o w n - or a c o m m o n - training institution. Further, N I E P A can provide training to selected education officers from other developing countries.

6e Conclusions

The training requirements of Central Asian countries for educational planning and administration, while specific because of the particular conditions of these countries, display m a n y similarities with those of neighbouring countries. This is due to the prevalence of several c o m m o n trends in the area: shift towards a market economy, decentralization, diversification of funding sources for education, closer monitoring of education systems. Despite language barriers, it is therefore in the interest of all countries in the region to develop closer links in order to take advantage of each other's potential contributions to enhance their respective capacities in the field of educational planning and administration.

H E P can help develop this co-operation by playing its o w n part in the training of trainers for this purpose.

50

IV. Planning and monitoring education systems

by Serge Péano

Education and the organization of education constitute vital challenges for a society. The education systems are complex as they have close links with other spheres of society such as culture, citizenship, social cohesion, work and employment, economic and social development, science and research.

Education concerns the whole social entity, it has long-term effects on individuals as well as on society as a whole, it mobilizes considerable human and material resources which should be properly delivered all over the respective country.

For all these reasons and whatever the administrative and organizational structures are, societies today delegate the political responsibility for national education systems to the public authorities, and as well as, in almost all countries, the management of a network of public educational institutions.

Within the framework of educational management modes, planning embraces all administrative processes and techniques which contribute to the organization of education services, in time and space.

The word planning has been associated, for a long time, with the rigid and centralized concept of management of education systems and with a bureaucratic functioning of State administration. The need to anticipate and to master the future of education systems in a more flexible manner, without neglecting the regulatory role of public authority facilitated the evolution of the concept of planning.

1. A m o d e r n conception of planning

The most simple image to describe what planning represents is driving a car.

51


T o drive a vehicle properly, it is better to:

(1) k n o w well the capacity of your vehicle and observe the environment (road conditions,...);

(2) k n o w where you want to go and define an itinerary;

(3) identify and anticipate events to come (obstacles, change of direction...), and analyze them to take action;

(4) drive the vehicle according to the information being received and its analysis;

(5) evaluate one's location as regards the destination and monitor the vehicles condition (speed, motor-fuel, noises...).

These observations can be helpful to define what could be modern planning of education systems to:

(1) Constantly observe the state of the education system (number of students, learning conditions, teachers, costs...) and the links with its environment (demography, labour market,...). Planning should, therefore, be based on a reliable information system which supply the decisionmakers and those in charge of educational management with the data they need;

(2) define policies, i.e. the med ium- and long-term objectives as well as the ways and means to reach them. The challenge is to define a clear strategy for the evolution of the education system. Long-term policy formulation allows to avoid short-sighted monitoring which would only be a succession of reactions to the immediate events;

52

Planning and monitoring education systems

(3) anticipate the evolution of the system in order to be able to assume the programming of required resources. Forecasting studies (forecasts) allow for a genuine provisional management, based on provisions regarding the state of the system (the number of students), to be able to anticipate the h u m a n , material and financial resources required;

(4) operate the system in order to articulate the political will in accordance with the measures in the area of management and administration of the system. Articulation between the planning and management of the education system includes all the elements of managing the immediate future: arrangements for a n e w school year, allocation of funds, managing the recruitment and deployment of teachers;

(5) follow up and evaluate the system developments. Follow up and evaluation permits to acquire the knowledge on the evaluation of the system, to control the implementation of the objectives and should allow to adapt the educational policies in conformity with the developments observed about the system and its environment.

This presentation of a concept of planning is intentionally done within the framework of an education system strongly dominated by the State, which is in charge of regulatory authority but which is also a manager of a network of public institutions. Depending on the choice of administrative mechanism, the operational modes of the State can be different on m a y , therefore, flexibly modify the description of the planning process.

53



To want

Policy formulation

• objectives • definition of policies

T o forecast

Forecasting studies

• anticipating needs • anticipating actions

To know

Information system

• state of the system • socio-economic environment

and demography

T o evaluate

Follow-up and evaluation

* follow-up of objectives ® evaluating development of

the system ® evaluating policies

T o act

Articulation with management

® programmation of funds • resource allocation ® projects

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2. Policy formulation

T o define a policy - an education system strategy - it is at one and the same time to formulate medium- and long-term objectives, and determine the actions required to reach them. These objectives normally correspond to the political will to develop the education systems; they should also take into account the constraints linked with demography, national economic capacities or the system's modes of operation. The choice of the objectives and policies should be made within the framework of 'the possible' or within the limits of what can reasonably be expected. It is also the result of discussions, negotiations with a variety of partners along the education system and, consequently, is not only or mainly technical studies.

The process of policy formulation should rely on a thorough knowledge of the system and the w a y it functions. The means of evaluation, the quantitative data provided by the information system results in a diagnosis of the education system. This inventory of the education system and the objectives set at the long-term should help to establish scenarios showing the evaluation simulated in terms of the number of students but also in terms of h u m a n and material resources necessary to accommodate the forecasted number of students and to reach these objectives.

A complete feasibility study of the scenario can validate the political objectives pursued or can bring about the revision of these objectives to m a k e them more coherent with the anticipated internal or external constraints. The phase of policy elaboration necessitates a dialogue between the planners of technical level w h o prepare the scenarios, and the political level represented by decision-makers w h o should take the strategic choices.

3. Forecasting studies (forecasts)

Forecasting studies aim to anticipate the future parameters of the education system and the necessary resources for its functioning, to prepare decisions and measures regarding management and allow for the implementation of a full-fledged provisional management.

Forecasting studies cover short- and long-term periods. O n a short-term basis, they are based on estimates which should delimit well the future

55


evolutions of the system. The short-term scenario should be coherent with the objectives and policies pursued on a long-term basis.

The quantification of the future parameters of the education system (number of students to accommodate, learning conditions) permits to determine the h u m a n (teaching and non teaching staff) and the material resources (buildings, classrooms,...) necessary.

These forecasting studies are helpful for decision making concerning programming financial resources (budget preparation), h u m a n resources (teacher recruitment) and buildings (construction).

4 . Articulation with m a n a g e m e n t

Planning should not limit itself only to an intellectual g a m e to fix objectives and establish the scenarios of evolution. It should be closely articulated with the process of management of the education system in order to m a k e the management decisions consistent with the overall policy. This articulation with management goes via:

(1) All actions of programming of financial resources, recruitment of staff or building construction. Budget preparation, recruitment decisions and investment plans should be implemented on the basis of the data of the forecasts;

(2) all the management actions to provide the resources to the regions and to the schools. The allocation of budgetary resources, school mapping, decisions to open or close the schools, teacher deployment - all these are the elements of the same overall process aimed to organize the immediate future of the schools network, to prepare the following school year;

(3) projects financed by external aid. The project structure is established to allow for the realisation of specific actions financed through the allocated resources, most often external. The projects can be the administrative and financial support to achieve certain objectives. Projects preparation should be linked with forecasting activities.

56


5. Follow-up and evaluation

The situation of the education system at a given time is a result of decisions taken by numerous actors, and the State cannot control all these decisions. The choices for schooling made by the families or the students, the decisions taken by regional or local authorities (in the context of decentralization or déconcentration), the actions of school principals or teachers -escape from the direct influence of the central ministry.

The policy-makers of education systems should be aware of the results of their actions; k n o w if the actions taken bore results, and to what extent the objectives pursued were reached.

The follow-up of the pursued objectives, in the form of statistical indicators, an evaluation of policies put into practice, an overall evaluation of the system, of the students or school performance, should help decisionmakers to adapt the pursued objectives and the actions taken, in conformity with the measures of the follow-up and evaluation.

6. T h e information systems

All steps of planning, policy formulation, forecasting studies, action on system management, follow up and evaluation, need a reliable information systems which can provide policy-makers, planners or managers with the necessary data.

The information systems should help to m a k e a complete diagnose of the state of the education system: student enrolment, learning conditions, infrastructure, teaching staff, costs, education system performance. It should also take into account the links between the education system and demography, economic and employment conditions. It should not limit itself only to purely quantitative aspects, or statistics but m a y include more qualitative aspects of the working conditions of staff; opinions of teachers and parents...

The information systems, whether it is built on the basis of statistical questionnaires or on operational data, should allow the policy-markers to take the necessary choices, the planners - to establish the evolution of scenarios, the administrative staff - to prepare the budget, to programme staff recruitment or constructions, to allocate resources along the system and to manage the network of schools.

57


7. A flexible concept of planning: monitoring

The whole process should not work in a rigid w a y . More and more often, important pieces of autonomy are delegated to regional authorities or schools themselves, allowing them to develop their o w n policies.

Monitoring of the education system by the State should allow it to influence the evolution of the system using means at its disposal, regulations, modalities to distribute national resources but also communications channels, to explain and to share the policy objectives a m o n g all the actors in the system. Communications, inside and outside of the system, should help to persuade school staff and its partners to consider the planning not as a constraint but as a coherent action aiming at the fulfilment of well identified objectives.

The mechanism of planning must be flexible. The evaluation of the system, the follow-up of its evolution should help to adapt the policies being implemented, the concept of monitoring includes the permanent actions of follow-up and evaluation of the education system and the operational modes allowing the decision-makers to adapt their policy choices and affect the evolutions in the system. The work of the planner is, therefore, a continuous work of management of information systems, of analysis and evaluation, of implementation of scenarios which helps the policy-markers to take decisions, and, to translate the political choices into the usable date for those in charge of the management of the education system.

58

Appendices

Appendix 1 П Е Р questionnaire used in the assessment

of training needs

Background

N o w a d a y s , practices of educational planning vary widely in different countries and regions from global indicative planning to what might be called strategic planning, and include other practices such as sub-sector planning, programming and project preparation for short-term objectives. In certain national contexts, planning offices continue to play their traditional role, i.e. on the basis of a more or less thorough diagnosis of the situation, they provide a framework for selecting and ranking priorities and programme actions to achieve objectives set by the government. They then m a k e the implementation process operational by developing projects, programming investments, arranging to train an adequate number of teachers, overseeing the production of teaching materials, monitoring and evaluating implementation of various programmes and projects, etc. In an increasing number of countries educational policy formulation, plan preparation and implementation are decentralized or deconcentrated between different public agencies, or d o w n to the level of the region, local c o m m u nity and schools, etc. In such contexts, planning units at the central level restrict themselves to carrying out a m i n i m u m of prospective work and coordination, doing research and gathering data, facilitating decision-making and policy formulation, and providing various support services to the decentralized levels, and performing some basic functions of monitoring and evaluation.

This brief questionnaire is designed to collect some preliminary data on the staff responsible for educational planning, administration and management at the central level of the public (state) system of education in selected

61

Appendix 1

countries of Central and Western Asia. For this purpose, evolving trends in staff development, which w e hope to identify with the help of the questionnaire, will be more important than exact numbers. Information provided by you will be synthesized at H E P and presented as background for discussions at the Consultative policy forum of training needs in these issues (Ashgabat, 6 - 9 September 1994).

Please feel free to use additional pages if you wish to provide us with more information.

62

Questionnaire

1. Description of public (state) bodies involved in educational planning in your country

1.1 Are the following educational planning tasks performed by the staff of the Ministry of Education or by any other public (state) body in your country? (if there is a separate Ministry of Higher Education, assume that this question relates, first of all, to primary and secondary education)

1.1.1 Educational policies and general management

1.1.1.1 Educational statistics and management information systems (statistical data bases, surveys, data processing, etc.)

YES* NO*

If yes, specify the Ministry(ies), department(s) and/or division(s) responsible for this broad function and which activities each of them performs

MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENTS/DIVISIONS ACTIVITIES

a) At the central level

1)

2)

b) At the regional/local level:

1)

2)

Please circle appropriate answer

63

Appendix 1

1.1.1.2 Diagnosis of the country's educational system, i.e. measuring access to different levels of education and student flows, calculating key indicators, carrying surveys on learning conditions, etc.

YES* NO*




1) • -

2)


1) -

2)


64

Questionnaire

1.1.1.3 Educational policy analysis, formulation and implementation (setting priorities and objectives, planning educational reforms, carrying out feasibility studies, evaluation studies)

YES* NO*




1) • -. •

2)


1)

2)


65

Appendix l

1.1.1.4 Analysis of labour market demand for qualified manpower in relation with supply from the education and training system, tracer studies of graduates (analysis of school leavers' career, etc.)

YES* NO*




1)

2)


1)

2) •


66

Questionnaire

1.1.2 Access to education

1.1.2.1 Planning and projecting school enrolments, subject to demographic growth

Y E S * NO*




1)

2)


1)

2)


67

Appendix 1

i. 1.2.2 Planning the location of schools, including the number of classrooms, shifts required

YES* NO*

if yes, specify the Ministry(ies), department(s) and/or division(s) responsible for this broad function and which activities each of them performs



1) • -

2) .................


1)

2) ...........


68

Questionnaire

1.1.3 Quality of education

1.1.3.1 Planning for the recruitment of teachers

YES* NO*




1)

2)


1) -

2)


69

Appendix 1

1.1.3.2 Planning provision of school textbooks (quantification of future needs, replacements, life-span, etc.)

YES* NO*




1)

2)


1)

2)


70

Questionnaire

1.1.4 Financing of education

1.1.4.1 Analysis of education costs and financing (for example, calculating unit costs)

YES* NO*




1)

2)


1)

2)


71

Appendix 1

1.1.4.2 Budgetary programming, wage bill of teachers and other current expenditure

Y E S * NO*




1)

2)


1) •• ...........

2) •


72

Questionnaire

1.1.4.3 Programming capital expenditure

Y E S * NO*




1)

2)


1)

2)


73

Appendix 1

1.1.4.4 Preparation, monitoring and evaluation of educational projects aimed at solving specific problems of education, in particular in cooperation with foreign donors

YES* NO*




1) •

2)


1)

2) ••


74

Questionnaire

1.2 Quantitative approximation of professional staff performing the educational planning tasks

Identify approximately the total number of professional staff at the central level performing the educational planning tasks described under section 1.1, per Ministry or other public (state) body

« in the Cabinet of Ministers (or Prime Minister's Office)

e in the Ministry of Education

» in the Ministry of Higher Education (if any)

e in the State Agency for Vocational Training (if any)

in the Ministry of Planning (if any)

in the Ministry of Labour

(or H u m a n Resource Development)

in the Ministry of Economics

• in the Ministry of Finance

о in the State Statistical Office » in any other bodies not mentioned above

(specify which)

TOTAL

If you feel a necessity to cover not only the central level, but also regional/local level, please feel free to do so.

75

Appendix 1

2. Description of major problems in education planning and m a n a g e m e n t

D o you think that the following problems exist in your country and deserve the attention of educational planners, in particular with regard to primary and secondary education?

For each of the problems, answer the question by Y E S or N O and by a short comment .

YES or N O COMMENTS

2.1 Educational policies and general management

long and mid-term implications of educational reforms, policies and innovations are not clear

e a lack of qualified staff in the Ministry of Education and other public (state) bodies in charge of educational planning and management at the central level

e a lack of reliable statistical data on education, difficulties in their processing and analysis

2.2 Access to education

a lack of teaching and non-teaching staff in schools in general

° there are discrepancies in teacher deployment between rural and urban areas, different provinces, etc.

students and teachers spend a lot of time travelling to reach schools

e number of school buildings and classrooms is insufficient and their conditions are inadequate


there are difficulties in assessment and control of quality of education

76

Questionnaire

YES or NO COMMENTS

qualifications of teachers do not correspond to the actual needs

• a lack of textbooks in general and/or they are outdated

e there are double and triple shifts in schools

2.4 Financing of education

9 real costs of education are not estimated or available

• allocation of education finance does not

have well defined criteria

e budgetary procedures are not efficient (lack of accountability, delays in transfer, etc.)

there is not enough experience in formulation, development and evaluation of educational projects, in particular with foreign donors

any other not mentioned above

77

Appendix 1

3. Characteristics of the professional staff in the Ministry of Education and other public (state) bodies involved in educational planning in your country

3.1 Distribute the total number of central level staff in the Ministry of Education and other public (state) bodies responsible for educational planning issues, as identified in question 1.2, into the following broad categories:

e upper level staff: in charge of policy formulation and decision-making (deputies to the minister or deputies to the permanent secretary, advisers, senior assistants, chiefs of departments/divisions/projects and similar level)

L_J

9 middle level staff: in charge of elaboration of initiating drafts & documents, their implementation, monitoring and evaluation (deputies to chiefs of departments/divisions/projects/sections, experts, regular staff members of these units, task forces and focal points, i.e. core staff of the Ministries)

LJ

e lower level staff: in charge of implementation and programme support (junior and operational staff, documentalists, etc.)

LJ

3.2 Indications concerning the professional mobility and level of educational attainment of the central level staff involved in educational planning in the Ministry of Education and other public (state) bodies in your country

L_J

e number of employees currently involved in educational planning whose professional duties changed considerably in 1992-1994 (due to restructuring of the Ministry, promotion, transfer, etc.)

LJ

e number of employees currently involved in educational planning w h o undertook specialized training courses to upgrade their qualifications in 1992-1994 (any types of on-the-job training, advanced courses, study tours, probations, etc. related to their duties)

LJ

78

Questionnaire

number of employees currently involved in educational planning with university and other higher education diplomas

LJ

number of employees currently involved in educational planning w h o hold Master, P h . D ; and other post-university degrees (doctor of sciences, academician, honorary degree, etc.)

LJ

3 Major type of higher education received by the executive staff of the Ministry of Education and other public (state) bodies involved in educational planning (approximately in %):

pedagogical (teacher training institute) — ... %

economics/finance/public administration — ... %

e engineering/technical sciences — ... %

other (specify which) — ... %

100%

What categories of executive staff (see item 3.1 for reference) involved in educational planning at present have the greatest need for (re)training to upgrade their qualifications and skills? M a r k your answer in the order of priority (1,2, etc.)

all categories of staff involved in educational planning in all Ministries and relevant public (state) bodies

mainly the executive staff of the Ministry of Education

• mainly the upper level staff

» mainly the middle level staff

mainly the lower level staff

Please substantiate your answer by appropriate comments.

79

Appendix I

W h a t types of training are most compatible with the professional responsibilities of the staff involved in educational planning (see item 3.1 for reference) in your country:

5.1 M a r k (in the order of priority - 1 , 2 , etc.) the types of (re)training which you consider most appropriate for the upper level staff involved in educational planning in your country:

e in-service training '—'

distance and self-learning based on a set of training materials '—'

» international training seminars and workshops of short duration outside the country '—'

e regional or sub-regional intensive courses and workshops

in the country or in a neighbouring country '—I

° in-depth training of long duration outside the country '—'

e other (specify which) '—'

5.2 M a r k (in the order of priority - 1 , 2 , etc.) the types of (re)training which you consider most appropriate for the middle level staff involved in educational planning in your country:

in-service training

distance and self-learning based on a set of training materials

international training seminars and workshops of short duration outside the country

regional or sub-regional intensive courses and workshops in the country or in a neighbouring country

in-depth training of long duration outside the country

other (specify which)

LJ

80

Questionnaire

5.3 M a r k (in the order of priority - 1 , 2 , etc.) the types of (re)training which you consider most appropriate for the lower level staff involved in educational planning in your country:

e in-service training '—'

о distance and self-learning based on a set of training materials '—'

» international training seminars and workshops of short duration outside the country '—'

» regional or sub-regional intensive courses and workshops

in the country or in a neighbouring country '—'

in-depth training of long duration outside the country '—'

e other (specify which) '—'

W h a t training capacities for the professional staff involved in educational planning are already available in your country?

national specialized training institutions '—'

• staff training capacities based with universities,

teacher training institutions, etc. '—'

e in-service intensive training courses '—'

e consultant services provided by foreign donors '—'

e self-learning materials '—'

e other (specify which) ^—I C a n you prioritize the contents of training/retraining to be provided to the above categories of staff? Consult section 1 of the questionnaire to select the contents of training most needed for your country.

THANK YOU

Appendix 2

Programme of the Forum

Ashgabat, 6 - 9 September 1994

M o n d a y , 5 September 1994

All day Arrival of the participants

Tuesday, 6 September 1994

Morning Arrival of the participants

17.00 Opening ceremony Inauguration by: His Excellency M r . B . Shikhmuradov, Deputy Chairman, Cabinet of Ministers Her Excellency Mrs. A . Rizaeva, Deputy Chairperson,

Cabinet of Ministers His Excellency M r . J-D. Karaev, Minister of Education

18.00 Cocktail

Wednesday, 7 September 1994

Morning Session 1 Introduction: objectives and programme of the Forum

Modern theory and practice of the use of planning methods for educational management. (Presentation by H E P , Background paper N o . 1)

Discussion

Coffee break

82

Programme

Session 2 Presentation of the country papers combining a brief diagnosis of current and expected trends in educational planning, management and administration and their implications in terms of training needs

Lunch

Afternoon

Session 3 Presentation of the country papers (cont'd)

Coffee break

Session 4 S u m m a r y of the country presentations, patterns and

trends

Thursday, 8 September 1994

Morning

Session 1 Assessment of training needs at the central level in Central and Western Asia: review of the questionnaires. (Presentation by IffiP, Background paper N o . 2)

Discussion

Coffee break

Session 2 Three working groups: Planning activities and defini

tion of required skills and training needs e Educational strategies and policies, plan formula

tion, implementation and monitoring 9 Provisional management: budget procedures,

recruitment of teachers, school mapping, programming of school construction, etc.

e Management of information systems

Lunch

83

Appendix 2

Afternoon Session 3

Coffee break

Reports of the working groups and synthesis of discussions

Brainstorming: Regional priorities in the area of training needs

Friday, 9 September 1994

Morning Session 1

Coffee break

Session 2

Lunch

Afternoon

Development of national capacities for training in educational planning, management and administration. (Presentation by ÍIEP, Background paper N o . 3).

Discussion

Discussion on design and contents of training programmes for Central and Western Asia

Closing ceremony

Field trip to a rural school

Departure of the participants

84

Appendix 3

Participants in the Forum

Ludmila Amanniyazova, Cabinet of Ministers, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Ganbat Bayasgalan, Ministry of Science and Education, Ulaan-Baatar, Mongolia.

Shamsha K . Berkimbaeva, Ministry of Education, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Y u n Cai, State Education Commission, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

Janat M . Djamankulov, Ministry of Education and Science, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Mehmet D u m a n , Ministry of National Education, Ankara, Turkey.

Maral Sh. Durdyeva, Ministry of Education, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Hamid Sapraf Esmaeilly, Ministry of Education, Teheran, Iran.

Vladimir P . Gubanov, Turkmen Institute for People's Economy, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

K y m e n I. Isakov, Government of the Republic, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Salimdjan Kaydaulov, Ministry of Education, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Abdul Aziz Khan, Ministry of Education, Islamabad, Pakistan.

P . V . Valsala G . Kutty, Ministry of H u m a n Resource Development, N e w Delhi, India.

Batyr B . Ovezov, Turkmen Polytechnic Institute, Ashgabat., Turkmenistan.

Abdulbashir Rashidov, Ministry of Education, Dushanbe, Tadjikistan.

85

Appendix 3

Eren В . Sahipov, Headquarters of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Sadir Salimov, Management Institute under the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

G . D . Sharma, National Institute of Education and Planning and Administration, N e w Delhi, India

Batsuur Tsedenbal, Ministry of Science and Education, Ulaan-Baatar, Mongolia

Xiaoqing Yang, State Education Commission, Beijing, People's Republic of China

International Institute for Educational Planning (HEP)

Igor Kitaev, Programme Specialist.

Serge Péano, Programme Specialist.

86

Appendix 4

List of Papers presented at the Forum

I. Central Asian Countries

Education and Educational Planning and Management in Turkmenistan by M m e Maral Sh.Durdyeva, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Education, M m e Ludmila Ammanyazova, Chief of Department, Institute of Economics with a contribution by M r . Kerim Agaev, Deputy Chief, Department of Science and Education, Ashgabat

Development of Education in Kazakhstan by M r . Eren В . Sahipov, Education Cluster, Cabinet of Ministers, Almaty

Critical Issues in Education System in Kazakhstan by M m e Shamsha K . Berkimbaeva, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education and M r . Salimjan M.Kaydaulov, Chief of Planning and Economics Department, Ministry of Education, Almaty

Development of Education System in Tadjikistan by M r . A . N . Schwarz and M r . Y . R . Yousufbekov, Cabinet of Ministers and M r . A . R . Rashidov, First Vice-Minister, Ministry of Education, Dushanbe

Development of Education System in Kyrgyzstan by M r . K u m e n Isakov, Deputy Chief, Department of Social Affairs, Office of the Government and M r . Djanat NJamankulov, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Education, Bishkek

Development of Education and Educational Planning in Uzbekistan by Prof. S. A . Salimov, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent

87

Appendix 4

IL Non-central Asian Countries

General Situation and the Training for Educational Planners in China by M s . Yang Xiao-qing and M r . Cai Yun , Division of Planning, Department of Planning and Capital Construction, State Education Commission, Beijing

Educational Development, Policy, Programme of Action and Planning and Management Impratives in India by Dr. G . D . Sharma, Head and Senior Fellow, Higher Education Unit, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, and Mrs . P . V . V . G . Kutty, Deputy Secretary, Department of Education, Ministry of H u m a n Resource Development, N e w Delhi

Education in the Islamic Republic of Iran by M r . Sarif Esmaeili-Hamid, Senior Expert in Educational Planning, Department of Planning and Development, Ministry of Education, Tehran

Current Situation and Further Tasks of Mongolian Education by M r . Bayasgaian Ganbat, Director, Department of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Education, and M r . Batsuur Tsedenbal, Director, Department of Administration, Ministry of Science and Education, Ulaan-Baatar

Assessment of Training Needs in the Areas of Educational Planning and Management in Pakistan by Dr. Abdul Aziz Khan, Joint Educational Adviser, Ministry of Education, Islamabad

Development of Education in Turkey by M r . Mehmet D u m a n , Section Director for United Nations, General Directorate for External Relations, Ministry of National Education, Ankara

88

List of Papers

III. H E P Background Papers

1. Modern theory and practice of the use of planning methods for educational management

Presentation by H E P .

2 . Assessment of training needs at the central level in Central and Western Asia: review of the questionnaire

Presentation by IIEP.

3. Development of national capacities for training in educational planning, management and administration

Presentation by IIEP.

89

П Е Р publications and documents

More than 750 titles on all aspects of educational planning have been published by the International Institute for Educational Planning, A comprehensive catalogue, giving details of their availability, includes research reports, case studies, seminar documents, training materials, occasional papers and reference books in the following subject categories:

Economics of education, costs and financing.

Manpower and employment

Demographic studies.

The location of schools (school map) and sub-national planning.

Administration and management.

Curriculum development and evaluation.

Educational technology.

Primary, secondary and higher education.

Vocational and technical education.

Non-formal, out-of-school, adult and rural education.

Copies of the catalogue may be obtained from the H E P Publications Unit on request.

T h e International Institute for Educational Planning

The International Institute for Educational Planning (HEP) is an international centre for advanced training and research in the field of educational planning. It was established by U N E S C O in 1963 and is financed by U N E S C O and by voluntary contributions from M e m b e r States. In recent years the following M e m b e r States have provided voluntary contributions to the Institute: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, India, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Venezuela.

The Institute's aim is to contribute to the development of education throughout the world, by expanding both knowledge and the supply of competent professionals in the field of educational planning. In this endeavour the Institute co-operates with interested training and research organizations in M e m b e r States. The Governing Board of the H E P , which approves the Institute's programme and budget, consists of a m a x i m u m of eight elected members and four members designated by the United Nations Organization and certain of its specialized agencies and institutes.

Chairman: Lennart Wohlgemuth (Sweden), Director, Nordic Institute of African Studies,

Uppsala.

Designated Members: K. Y. Amoako, Director, Education and Social Policy Department, The World

Bank. Harka Gurung, Director, Asian and Pacific Development Centre ( A P D C ) , Kuala

Lumpur. Cristian Ossa, Director, Macroeconomic and Social Policy, Analysis Division,

Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, United Nations.

Tito Egargo Contado, Chief, Agricultural Education and Extension Group, H u m a n Resources, Institutions and Agrarian Reform Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) .

Elected Members: Isao Amagi (Japan), Special Adviser to the Minister of Education, Science and

Culture, Tokyo. Mohamed Dowidar (Egypt), Professor and President of the Department of

Economics, Faculty of L a w , University of Alexandria, Alexandria. Kabiru Kinyanjui (Kenya), Senior Programme Officer, Social Sciences Division,

International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Nairobi. Tamas Kozma (Hungary), Director-General, Hungarian Institute for Educational

Research, Budapest. Yolanda M. Rojas (Costa Rica), Academic Vice-Rector, University of Costa

Rica, San José. Michel Vernières (France), Professor of Economic Sciences, University of

Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris.

Inquiries about the Institute should be addressed to: The Office of the Director, International Institute for Educational Planning, 7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix, 75116 Paris, France.

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