Capacity Development for Education Systems in Fragile Contexts

Lynn Davies

Centre for International Education and Research, University of Birmingham in collaboration with the European Training Foundation (ETF) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

Outline

The fragility debate Education issues in fragile contexts Dimensions of CD improvement Choices in state-building Roles and positioning of donors Ways forward at country, regional

and global level

Category Scenario

Declining

Arrested developmentProlonged crisis or impasse; stagnation with low levels of effectiveness and legitimacy

DeteriorationDeclining levels of governance effectiveness leading to lower legitimacy, rising risk of violence or collapse

Stabilising

Post-conflict transitionLow levels of effectiveness, transitory legitimacy, recent violence, humanitarian crisis

Early recovery

Gradual improvement; rising levels of effectiveness and legitimacy, declining aid needs, emergence from conflict or other crises

Features of fragility

Deficits in governance Inability to maintain security Inability to meet essential needs Polarisation of identities Opaque decision making Erosion of people’s trust in

government and its institutions

Two key gaps in fragile contexts

Lack of capacity (territorial control and presence; competence in economic and administrative management)

Lack of political will to perform key functions for human welfare

NB: Capacity development is about both of these

Education issues in fragile contexts

Legitimacy of the state and state institutions – competing goals for education

Extremes of inequality and inequity Education governance, corruption Conflict and security: the

contribution of education to both

Dimensions of CD ‘improvement’

Social, economic and political context

Workplace culture

Organisational Performance

Individual officers

Which dimension to tackle?

Organisational change (regulation, efficiency, budgeting, hiring of staff, job descriptions, decentralisation)

Institutional change (hidden cultures of work and relationships, deference/authority patterns, nepotism, ‘allowance cultures’)

Dis/enabling environment (political will, ethnic/religious tensions, community contestation, corruption)

State-building

Increasing difficulty as move from individual CD to political CD, but crucial that ‘outer layer’ is not ignored

State building has to be the major task CD is thus about delicate choices and

combinations of dimension CD choices are also about which sector

to focus on Building of social capital equally

important to human/economic capital

STATE

ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Aim: Ministry of Education efficiency and transparency

Aim: Locality efficiency and transparency

Aim: Trust and participation in government; social capital

Aim: Building human capital

Regulation AccountabilityPlanning and policy makingFinancial managementInformation flowsMarket analysisMonitoring and evaluation

Local planningRegulationCitizen or community participation and ownership of educationAccountabilityInnovation

Political literacyCitizenship educationLegal educationMedia educationHuman rights educationCorruption educationNon-violence Empowerment of females

LiteracyGeneric technical skillsProfessionalismProblem-solvingEntrepreneurshipHealth educationSpecific vocational training

Administrative sites for CD

Planning realistic national policies Drawing up workable regulatory

and legal frameworks for schools Mechanisms for accountability,

information flows Independent Service Authorities? Building local capacity and

leadership, child-friendly schools/community initiatives

Educational sites for CD

Teacher professional development (pedagogy, professionalism, non-violence, incentives)

Curriculum development (Disaster Risk Reduction, history, citizenship, rights, entrepreneurship)

Skills and capital (youth, vocational education, women, adult literacy)

Roles and positioning of donors

1. Methodological responses:

Principles; processes; levels; entry points; assessment tools

Building back better, spaces for intervention

2. Choices around donor alignment

Systems and policy alignment Systems alignment (where

governments lack legitimacy) Policy alignment (where institutions

have disintegrated, but government have embarked on reforms)

Shadow alignment (institutional and political breakdown advanced)

3. Working with non-state actors

‘Representatives’ of civil society, change agents, unions, scholars, journalists, NGOs

But may be conflict between stakeholders; religion versus secular forces; capital versus rural areas; legitimacy of NGOs

CD for opposition groups?

Ways forward 1: Country level

Analysis, identifying fragile characteristics and how education intervention and education CD might tackle them

Standards, indicators and monitoring, for example of safe schools, non-violence, peace-building, vocational education

Issue based CD across levels

Fragilefeature

Central level CD

Local level CD Teacher CD

e.g.Inter-group conflict

• Creating education policy for ethnic and religious harmony• Conflict analysis• Monitoring and evaluation of peace education

• Civic education in schools and HE• Child-friendly schools•Training of disadvantaged or minority groups in school governance

•Civic education•Teaching controversial issues•Conflict resolution•Inclusive education

Issue based CD across levels

Fragile feature

Central level CD

Local level CD Teacher CD

Lack of govern-ment legitimacy and public disengage-ment

Understanding of democratic governance

Realistic target setting

Equitable financing formulae

Demands for, and use of information flows

Citizen feedback

Voter education

Education for democracy

Media education

Ways forward 2: Regional level

CD in dealing with refugees, cross-border movements, ex-combatants, labour migration, accreditation

Establishing and supporting regional networks

Regional initiatives can address national issues in a less politically sensitive way

Ways forward 3: Global level

Global networks Minimum Standards Cluster approaches CD in working with international

organisations Networks of ‘experts’ in CD? FTI, global conditionalities?

ConclusionsPrinciples: More sustainable CD needs:

1. Honest analyses of fragility across all dimensions – and existing capacity

2. Initiatives linked to target of breaking cycles and amplifications of fragility and restoring core state functions; coherence

3. Recognition that CD is social-psychological, not just systems, about behaviour, status and survival, agendas

4. Targeting people who can effect change5. Having indicators of success, m&e, linked

to wider state-building indicators; research.

Areas for action

Tackling regulation, but also workplace culture

CD for those in youth employment, women’s groups etc, but also labour market analysis

CD for teachers must include how to promote political literacy, media analysis and dealing with controversial issues

Areas for reflection: 1

1. Which dimensions, focus points, stakeholders, methodological responses?

2. How to put into place a research programme?

3. How can regulation of educational institutions be improved? Should there be new regulatory bodies?

Areas for reflection: 2

4. What are long and short term indicators of success in CD for state-building?

5. Could cross-sectoral CD be more effective than just education?

6. How can incentives be assured for recipients of CD – people and governments?

7. Should FTI be extended to fragile states? Who owns CD?