Technical Assistance Scheme in Enhancing School Based Management Level of Practice of Public Schools

Abstract

To achieve the Education for All (EFA) objectives by 2015, the Department of Education is pursuing policy reforms under the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA). Key Reform Thrust 1 (KRT1) of BESRA is School-Based Management (SBM). SBM underscores the empowerment of key stakeholders in school communities to enable them to actively participate in the continuous improvement of schools towards the attainment of higher pupil/student learning outcomes. A decision as to where and into what aspect of school management and processes a school and its stakeholders may start to build upon, as prescribed in the SBM Scale of Practice, makes assessment imperative. Assessment is also important to determine the directions of improvements to attain the mature level of SBM practice. For this reason, the Assessment of Level for three years was conducted to attain the real essence of the School Based Management in the school. The research is descriptive wherein the responses of the participants were collected through a research-made questionnaire. Data gathered were properly tabulated, computed and interpreted. Follow-up unstructured interview was conducted to validate responses. The researcher identified the varied schema of the participants regarding the School Based Management Practices. The participants considered technical assistance framework as very important scheme in enhancing the SBM Level of Practice of various in the district. The proposed Technical Assistance Framework may be of great help in continuously assisting the school heads in terms of School Based Management Practice. Majority of the schools are in the maturing phase of SBM level. The schools experienced various challenges and difficulties such as confusion about the implementation of school programs and projects, ineffective learning approaches, lack of learning materials, confusion about new roles and responsibilities of GPTA officers, an increased need for classroom due to the increasing population of the learners, lack of stakeholder’s participation in the implementation of school programs and projects and inappropriate assessment tools for teaching and learning. The study will be of great help to Public Schools District Supervisors who augmented to enhance their implementation of TA to build capacity of school heads in managing the schools thru adhering the principles of the school based management practice. This is an overture to the development of scheme in assisting schools meet the advancing level of SBM practice.