School-Based Education Improvement Initiatives : The Experience and Options for Sri Lanka

Most developing countries following independence opted for strong central control and direction of the education system, partly because of limited resources and the need to plan carefully and partly because of a felt need to create a sense of national unity among diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. This meant that key areas of control and decision making, such as management of resources and personnel, curriculum, evaluation of performance, and accountability, were under central rather than local control. The empowerment of schools has two major components: school-based management and the involvement of parents and communities in the work of schools. The emphasis given to one or other of these components depends on general national policy, local traditions, and context, with the result that almost every system is unique when one considers who makes decisions, the actual decisions that are made, the nature of those decisions, the level at which they are made, and relationships between levels. Thus, there are 'strong' and 'weak' versions of school empowerment. In some, only a single area of autonomy is granted to schools, while in others the community management of schools, even the establishment of schools, is encouraged (World Bank, 2007). In this paper, the author will briefly outline the history of school empowerment in Sri Lanka with particular reference to the Program for School Improvement (PSI), which commenced in 2006. The final section of the paper contains suggestions designed to strengthen process of empowering Sri Lankan schools and improving education outcomes.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2013-05
Subjects:	ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, ACCESS TO LEARNING, ADULTS, ASSESSING STUDENT, ASSESSMENT OF ACHIEVEMENT, ATTENDANCE OF PUPILS, ATTENDANCE RATES, BUSINESS STUDIES, CENTRALLY DETERMINED FRAMEWORK, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOM ASSISTANTS, CLASSROOM LEVEL, COGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENT, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, CORE CURRICULUM, CRITICAL THINKING, CULTURAL NEEDS, CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, CURRICULUM, DECISION MAKING, DEMOCRATIZATION, DROPOUT RATES, EDUCATION AUTHORITIES, EDUCATION DIVISIONS, EDUCATION FOR ALL, EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT, EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, EDUCATION MANAGEMENT, EDUCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, EDUCATION OF CHILDREN, EDUCATION OFFICIALS, EDUCATION OUTCOMES, EDUCATION POLICIES, EDUCATION QUALITY, EDUCATION REFORM, EDUCATION REFORMS, EDUCATION SECTOR, EDUCATION SECTOR DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION SERVICES, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, EDUCATIONAL CHANGE, EDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATION, EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE, EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT, EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, EDUCATIONAL PLANNERS, EDUCATIONAL PLANNING, EDUCATIONAL POLICY, EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, EDUCATIONAL REVIEW, EFFECTIVE EDUCATION, EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, EMPLOYMENT, EVALUATION OF EDUCATION, EXPENDITURES, FORMULA FUNDING, FULL PARTICIPATION, GENERAL EDUCATION, GENERIC SKILLS, HIGHER EDUCATION, HOME INSTRUCTION, HOMEWORK, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES, INSTRUCTION, INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES, INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERVENTIONS, LEADERSHIP, LEARNING COMMUNITIES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LEARNING PROCESS, LECTURES, LIFE SKILLS, LINGUISTIC GROUPS, LITERACY, LITERATURE, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, MOVEMENT, NATIONAL ASSESSMENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION, NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY, NUTRITION, PAPERS, PARENT ASSOCIATIONS, PARENT INVOLVEMENT, PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION, PARENTAL EDUCATION, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOLS, PARTICIPATION OF PARENTS, PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION, PEDAGOGY, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS, PROBLEM SOLVING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PROFICIENCY, PROVINCIAL EDUCATION, PROVISION OF EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, QUALITY ASSURANCE, QUALITY SCHOOLS, READING, REPETITION, REPETITION RATES, RURAL SCHOOLS, SAFETY, SCHOLASTIC PERFORMANCE, SCHOOL ACTIVITIES, SCHOOL AUTONOMY, SCHOOL BOARDS, SCHOOL CALENDAR, SCHOOL COMMITTEES, SCHOOL COMMUNITY, SCHOOL DECISION, SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT, SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEES, SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN, SCHOOL DROPOUT, SCHOOL EDUCATION, SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS, SCHOOL EFFICIENCY, SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, SCHOOL GOVERNANCE, SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT, SCHOOL LEARNING, SCHOOL LEVEL, SCHOOL LEVELS, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES, SCHOOL PERSONNEL, SCHOOL POLICIES, SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, SCHOOL PROGRAMS, SCHOOL REFORM, SCHOOL SIZE, SCHOOL STAFF, SCHOOL SYSTEM, SCHOOL TEACHERS, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLING ACCESS, SCHOOLS, SCHOOL­LEVEL, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT, SMALL SCHOOLS, SOCIAL COHESION, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL GROUPS, SOCIETY, SPECIAL EDUCATION, SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS, SPECIAL NEEDS, STANDARDIZED TESTS, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS, STUDENT LEARNING, STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES, STUDENT PERFORMANCE, STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES, SYLLABUSES, TEACHER, TEACHER BEHAVIOR, TEACHER DEVELOPMENT, TEACHER PARTICIPATION, TEACHER PERFORMANCE, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TEACHING METHODS, TEACHING-LEARNING, TEST SCORES, TEXTBOOKS, URBAN EDUCATION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/05/17723819/school-based-education-improvement-initiatives-experience-options-sri-lanka https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16561
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