As Progress calls for ‘the empowerment of the citizen’ in public services in Britain, a pilot study in rural Angola reveals how, with a little help, school communities can be empowered to make change happen for themselves.
After 27 years, the conflict in Angola left over 1 million dead, 3 million displaced and 400,000 refugees in neighbouring countries. The ‘vacuum in provision’ that resulted left 1.2 million children out of school and living in vulnerable conditions, with a primary school completion rate of just 27 per cent, one of the lowest in Africa. This made Angola one of the countries most at risk of failing to achieve the target of universal primary education by 2015, set out in the Millennium Development Goals.
In response, Education Action, a London based NGO, developed a pilot study with CfBT Education Trust, the Centre for International Education Research (CIER), University of Birmingham, and Angolan NGOs, surveying 87 schools in Benguela province, south Angola. This study found the following weaknesses, not dissimilar to those faced by educationalists around the world, though on a much larger scale: limited and remote education authority support and investment in rural schools; poor teaching and learning; poor attendance; limited learning resources; and too many children out of school.
One common response, reflected in the huge amounts of bilateral aid pledged, is to throw money at education. Providing quality education undoubtedly costs oney. But this is often wasted if little attention is paid to local needs and opinions as to how that money should be spent.
Our school survey found that schools in rural Angola responded to this lack of control by maintaining a ‘survivalist’ culture, reacting to change rather than initiating it – something which may sound familiar to readers of Progress’ recent report on public services.
Encouraging citizens (whether students, parents or teachers) to make their own decisions about the changes they wished to see in their schools became a central focus of Education Action’s work in Angola, as we facilitated a ‘school change’ project with CfBT, CIER and our Angolan partners, growing out of our initial study.
What did ‘school change’ mean? Ten pilot schools were asked to identify possible changes that wouldn’t require outside resources, and were given support and training to facilitate this process. The majority successfully went on to implement changes which broadly fell into two categories: improvements to teacher professionalism and effectiveness (including improvements in teacher punctuality, attendance and preparation of lessons, and greater use of active teaching methods); and physical improvements to school buildings and facilities (with the local community involved in constructing new classrooms, offices, and teacher housing).
While on face value, these activities are routine in British schools and in other developed contexts, what was significant was that this project demonstrated how to bring about a change in school culture. Evidence emerged of new perceptions of the capabilities of students to participate in learning and decision making; parental involvement and participation in schools increased; teachers displayed increased motivation and focus on learning outcomes; and overall the habit of taking initiative and making changes to achieve quality education developed among participants.
It is important to be clear – we did not conclude that schools in the poorest countries and areas do not need increased funding. They do and this should be an urgent priority for policymakers everywhere; too few children in post-conflict countries have access to a classroom, let alone textbooks or a well-trained teacher. But at the same time, citizens and local communities need greater control over how funding is spent, so that they are empowered to identify the changes they want to make and then supported to act on them. This is what’s required for improvements in public services to last.
Progress has kick-started an important debate on the future of public services and the need to put citizens in control. Let’s ensure that it reaches beyond the UK’s borders – and learns from the experiences of others.