EDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATION

EDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATION

EDUCATION IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION: ISSUES, CONCERNS AND PROSPECTS Volume 8 Series Editors-in-Chief: Dr. Rupert Maclean, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Education, Bonn; and Ryo Watanabe, National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) of Japan, Tokyo Editorial Board Robyn Baker, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington, New Zealand Dr. Boediono, National Office for Research and Development, Ministry of National Education, Indonesia Professor Yin Cheong Cheng, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, China Dr. Wendy Duncan, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines Professor John Keeves, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Dr. Zhou Mansheng, National Centre for Educational Development Research, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China Professor Colin Power, Graduate School of Education, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Professor J. S. Rajput, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India Professor Konai Helu Thaman, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Advisory Board Professor Mark Bray, Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, China; Dr. Agnes Chang, National Institute of Education, Singapore; Dr. Nguyen Huu Chau, National Institute for Educational Sciences, Vietnam; Professor John Fien, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; Professor Leticia Ho, University of the Philippines, Manila; Dr. Inoira Lilamaniu Ginige, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka; Professor Phillip Hughes, ANU Centre for UNESCO, Canberra, Australia; Dr. Inayatullah, Pakistan Association for Continuing and Adult Education, Karachi; Dr. Rung Kaewdang, Office of the National Education Commission, Bangkok. Thailand; Dr. Chong-Jae Lee, Korean Educational Development Institute, Seoul; Dr. Molly Lee, UNESCO, Bangkok, Thailand; Naing Yee Mar, Glocorp, The Netherlands; Mausooma Jaleel, Maldives College of Higher Education, Male; Professor Geoff Masters, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne; Dr. Victor Ordonez, Senior Education Fellow, East-West Center, Honolulu; Dr. Khamphay Sisavanh, National Research Institute of Educational Sciences, Ministry of Education, Lao PDR; Dr. Max Walsh, Secondary Education Project, Manila, Philippines.

Educational Decentralization Asian Experiences and Conceptual Contributions Edited by CHRISTOPHER BJORK Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, U.S.A. University

ISBN-10 1-4020-4357-0 (PB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4357-4 (PB) ISBN-10 1-4020-4356-2 (HB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4356-7 (HB) ISBN-10 1-4020-4358-9 (e-book) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4358-1 (e-book) Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. www.springer.com Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2006 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed in the Netherlands.

SERIES SCOPE The purpose of this Series is to meet the needs of those interested in an in-depth analysis of current developments in education and schooling in the vast and diverse Asia-Pacific Region. The Series will be invaluable for educational researchers, policy makers and practitioners, who want to better understand the major issues, concerns and prospects regarding educational developments in the Asia-Pacific region. The Series complements the Handbook of Educational Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, with the elaboration of specific topics, themes and case studies in greater breadth and depth than is possible in the Handbook. Topics to be covered in the Series include: secondary education reform; reorientation of primary education to achieve education for all; re-engineering education for change; the arts in education; evaluation and assessment; the moral curriculum and values education; technical and vocational education for the world of work; teachers and teaching in society; organisation and management of education; education in rural and remote areas; and, education of the disadvantaged. Although specifically focusing on major educational innovations for development in the Asia-Pacific region, the Series is directed at an international audience. The Series Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, and the Handbook of Educational Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, are both publications of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association. Those interested in obtaining more information about the Monograph Series, or who wish to explore the possibility of contributing a manuscript, should (in the first instance) contact the publishers. Books published to date in the series: 1. Young People and the Environment: An Asia-Pacific Perspective Editors: John Fien, David Yenken and Helen Sykes 2. Asian Migrants and Education: The Tensions of Education in Immigrant Societies and among Migrant Groups Editors: Michael W. Charney, Brenda S.A. Yeoh and Tong Chee Kiong 3. Reform of Teacher Education in the Asia-Pacific in the New Millennium: Trends and Challenges Editors: Yin C. Cheng, King W. Chow and Magdalena M. Mok 4. Rasch Measurement: A Book of Exemplars Papers in Honour of John P. Keeves Editors: Sivakumar Alagumalai, David D. Curtis, Njora Hungi 5. Reforming Learning: Issues, Concepts and Practices in the Asian-Pacific Region Editors: Chi-Hung Ng and Peter Renshaw, in press. 6. New Paradigm for Re-engineering Education: Globalization, Localization and Individualization Yin Cheong Cheng v

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by the Series Editors Contributors ix xi Introduction 1 Christopher Bjork 1. Strategies of Educational Decentralization: Key Questions and Core Issues 9 E. Mark Hanson 2. Walking on Three Legs: Centralization, Decentralization, and Recentralization in Chinese Education 27 John N. Hawkins 3. The Effects of Local Interpretation of Decentralization Policy on School Autonomy in Guangdong Province of China 43 Jocelyn Lai-ngok Wong 4. Limited Decentralization in the Singapore Education System 59 Jason Tan 5. Building and Diversifying Education Systems: Evolving Patterns and Contrasting Trends in Hong Kong and Macau 71 Mark Bray and Kwok-Chun Tang 6. Trends and Issues in Deregulation and Decentralization of Educational Administration in Japan 97 Hiromitsu Muta 7. Educational Decentralization in Korea: Major Issues and Controversies 115 Ee-gyeong Kim 8. Transferring Authority to Local School Communities in Indonesia: Ambitious Plans, Mixed Results 129 Christopher Bjork 9. Centralized Decentralization in Malaysian Education 149 Molly N. N. Lee 10. Decentralization of Educational Governance in India: Trends and Issues 159 R. Govinda and Madhumita Bandyopadhyay 11. Does Rhetoric Always Match Reality? An Overview of Educational Decentralization in Kerala, India 177 M. V. Mukundan vii

viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 12. Decentralization and Devolution in Pakistan: Educational Implications of the Praetorian Interpretation 191 Baela Raza Jamil 13. Efforts Toward Decentralization: Ideology vs. Reality The Sri Lankan Case 211 Wilfred J. Perera Conclusion: Connecting Theory and Practice in Efforts to Decentralize Education Systems in Asia 223 Christopher Bjork Index 243

INTRODUCTION BY THE SERIES EDITORS This timely book examines the important matter of whether or not the localization of administrative authority in education systems is preferable to more centralized systems. Traditionally, the norm has been that power, authority and decision-making concerning the operation of education systems has been centralized in the hands of a few persons or vested interest groups located in the Head Office of the education system in question. However, as part of the process of innovation and of educational change, over the past four or five decades many countries in Asia have redistributed power away from Head Office, creating instead decentralised structures that seek to be more sensitive to local cultures and needs and which attempt to improve administrative efficiency. Although the move from centralization to decentralization has become an important manifestation of the education reform process in an increasing number of countries in Asia, it has not always been consistent and is not without its critics. As the editor of this volume, Professor Bjork, points out, over the last half-century, the tide of popular opinion has shifted back and forth from pro-centralization to pro-decentralization a number of times, creating a pendulum effect. The fifteen authors in this volume examine the extent, and ways, in which evidence from the Asian case studies either supports or refutes the main arguments generally presented in favour of decentralization, with particular reference to the claimed benefits of power sharing, possibilities for achieving increased efficiency, and for best accommodating diverse needs within communities. As a group, the contributors present the most common arguments advanced to advocate the value of educational decentralization initiatives, and present case study evidence that supports, refutes, or raises questions about the justifications for devolving authority over systems. This book is a very timely and helpful contribution to the ongoing debate regarding the matter of cost-benefit analysis concerning decentralisation of education systems in various countries in Asia. By providing case studies of experience (and approaches) to the decentralisation vs. centralisation of education systems in China, Hong Kong and Macau, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the authors identify best practices and innovations, as well as stumbling blocks, associated with crucially important issues concerning most effective approaches to the organisation and management of education systems in Asia. Of particular interest is how countries can best approach decentralisation in their education systems at a time of which is, for many of them, a period of rapid change (even instability), as they seek to diversify their education systems to meet the challenges of globalisation, modernisation and (to a varying extent) the westernisation of their education systems. As the editor of this latest volume in the Springer Education in the Asia-Pacific Region Series points out: Efforts to decentralize education systems in Asia have ix

x INTRODUCTION BY THE SERIES EDITORS yielded an array of fascinating puzzles, lessons of experience, and unanswered questions. How can we make sense of that rich but sprawling amalgamation of data? In answering this question, the authors in this volume considers the motives that have given rise to decentralization initiatives, to guide an in-depth analysis of those measures. Rupert Maclean Director of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre, Bonn, Germany and Ryo Watanabe Director, Department for International Research and Cooperation, National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) of Japan, Tokyo

CONTRIBUTORS Madhumita Bandyopadhyay secured her Ph.D. from Centre for Studies of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is presently working in the School and Non-formal Education Unit at National Institute of Educational Administration, New Delhi. She has worked earlier in different NGOs and Research Organizations in related areas of development research, with special emphasis on educational development of disadvantaged people. She has worked as consultant at Educational Consultancy India Ltd. for implementation of externally funded Government of India project District Primary Education Program (DPEP). She is engaged in research in areas of decentralization of education, planning process of primary education, women s education, and development. Christopher Bjork, an Assistant Professor of Education at Vassar College, earned his Ph.D. from the Stanford University School of Education. He has been awarded fellowships by the Fulbright organization, the National Security Education Program, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He is the author of Indonesian Education: Teachers, Schools, and Central Bureaucracy (2005). He has also published articles about educational reform in Asia in the journals Comparative Education Review, Education and Society, International Review of Education, World Studies of Education, and Anthropology & Education Quarterly. He also co-edited (with Thomas Rohlen) a three-volume anthology titled Education and Training in Japan. Mark Bray is a Chair Professor and Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong. He previously taught in secondary schools in Kenya and Nigeria and at the Universities of Edinburgh, Papua New Guinea and London. He has written extensively in the field of comparative education, with particular focus on aspects of administration, economics and financing. In 2000 he became Secretary General of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. He is also a former President of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong, and has been a member of the Boards of Directors of the Comparative Education Society of Asia and the Comparative and International Education Society. R. Govinda is a Senior Fellow at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration in New Delhi. While working at the IIEP as a Research Fellow, he was in charge of the research project on decentralized management in the South- Asian region. He is the author of a number of publications related to the quality of basic education, adult education, and literacy. Dr. Govinda also edited the book Decentralization of Educational Management: Experiences from South Asia. Mark Hanson is a Fulbright Scholar and Professor of Education and Management at the University of California, Riverside. As a researcher, he has studied educational decentralization projects in several Latin American nations as well as the Middle East. Professor Hanson has been a consultant on decentralization reforms for the xi

xii CONTRIBUTORS World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Agency for International Development, UNESCO, the United Nations Development Program, and the Harvard Institute for International Development. John N. Hawkins is Professor of Comparative Education and Chair of the Division of Social Sciences and Comparative Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. He has written or edited more than a dozen books including Educational Theory in the People s Republic of China: The Report of Ch ien Chun-iu (1971); Mao Tse-tung and Education: His Thoughts and Teachings (1974); Education and Social Change in the People s Republic of China (1983); Education and Intergroup Relations: An International Perspective (1985); Development or Deterioration? Work in Rural Asia (1994); Transnational Competence: Rethinking U.S. Japan Educational Relations (2000); Balancing the Individual and the Collective: Educational Values in Asia (2001). He is Principal Investigator of UCLA s Mikio Takagi Endowment Fund for Educational Reform and is the Editor of the Comparative Education Review. He has won NDEA, Japan Foundation, East West Center, Rockefeller, Spencer and many other fellowships. Hawkins was President of the Comparative and International Education Society and served as Dean of International Studies and Overseas Programs at UCLA for 13 years. Baela Raza Jamil, currently a Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan is working in areas of public policy, decentralization and institutional strengthening. She began her career in Atlanta, U.S.A. as an Assistant Coordinator in a public private partnership for equity and excellence in the U.S. public sector. In the U.K., she conducted research in collaboration with the Institute of Education, University of London, on aspects of quality in schools located in lowincome multi-cultural areas of inner London. In early 1988 she moved to Hong Kong, set up an NGO called the Hong Kong Asia Trust, screening projects, prioritizing needs and mobilizing resources from the corporate sector and philanthropists for education and special needs programs in Asia. At the Hong Kong University she was also a Fellow of the Centre for Asian Studies. In Pakistan, her work has spanned formal and non-formal basic education sectors, community participation, human rights, equity and privatization, public policy and education reform, institutional reforms, initiating community based innovative education programs for girls and integrated literacy programs for women in rural and urban areas. Ee-gyeong Kim currently holds the position of Director of the International Cooperation Team at the Korean Educational Development Institute in Seoul. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Iowa and also holds graduate degrees from American University and Ewha Women s University. Kim has taught in the graduate colleges of education at Konkook University and Woosuk University. Her publications include books and articles for the U.S. Department of Education, the U.K. Government, and the World Bank. In 1996 she received the Eugene McClenahan Award at the University of Iowa, and in 2000 she was named the Korean Educational Development Institute s Outstanding Researcher. Molly N.N. Lee, Associate Professor in Education at Universiti Sains Malaysia, teaches sociology of education and science teaching methods. She received her Ph.D. from the Stanford University School of Education. Recent publications include: The

CONTRIBUTORS xiii Corporatisation, Privatisation and Internalisation of Higher Education in Malaysia ; Education and the State: Malaysia After NEP ; Private Higher Education in Malaysia ; The Politics of Educational Change in Malaysia: National Context and Global Influences ; and The Impacts of Globalization on Education in Malaysia. M.V. Mukundan is a Professor in the Research Institute of Educational Economics and Administration (RIEEA) at Shenyang Normal University in China. Previously, he served as Senior Lecturer in the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in different districts of Kerala State in India. He received his doctorate in education from the University of Hong Kong and has also undertaken assignments for UNESCO and other international organizations. His research interests include comparative education, policy analysis, the political economy of educational reform, and educational change. Hiromitsu Muta currently serves as Director of the Center for Research and Development of Educational Technology and a Professor of Human Resource Development at the Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology. His interests are macro level planning on education and educational cooperation with developing countries. Wilfred J. Perera is the Head of the Centre for Professional Development, Education Management and Assistant Director General of the National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka. His monograph, Changing Schools from Within, a management intervention for improving school functioning in Sri Lanka was published by IIEP, UNESCO in 1999. He has written several articles on educational decentralization and school autonomy, and has made numerous presentations at international conferences. Jason Tan is Associate Professor in Policy and Management Studies at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He currently serves as Executive Editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Education. His latest publication is Challenges Facing the Singapore Education System Today (Singapore: Prentice Hall). Kwok-chun Tang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Studies at the Hong Kong Baptist University. He was born in Macau and moved to Hong Kong at the age of eight. After working as a secondary mathematics teacher in Hong Kong from 1983 to 1993, he entered graduate school and wrote a Ph.D. study that focused on stability change of secondary school mathematics knowledge in Macau. His research interests include mathematics teaching and learning, curriculum stability and change, and sociology of knowledge. Jocelyn Wong is a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are educational decentralization policy and teacher education in China.