Die Absolventen von Schulen, die ihr Budget selbst verwalten und den Betrieb der Einrichtung eigenständig organisieren, zeigen bessere Leistungen. Daher unterstützt das "school operational program" der Weltbank die indonesische Regierung bei der Implementierung eines schul-basierten Managements.
Indonesia: Accountable Schools Make Better Students
- School-based management which gives schools authority over their operations will results in better performance by students
- Through the school operational grants program, the World Bank is supporting the government to implement school-based management.
Where schools have full control over their budgets and are overseen by school committees and parents, real gains can be seen in student performance across the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), students perform better on international standardized tests when schools are autonomous and accountable - the main principle of school-based management. Local governments can play a role in terms of support and monitoring, however those in the best position to manage the schools are the schools themselves.
The Ministry of National Education hosted a one-day seminar exploring the link between a school‘s accountability and the performance of its students. Through its support to the school operational grants program (BOS), the World Bank supports the government in implementing school-based management and during this event shared findings on its implementation in Indonesia and other countries.
Not only students benefit from School-based management
"New evidence from international studies shows that school-based management is inexpensive and cost-effective, and that accountability mechanisms are key to improvements in student performance," said Harry Anthony Patrinos, Lead Education Economist at the World Bank. "According to findings from a number of countries, school-based management can improve performance by empowering parents, giving communities voice, and in addition it is a cost effective approach."
Hetty Cislowski, a consultant with AusAID, shared lessons learned from 20 years of school-based management in Australia. Now principals are responsible for school outcomes, make decisions on use of resources, and account to parents and the state, following experiments and pilots in various states over the years. "The benefits of school-based management are autonomy and responsibility for schools; doorways to partnership for communities; and drivers of school improvement and accountability for the state".
Results of school-based management in Indonesia
Dandan Chen, Senior Economist at the World Bank, shared findings from a recent study of school based management in Indonesia. This study found that Indonesia's schools, and particularly school principals, have a strong role, and school committees could in fact play a stronger role in overseeing school improvements. At the moment, parents mainly only deal with the school related to their own children, and school committees tend to focus on improving school facilities. Principals and district officials are not under pressure to improve student performance, and supervisors need to use clear standards for evaluating principals and teachers.
According to Brian Spicer, a consultant with AusAID's education program in Indonesia, AIBEP, "The Whole School Development approach we have used for the last 4 years has improved school-based management, learning quality and community participation, but needs to be maintained in a systemic way if we want sustainable quality improvements."
Several themes emerged from the presentations and discussions. One is the importance of communication: principals need to explain to parents and school committees what is expected of them, and government officials need to explain to schools what is expected of them, so everyone can reach an understanding of autonomy and accountability and how to practise them. Another is the importance of flexibility: when schools have flexibility in use of funds, they can make good decisions that will improve school life. Too much control from government reduces this flexibility and autonomy. Finally, strengthening school based management, building capacity and learning how to manage funds all take time.
"If we want Indonesian students to perform better, we need to let schools manage BOS funds in their own way. The PISA findings suggest that the success of Indonesia's Bantuan Operational Sekolah program up to 2010 was a result of the way funds were transferred directly to schools from the centre," says Mae Chu Chang, Lead Educator for the World Bank in Indonesia.
Seminar participants were from a range of government and international agencies, supported by the Royal Netherlands Government and the European Union under the Basic Education Capacity Trust Fund.