Strategies of Educational Decentralization: Key Questions and Core Issues

Decentralization and Social Partnership: The Development of Vocational Education at Shanghai and Shenzhen in China

“…They no longer need to ask for any approval from the central government. The central government also does not have the right to re-collect the authority which has been delegated to the local institutions (Bray, 1999;Hanson, 1998;Hawkins, 2000). As it has been introduced into different historical and social contexts in different countries, decentralization has taken on these different forms.…”

“…Specifically, it refers to the delegation of decision-making, responsibilities and work from the higher rank authorities to the lower rank institutions (Hanson, 1998). Advocates of decentralization policy argue that decentralization allows for increased participation of local stakeholders, thus increasing the legitimacy of decision-making.…”

School decentralisation in Nepal: a disjuncture between macro-level advocacy and micro-level reality?

“…176-177). It can be inferred from these facts that despite the governmental approach to decentralisation, the state mechanisms, apparatus and actors are not prepared for changing institutional culture according to democratic ideals, which is a must for successful decentralisation (Fiske 1996;Hanson 1998). Since decentralisation appears to be nurtured in a democratic system of governance, the requirement for changing the system of governance within the government organisations seems crucial in the Nepalese context.…”

“…However, the nature of decentralisation differs considerably with respect to the level to which the authority is transferred; the degree of autonomy that is devolved; and the elements of the system to decentralise (Fiske 1996;Rose 2005; Barrera-Osorio et al 2009). Accordingly, decentralisation takes several forms and the common forms discussed in education literature are, deconcentration, delegation and devolution (Fiske 1996;Hanson 1998;Welsh and McGinn 1999). Deconcentration typically involves the transfer of tasks and responsibilities, but not authority, to lower units within the organisation.…”

“…Though most school-based reforms emphasise the devolution of authority to the school site whereby a range of curricular, administrative and financial decisions are made locally on the basis of needs and priorities perceived at the school level (Caldwell 2005), the degree of authority transferred to the school site varies significantly from one country to another. For example, in countries such as Pakistan (Shah 2003), Colombia (Hanson 1998) and Mexico (Skoufias and Shapiro 2006) school councils have limited authority, usually over areas related to the budget and school planning. The school councils in these countries function as an auxiliary unit and perform primarily advisory roles.…”