Education for all. Policy and planning lessons from Sri Lanka.
Abstract
- This monograph has six objectives. It
(i) describes the International Frameworks for Action for Education for All (EFA) that were set out at Jomtien in 1990 and Dakar in 2000, the World Goals for EFA and the expectations of National Governments in their creation of National Action Plans for EFA
(ii) introduces and applies an analytical model of educational policy and planning that emphasises the influence of policy and politics on the technical processes and contents of planning
(iii) presents a substantial case study of educational policy and planning in Sri Lanka, with particular reference to the Five Year Plan for Primary Education (FYPPE). The case study describes the policy and planning conditions that prevailed during the 1990s, out of which the planning process emerged. It describes the processes by which the plan was developed and the outcomes of that planning process. It focuses on Goals 2 and 6 of the Dakar Framework
(iv) explores the interface and interactions between the conditions for, and processes and outcomes of educational planning in Sri Lanka and the international community
(v) draws lessons from Sri Lanka for frameworks of analysis
(vi) draws lessons from Sri Lanka for the practices of EFA planning internationally
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The evidence cited in the monograph is based on documentary analysis, interviews and critical reflections on the author's professional practice as a member of a national planning team and as a participant in the Jomtien and Dakar conferences.
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Chapter 1 addresses objectives (i) and (ii). Chapters 2, 3 and 4 present the conditions, processes and outcomes, respectively, of the planning case study (objective iii). Chapter 5 addresses objective (iv). Chapter 6 addresses objectives (v) and (vi).
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Lessons drawn from Sri Lanka for EFA planning more generally include
(i) the importance of National Policy in the production of National Plans for EFA
(ii) the need to relate National Plans to education plans developed at the levels to which authority for planning and finance have been devolved
(iii) the role of detailed plans for curriculum developers, teacher educators and teachers to accompany National Plans for EFA
(iv) the value of selective rather than wholesale borrowing of ideas and practices from the international EFA community
(v) the choice of language(s) in the development, writing and dissemination of plans
(vi) the treatment of the National Plan of Action for EFA as a portfolio of plans created by planning groups responsible for the different Goals for EFA
Citation
Educational Paper No. 46, DFID, London, UK, ISBN 1 86192 552 0, 103 pp.
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