are school grants leveraging the right of quality education for all?
TRANSCRIPT
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Are school grants leveraging the right to quality education for all?
Remarks on the political economy of school grants in Latin America
Marcelo Souto Simão, IIEP/UNESCO Buenos Aires
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This presentation reports on results of research conducted at IIEP UNESCO, Buenos Aires office, in the framework of IIEP’s research programme Improving equity through school grants. The programme is developed with funds from the Global Partnership for Education, Global and Regional Activities programme. Field research in Honduras was conducted in collaboration with the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán and with the supervision, material and logistic support of the national Secretary of Education. None of those institutions posed any voluntary restriction on the collection and/or interpretation of data used in this analysis, which reflects the author’s ideas and opinions.
For any further information, contact: [email protected]
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Analytical Framework
• School grants: – De-centralization from central educational
authorities to school actors of decision-making authority on the allocation of financial resources.
• Hypothesis:– By increasing school autonomy, school grants
enhance education quality.
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Analytical Framework
• Education quality:– Accesible– Free of charge– Effective learning– Equitable– Democratic
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Research Strategy
• Cases:– Brazil: Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola (PDDE),
1995-to present– Chile: Subvención escolar preferencial (SEP), 2008-to
present.– Guatemala: Programa Nacional de Autogestión para el
Desarrollo Educativo (PRONADE), 1992-2007.– Honduras: Proyecto Hondureño de Educación
Comunitaria (PROHECO), 1999-to present.– Nicaragua: Escuelas Autónomas, 1993-2012.
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Research Strategy• Sources:– Literature review– Own field research in
Honduras (2014/2015)– Experts. Regional Seminar
on School Grant Programmes in Latin America: accumulated experiences and transformations. Tegucigalpa, 11-12 November, 2015.
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Grant modalitiesCountry Assignation Finality Amount
CHILE AUTOMATIC BLOCK GRANT FORMULA-BASED
BRAZIL AUTOMATIC BLOCK GRANT FORMULA-BASED
NICARAGUA DISCRETIONAL BLOCK GRANT FORMULA-BASED
GUATEMALA DISCRETIONAL EARMARKED NEEDS ASSESSMENT
HONDURAS DISCRETIONAL EARMARKED NEEDS ASSESSMENT
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Grant PurposesCOUNTRY PAYMENT OF
TEACHERSSERVICES EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
CHILE X X X
BRASIL X X X
NICARAGUA X X X X
GUATEMALA X X X
HONDURAS X X
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Intended effects on quality (by design)COUNTRY ACCESS FEE-FREE EFFECTIVE EQUITABLE DEMOCRATIC
CHILE POOREST STUDENTS
PUBLIC-SUBSIDIZED
SCHOOL PLAN / LEARNING
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY PARTIC.
BRAZIL - - SCHOOL PLAN - COMMUNITY PARTIC.
NICARAGUA - - PROMOTION TERRITORIAL “DE-POLITICIZED”
GUATEMALA RURAL AREAS RURAL PUBLIC SUPPLY
SCHOOL PLAN / PED. INNOVATION.
TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY /ETHNICAL PARTIC.
HONDURAS RURAL AREAS RURAL PUBLICSUPPLY
SCHOOL PLAN TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY PARTIC.
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Observed effects on qualityCOUNTRY ACCESS FEE-FREE EFFECTIVE EQUITABLE DEMOCRATIC
CHILE POOREST STUDENTS
PUBLIC-SUBSIDIZED
SCHOOL PLAN AND LEARNING
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY PARTIC.
BRAZIL - - SCHOOL PLAN - COMMUNITY PARTIC.
NICARAGUA (Unintended) (Unintended) PROMOTION TERRITORIAL “DE-POLITICIZED”
GUATEMALA RURAL AREAS RURAL PUBLIC SUPPLY
SCHOOL PLAN / PED. INNOVATION.
TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY /ETHNICAL PARTIC.
HONDURAS RURAL AREAS RURAL PUBLICSUPPLY
HIGH DROP OUT
TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY PARTIC.
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What went wrong?
• Reliance on market-like mechanisms• Reliance on community participation• Sufficiency of resources– In Central America, lower costs derived from
deregulation of teachers’ work and less and lower-quality inputs
• Support and oversight capacity of central level
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Why went it wrong?
• Asymmetric power relations at the local level tended to be strengthened, instead of transformed, by de-centralization of financial resources.
• Actors with higher economic and/or political power were able to control policy implementation at local level.
• Fragile accountability mechanisms.
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The legacy of school grants in LA
• “Re-centralization”.• Continued call for community participation,
while holding public actors (including at school level) accountable.
• Renewed concern to ensure teachers’ working conditions and professional development.
• Thrive for sustainability.