Education and governance

Issues of governance within the education sector can have a profound impact on access to and quality of education. Corruption can lead to “hidden costs” for parents wanting to send their children to school, which affects the very poor the most. However, strategies such as increased involvement of the community, teachers and parents in school management and decentralisation of the education sector aim to address this problem through increased transparency and accountability.

This key issues page looks at and provides access to recommended readings on three main issues within the larger issue of education and governance, namely: education and corruption, community and teacher participation in school management and decentralisation of education.

Education, corruption and accountability

Corruption within the education sector takes many forms and can have a large impact on the access to and quality of education. The recommended readings below present an overview of the forms and impacts of corruption in the education sector, and provide practical guidance on preventing and combating corruption within the education system. Recommended reading...

Community, teacher and student participation in school management

The involvement of parents, the community and teachers in school management and decision making can increase transparency and accountability at many levels in the education sector. The recommended readings below provide lessons learnt and case studies of different programmes which aim to increase the participation of these actors in school management. Recommended reading...

Decentralisation of education

Theoretically, decentralisation of public services, including education, should lead to better informed and more efficient decision making and service delivery. But what does actual experience teach us? The following recommended readings examine the theory, and point to lessons learnt and case studies which provide an indication of how decentralisation works in practice. Recommended reading...