Week 11 A successful evaluation towards successful education

   

     

    Educational evaluation can be an effective tool to measure organisational outcomes, effectiveness of various inputs, significance of practices and validity of implementations, thereby opening gates for further strategic plans for broader and more effective changes towards greater goals. 
     In the context of Nepal education on the whole is a big challenge for everyone including students, teachers, educational leaders, scholars as well as government. The entire educational system needs to undergo rigorous transformation in terms of evaluation, monitoring, quality, institutional structures, human resource and technology, albeit its complexities and confusions. Moreover, the state alone cannot resolve the problems unless a high level collective participation from various stakeholders including scholars and researchers is made possible. There is more of social aspects and ideal conjoined with evaluation process.

     Benjamin and Monica (1998) presents three dimensional model illustrating utopias/ideals, available knowledge and social practice intrinsically correlated with evaluation. They believe that evaluation helps to draw a line that demarcates the ideal from what is achieved. It is the social construct that brings challenges and complexities in education. One major challenge, however, does not lie in evaluation technology or system but in strengthening the capacity of society, promoting a culture that will enhance evaluation and maintaining a framework of knowledge that will help transform the isolated testing system into open social learning. So evaluation process affects and is also affected by social policies or reforms in a particular country or state.

     Evaluation supports programme improvements that leads us to think “what works, why and in what context”. It helps decision makers to use evaluation as a tool to make necessary improvements, adjustments to implementation approach or strategies and decide on alternatives (UNDP hand book, 2009).

     Needless to say that in Nepal it is challenging to make evaluation outcomes correspondingly meet the policies of the government. Some of the policy statements (Centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA), 2003) made in the eighth plan were as follow.

·         Upgrade higher education in terms of physical and research infrastructure.

·         Encourage the private sector to participate in higher education.

·         Make the educational institutions financially managerially autonomous and self- reliant.

·         Decentralise the management of higher education through creation of universities in different regions.

     The policy statements reflect a movement from the traditional system of state control towards a more competitive system with increased autonomy and normative financing system of public resources. Moreover, in case of implementation government has attained some progress.

     More challenges lie in the ninth plan (CEDA, 2003) which includes some of the policy statements as given below.

·         Establishment of more universities.

·         Expansion of technical education.

·         Strengthening the role of UGC (University Grants Commission).

·         Setting a standard of level- wise quality measurement.

·         Establishment of open universities.

·         Providing physical facilities to universities.

In my view an effective evaluation process can bring the following changes.

·         Help explore weaknesses and strengths of the organisation.

·         Help restructuring institutional arrangements.

·         Expand human resources.

·         Improve quality in teaching- learning process.

·         Develop educational research.

·         Establish value- based organisational culture.

·         Help rethink, reconceptualise and implement effective educational leadership practice.

        So, an effective evaluation process can make much difference in the whole education system and policy.

References

Benjamin, A., & Monica, C. (1998). Evaluation and Education Reform: Policy Options. Retrieved May 25, 2014, from http://www.pdf.usaid.gov/pdf-docs/pnacdo54.pdf

Centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA). (2003). A Study on the Effectiveness of Investment in Higher Education Project: A Report. Retrieved May 25, 2014, from www.npc.gov.np

Hand book on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results, UNDP. (2009). Retrieved May 25, 2014, from www.undp.org/evaluation/handbook/document/english/pme-handbook.pdf