Initiatives: How Schools Can Help to Improve Education

According to the UNESCO report on their 2017-2018 “Global Education Monitoring Report,” the role of the schools in the educational system is not just considered by the government but by the parents, students and the community member too. The schools have to satisfy a series of regulations related to their facilities and the qualifications of its teachers and instructors. However, studies suggest that not all the educational systems are regulated as they should be, especially in poor countries. Also, in poor countries the inspections related to the education at schools is limited by the resources and the lack of focus on goals to increase the learning and teaching quality. Data reporting the inspections is a key source to analyze the advances and create programs, but some countries do not have accessible data.

The schools’ goal is to educate students in different literary, numerical, and interpersonal skills, general and specialized knowledge, and values that can help the students to develop themselves in the society where they belong. The governments finance schools, so they have the capacity to regulate the activities at school. To fulfill their goals, schools create programs, use the resources financed by the government and create an environment where students could be able to learn and teachers to teach. The hiring of teachers is a key point of the schools’ management team. There is a need for qualified teachers to reach qualified education.

As governments create regulatory policies, schools prepare their staff according to the policies. The regulations are related to teachers, students, infrastructure and facilities (classrooms, playgrounds, water supply, toilets), educational programs, health, and safety. To ease and improve the learning process, a regulation for the quantity of the relationship between the pupil/teacher ratio is necessary. However, no more than 50% of the school systems have regulations on this quantity. Figure 3.1 provided by the UNESCO shows this relationship in four different categories:



The success on the regulation of this four categories and fulfillment of them relies on the capacity of the governments on supply with resources, create regulations and demand their fulfillment through inspections, and the capacity of schools to commit themselves on planning to administrate their resources and setting intern goals to overcome the inspections according to the needs and regulations. The inspections will help to determine the quality of the education offered and the necessary changes to become better.

Reference

UNESCO. (2017). Accountability in Education: Meeting Our Commitments (Second ed., pp. 41-61). Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002593/259338e.pdf