Submitted by sep_admin on Thu, 2017-02-16 22:15
As Turkey explores how to further improve education quality, there is growing interest from policy makers in increasing school autonomy. Providing more autonomy to local-level decision makers is referred to generally as school-based management (SBM). Policy makers throughout the world have been looking to SBM as a mechanism for increasing the quality of education. The potential benefits of SBM reforms include: a more effective use of resources as those in charge of decision making are more aware of pressing needs and challenges and a more open school environment because the community is involved in its management. This suggests that an SBM reform in Turkey may prove fruitful as a mechanism for increasing both the quality and equity of education outcomes; areas in which Turkey has improved its performance greatly in recent years, but where much still remains to be done. Five inter-related reforms are presented for consideration in the Turkish context: deepen budgetary autonomy; improve financial equity through per-capita financing mechanisms; strengthen the education management and information system (EMIS); measure and report learning outcomes on a regular basis; and make schools accountable and implement moderate decentralization in decision-making.