Our government’s attempt to improve the educational system have been mostly about making more classrooms available, providing more textbooks, and hiring more teachers. Studies show, however, that these are not enough to better the services delivered by the schools.Barrera-Osorio et al. (2009) stressed that one important reason why education systemsare failing to provide children with a solid education is the weak accountability relationships among policy makers, education providers, and the citizens and students whom they serve. It is not surprising then that the transfer of some decision-making power to schools have become a popular reform over the last decade. This transformation is known as the School-Based Management (SBM).

            Caldwell (2005) stated that School-Based Management is the systematic decentralization to the school level of authority and responsibility to make decisions on significant matters related to school operations within a centrally determined framework of goals, policies, curriculum, standards, and accountability. However, though individual schools can effect change in educational policy, SBM does not make government completely out of the picture in the decision-making. Schools will always be under a larger policy and administrative context in their operations.

            While it is true that SBM comes in many different forms, all systems are based on the principle that the school becomes the central place of control in decision making. The essential purpose of redistributing decision-making authority is to increase the autonomy of the critical stakeholders to improve the instructional process and, although rarely stated, student outcomes

(Education Quarterly, 2008, p.66).

            The passage of Republic Act 9155,otherwise known as “Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001”paved the way for the Department of Education (DepEd) to have the legal mandate to reorganize governance in basic education. As such, SBM became the framework for making institutional changes to improve delivery of basic education (DepEd, 2009). The idea is to unite the school heads, teachers, students, local government units, and the community to improve the quality of formal education in Philippine public schools (DepEd, 2009).

            In the Philippine educational system, the main goal of SBM is to improve school performance and increase learners’ achievement. DepEd has defined decentralization as: (a) promotion of school based management, (b) transfer of authority and decision-making powers from the central office to the divisions and schools, (c) sharing of responsibility of educational management of local schools with the local governments, parents, the community and other stakeholders, and (d) the devolution of education functions (DepEd, 2009).

            Specifically, it aims to: 1) empower the school head to lead their teachers,  parents and learners through reforms which lead to higher learning outcomes; 2) bring resources including funds, down to the control of the schools to spur change in line with decentralization; 3) strengthen partnership with all the stakeholders including local government units to invest time, money and effort in making the school a better place to learn; and 4) to institutionalize participatory and knowledge-based continuous school improvement process (Operations Manual on School-Based Management and Its Support Systems, 2005).

            The potential benefits of such a system are large and involve only marginal costs. These benefits can include

• more input and resources from parents (whether in cash or in-kind)
• more effective use of resources because those making the decisions for each school are intimately acquainted with its needs
• a higher quality of education as a result of more efficient and transparent use of resources
• a more open and welcoming school environment because the community is involved in its management
• increased participation of all local stakeholders in the decision-making processes, leading to more collegial relationships and increased satisfaction
• improved student performance as a result of reduced repetition rates, reduced dropout rates, and (eventually) better learning outcomes (Barrera-Osorio et al. 2009).

SBM does not come without a challenge though. In the words of Caldwell (2005), centralization and decentralization are in tension, with centralization indicated when control, uniformity, and efficiency are preferred, and decentralization indicated when freedom, differentiation, and responsiveness are preferred. In this case, balance must be achieved. One important factor is that the school administrator should have the competence to perform his functions and the heart to shift and acknowledge the capacity of central units to provide support.

Simply put, SBM is not a perfect method, not even the “end-all and be-all”that delivers the prospects of reform in education. It is just one of several strategies beingemployed simultaneously in a constantly changing mix of strategies that, under the right conditions, improves governance in a school system.Nevertheless, with the development it brings, SBM is definitely here to stay.         

References:

Barrera-Osorio, Felipe et al. Decentralized Decision-Making in Schools. Washington, D.C.,

U.S.A.: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.

2009.

Caldwell, Brian J. School-Based Management Education Policy Series. France: The International

Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). 2005

Department of Education (DepEd). A Manual on Assessment of School-Based Management

(SBM) practices. 2009.

Department of Education. A manual on school based management (SBM),2005.

Education Quarterly, December 2008, U.P. College of Education.

By: Evelyn L. Perez | Teacher III | Morong National High School | Morong, Bataan