Education Reform Strategy - Unrwa

4. School leadership and culture and ethos
5. Student centred model of teaching
It looks then at quality improvements, that is to do more with the resources at hand (low cost),
namely to:
1. Generate transparent data on expenditure per pupil
2. Reach international standards on instruction time
3. Improve pupil attendance and timeliness
4. Increase access to current resources
5. Facilitate continuous school improvement (School Quality Review - SQR)
6. Increase monitoring data in key areas like parent surveys, survival rates, unified
tests, host government exams and the Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMMS) raw data
7. Carry out cohesive evaluation and analysis of student learning and programmes,
pilots and solution dissemination
8. Reduce heavy course content which requires dialogue with host countries
4.2.7. In the overall pursuit of quality education, the Review discusses the need to focus on
basic values related to access, inclusion and equity and suggests that other aspects of quality,
such as improving academic achievement, can be addressed through the attainment of access,
inclusion and equity. In focusing on basic values it suggests that focus on these aspects will
also impact on the breadth and depth of the value of education for a child’s personal, social
and individual development.
4.2.8. The Review draws upon an inputs and outputs framework in discussing the
classifying indicators of quality. This framework comprises four components a) Context; b)
Inputs; c) Processes; d) Outputs and Outcomes. It suggests that for a deeper understanding of
educational system performance a more analytical framework will be required. Priority issues
affecting quality education are identified within the aforementioned four components and the
requirements and relative cost of addressing the issues affecting quality is also discussed in
the report.
4.2.9. The Review, the Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA) test undertaken by
UNRWA in 2009, and anecdotal evidence, all suggest that the current education system
emphasises rote learning and memorisation, rather than the acquisition of skills and the
development of understanding in terms of higher order cognitive abilities and their
application. The Review, therefore, talks of the need to consider research which links
classroom processes to the acquisition of higher order cognitive skills. It describes the
difficulty of education often being subject to “fads” in curriculum, many of which are
unproven in their relationship to outcomes. We would like to take this observation further and
suggest that the rhetoric of terms such as ‘child centred’ and ‘active learning’ are seemingly
not reflected in an understanding of what this means for day-to-day classroom practices,
teaching style and methodology and what the implications for systemic support are, from the
school to the policy development level. The challenge that UNRWA will face in
implementing a reform which is based on practices that the key implementers, i.e. teachers
and educational staff, have not experienced themselves should not be underestimated. Later in
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