The Power of Persistence: Education System ... - EQUIP123.net

system. In the same year, the USAID provided a substantial program—the
Education Reform Program—with assistance at both the system and school levels
to help implement the reforms. Over the next two years, reforms struggled to take
hold during a period in which the country underwent two changes of Minister
of Education, replacement of several governors, and other changes. The period of
2005 to 2008 saw an impressive increase in planning and policy initiatives.
Significant progress on decentralization is only now beginning to be
incorporated in the institutional framework of policies and procedures, and
policy implementation is in its early stages. After uneven initiatives in the 1990s,
a deliberate and cautious process began with the pilot effort in Alexandria
in 2001. Authority was delegated to six additional governorates in 2003, and
there has been a growing momentum of substantial policy reforms since 2005.
Between 2006 and 2008, at least eight major policy reforms were formulated
affecting community participation and authority, financial decentralization,
quality assurance, teacher development, and decentralization for school spending
authority. However, the implementation of these reforms is only just starting with
a small-scale pilot of financial transfers to schools.
Development of strategic planning processes followed a similar pattern. Strategic
planning was initiated on a pilot basis by ERP first in one, and then in seven
governorates before becoming a national initiative. The National Strategic Plan
not only was coordinated bi-directionally with the seven governorate planning
process, but also facilitated strategic planning initiatives in all other governorates.
The expansion of the strategic planning process is an example of scaling up of a
process and planning mentality rather than a specific intervention.
The accelerating momentum of key reforms in planning, decentralization, and
community participation was made possible by the confluence of several key
factors. The successful and highly visible pilot program in Alexandria was
critical for several reasons. Initially, the experience provided a degree of
confidence to senior policymakers about the reforms, which enabled the
2003 decision to extend limited authority to six other governors who had the
confidence of the Minister of Education. Changes in leadership in the MOE and
governorates over the next two years slowed progress, but in 2005 the leaders of
the Alexandria pilot were named to the key positions of Minister of Education
and Minister of Local Government.
These changes coincided with ERP providing technical and financial support for
decentralization, which was managed by the same USAID project officer who had
implemented the Alexandria reforms with the new Minister. Rounding out the
circle of relationships, the new Minister of Education named a senior Egyptian
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SECTION 2: lESSONS fROM COUNTRY CASE STUdIES