Educational Development and Decentralization Policy

Abstract

In the last two decades, educational decentralization has been introduced into many countries. The introduction of decentralization in education seems to be an attempt to solve various educational problems in developing countries. However, there are few cases where the decentralization of the educational system has been successfully implemented. This article, at first, describes the purpose of the decentralization policy and discusses how each country decided whether or not decentralization policy should be introduced and how those who were involved with decentralization, especially teachers, were influenced by accepting the new policy. The literature review indicates that, in order to understand the realities of educational problems, we have to pay special attention to factors affecting the education system (rural communities, organization of schools, teachers, and parents). In conclusion, future research should focus on the teachers, as well as long term field studies which are necessary in order to further understand the social dynamics behind the process of decentralization.