The effectiveness of the implementation and monitoring of education policies in schools

Abstract

Effective implementation and monitoring of education policies in schools impact directly on the quality of education in public schools in general and on the vision and mission of the North West provincial department of education in particular, where the research was conducted. The effectiveness of the implementation and monitoring of education policies in schools are investigated by analysing data collected in through questionnaires and interviews conducted on the study in the Moretele Area Project Office (APO) of the Bojanala Region of Education in the North West Province. The study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation and monitoring of educational policies by educators, Principals and District Officials in schools. The study focused on their understanding of the concept policy and its purpose, since policies serve different purposes and are constructed for different reasons. It has immerged from the study that much still has to be done in order to improve on effective policy implementation and monitoring in schools. Educators have shown that they are aware of the concept policy and its purpose. There are, however, challenges identified in terms of implementing these policies and also ineffective communication by the district offices and the schools. This assertion is evidenced by the findings from the questionnaires that revealed a serious communication problem between districts and schools. It was also found that educators are aware of the different authoritative roles held by policies in education system. They were able to give examples of policy documents that have national authority, provincial authority, and district and school authority. What seems to be still lacking is the effective application of the theoretical knowledge gained on policies when executing their duties.