Education decentralisation and school clustering in Namibia : the politics of implementation

Abstract

In 2000 the Namibian Government introduced decentralisation reforms in education in the form of school clustering. This article analyses the role of local politics in the implementation process. The key role players are education inspectors, school principals and teachers. We found that these stakeholders have influenced the reform's limited outcomes by contesting and supporting it, by engaging in contested and consensual political relationships with one another, and through competition over resources. This is a qualitative, comparative study of three school clusters situated in two districts (also called circuits). The empirical material was collected in the education districts which have implemented the reforms for the longest periods. The clusters we researched are diverse in terms of geographical location, the resources at their disposal, and the communities their schools serve.