What factors matter most in achieving effective, devolved education service delivery? What can be learned from experiences of capacity building for decentralised education? This report for the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) compares the findings of case studies in Ethiopia and Pakistan in relation to these questions. Ethiopia provides the more propitious environment for local capacity building. In Pakistan, a fraught local environment and the institutional culture within the civil service are major constraints. Donors should do more to ensure that national capacity building strategies benefit from comparative international experience.
Both Ethiopia and Pakistan embarked on devolution in 2001, involving the introduction of new institutions. Fundamentally different strategies for capacity building were used in these different contexts. In Pakistan, devolution has been introduced in a context where there are deep problems with democratic institutions in general. The vested interests of bureaucrats at the provincial level threatened to subvert devolution, particularly with respect to accountability. The elite, status-conscious civil service has resisted new local accountability. As a result, strategies are implemented top-down in spite of the bureaucracy rather than through it. Dysfunctional service monitoring and political patronage are major constraints. In Ethiopia, political unity permeates all levels of government, and is allied to a high level of community ownership. There is a good foundation for local accountability and for the build-up of educational capacity. Further contrasts are:
- Ethiopian local authorities have more autonomy over financial resources and personnel than Pakistani ones.
- Indigenous systems of performance assessment are applied to local education authorities in Ethiopia. These are more pervasive and effective than formal civil service appraisal systems.
- Capacity building in Pakistan has had a poor impact on performance due to lack of performance incentives and formal, promotion-oriented training.
- The private sector is significant in education service provision in Pakistan, but not currently in Ethiopia (outside urban areas).
Neither country has undertaken sufficient research on local government performance in education service delivery. A priority for policy makers is therefore to gain a better understanding of this area. Initial indications are that Ethiopia is making faster and more favourable changes than Pakistan. This is due to the political and historical context of public sector institutions and capacity building in each country. An implied (but not stated) policy implication is therefore that tools such as Drivers of Change studies may make design of interventions more effective. Other specific policy pointers are:
- Commitment of the meso-level of government is important. In Ethiopia, the federal level played a key role in supporting innovation in capacity building, while in Pakistan, provincial level resistance was a key constraint.
- Donors should be more careful in supporting capacity building. Many donor-supported initiatives in Pakistan have supported traditional approaches using off-site formal training, with poor results.
- Relevant functions, attendant resources and authority over staffing and administration should be cleanly devolved to local authorities.
- Neither country appears to be learning systematically from their experiences. Donors should do more to help this, and ensure that strategies evolve in the light of comparative international experience.
