This case study sheds light on the design and implementation features of the first pilot cycle of Check My School (CMS) in public schools across the Philippines.
The case study discusses the general political background and operating environment of the CMS project, its concept and operating principles, the roles and incentives of the major stakeholders involved in its design and implementation, and the ways in which CMS aims to use ICTs. It concludes with recommendations for projects that aim to follow the footsteps of CMS.
Key findings:
- Constructive engagement leads to a cooperative relationship with government. The CMS project started with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) between ANSA-EAP and the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd). As part of the memorandum, DepEd fully endorsed CMS, committing to share with ANSA-EAP all its available data on public schools and helping it establish relations with schools. The support of DepEd was not only important in obtaining official school data, but also paramount in gaining the cooperation of school administrators and local division superintendents and opening the doors of multiple schools across the country for infomediaries.
- Organized presence on the ground is critical. The mobilization of networks of committed and diligent “infomediaries” and volunteers—through the affiliation of ANSA-EAP with the Ateneo School of Government and its own networks—allowed CMS to effectively tap into local networks of civil society organizations, youth groups, and socially active individuals. The strong social mobilization efforts were supported by capacity-building and training activities to provide participating stakeholders with valuable knowledge and leadership skills and help infomediaries conduct validation activities.
- Complementarity with ongoing government projects creates an environment conducive to initiatives. The CMS project fits well within the current sociopolitical environment in the Philippines. DepEd’s efforts to implement large-scale decentralization reform in the country, coupled with pressure on school administrators to actively engage community stakeholders in their school’s management, have created a favourable environment for community monitoring initiatives such as CMS.
- Innovative ICT-enabled projects are an investment in the future of community monitoring. The offline components of the project and its online implementation have diverged. The offline strategy of CMS has largely been effective and has already yielded positive results. The materialization of the online strategy of the project has been more challenging. Although CMS was primarily envisioned as an online platform, its online presence during the first pilot year was relatively limited because of a variety of challenges inside and outside the project scope.
Recommendations for replicating CSM in other countries:
- A successful adaptation of CMS requires a dedicated CSO leader who would assess the suitability of CMS to a particular country context and adjust the CMS approach to the local socio-political conditions. As part of this process, the CSO should undertake the task of customizing the CMS design, building capacity, addressing technological challenges, mobilizing resources, leading the implementation of the project, and ensuring its sustainability.
- The constructive engagement approach should be pursued. Whereas civil society initiatives often take an adversarial stance by attempting to expose governmental faults and show where public officials fail, the CMS vision is considerably different. It emphasizes the need to engage public officials and civil society groups in a sustained dialogue and collaborative problem solving.
- Capacity building should be an integral part of the project design, development, and implementation aimed at adapting or customizing CSM in another context or country. One cannot assume that potential partners or counterparts engaged in a CMS adaptation will have the necessary capacity to design, implement, and sustain the CMS project as a continuing undertaking and action-oriented advocacy. A capacity-building perspective is therefore important in planning the assistance and support to replicating partners.
- The ICT-related components of CMS replications should be carefully considered. As the CMS pilot in the Philippines shows, although ICT presents a great opportunity for developing countries, it can also pose considerable implementation challenges. The incorporation of ICT in societies with low rates of Internet penetration and lack of technological skills is particularly difficult.
