School inspection and supervision in Pakistan: Approaches and issues

Abstract

This article traces how the concept of educational inspection has evolved in Pakistan, especially in the province of Sindh, and discusses whether the existing inspection system helps to improve quality and establish accountability. The inspection system that originated in colonial days has evolved to incorporate the notion of using supervision to provide a range of support to school-based efforts to improve performance. The shift, however, has been in terminology only, since it has not signalled a major shift in how the job is carried out in practice. The article argues that as a strategy for establishing accountability and improving quality in education, inspection and supervision rely on several interdependent variables. Improvements in educational quality will require a balance among three factors: the availability of relevant and adequate physical, human, and financial resources; effective and empowered leadership; and functional monitoring, evaluation, and professional support for schools

School inspections in low- and middle-income countries: Explaining impact and mechanisms of impact

“…A number of authors explain why inspectors in low and middle income countries fail to give relevant feedback to schools (Churches and McBride, 2013;Darvas and Balwanz, 2014;De Grauwe, 2001, 2007, 2008Harber, 2006;Jaffer, 2010;Wanzare, 2002). They point to the work overload of inspectors (both in numbers of schools to inspect, as well as in number of indicators to inspect) which lead them to focus on a simple checking and control of administrative protocols.…”

“…The lack of perceived expertise, status and credibility of school inspectors by school staff is also expected to limit the implementation of inspection feedback. Eight papers in Nigeria, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Eastern and Southern Africa, Pakistan, Timor, Mexico and Kenya present findings from primary research to explain that school inspectors are often not trained in the evaluation of schools and have limited expertise in doing such evaluations which would limit their credibility and the credibility of inspection findings in the eyes of school staff (De Grauwe, 2001;Harber, 2006;Jaffer, 2010;Macpherson, 2011;Moswela, 2010;Santiago et al, 2012;Uwazi, 2009;Wanzare, 2002). They have no expertise in how to objectively evaluate schools/teachers, how to provide accurate and consistent feedback on strengths and weaknesses and how to engage schools in a professional dialogue about school improvement.…”

“…These papers also highlight how the overall lack of systems and structures around human resource management and development to support the hiring and training of a high quality inspection core hampers the credibility of school inspectors. Studies in Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe (De Grauwe, 2007;Moswela, 2010), Pakistan (Jaffer, 2010), and Mexico (Santiago et al, 2012). For example, they explain that inspectors are often recruited on an ad hoc basis from a pool of teachers and principals with long service where personal connections and political affiliations are used to transfer people into inspection posts.…”

“…For example, they explain that inspectors are often recruited on an ad hoc basis from a pool of teachers and principals with long service where personal connections and political affiliations are used to transfer people into inspection posts. Studies in Pakistan (Jaffer, 2010), Botswana and Tanzania (De Grauwe, 2001) also suggest that the lack of credibility is caused by recruitment issues (favouring individuals with high political influence), and the pay scale of school inspectors which is on a lower grade as the head teachers they are inspecting, causing head teachers to believe that inspectors are not of a high status and that their feedback can be disregarded.…”

A Glimpse Into School Self-Evaluation in Malaysia: Are We Doing The Right Things? Or Are We Doing the Things Right?

“…Both evaluations are also interrelated because they form an important element of school improvement and reform policies in certain countries (McNamara et al, 2011). Furthermore, "SSE complements external evaluation in that the data gathered through self-evaluation feed into and confirm findings of the external evaluation exercise" (Jaffer, 2010).…”