Education

UNICEF developed and introduced the Child Friendly/Effective Schools (CFS/ES) Framework for education systems and schools that ‘serve the whole child’ in 1999. This initiative is UNICEF’s flagship education programme and it supports its implementation in over 95 countries worldwide.

Child Friendly/Effective Schools as defined by UNICEF,“…is a framework which seeks to help schools and educational systems progressively move towards the implementation of quality standards. These standards are aimed at addressing all the elements that influence the well-being and rights of children as learners. The basic goal of CFS is to create positive, safe, healthy learning environments where all children reach their full potential.”

There is no strict formula for the makeup of CFS/ES. Different countries and cultures implement different models of CFS/ES most suitable to their needs and which are sometimes based on available resources. However, in the eastern Caribbean there are some key characteristics that should make child friendly schools readily recognizable to anyone entering these schools:

1. Positive behavioural management practices
2. Student participation
3. Healthy lifestyles
4. Inclusiveness
5. Life skills-based health and family life education and
6. Parental involvement

Preface

This document consists of a number of case studies designed to improve the quality of leadership in OECS schools. The OECS Education Reform Unit (OERU) has provided resources in the area of school leadership and management over the past five years. An early study on attitudes of secondary school students to schooling (1999) indicated that teachers were critical as supporters and encouragers of students. Teachers contribute to the level of effort students put into their work, to the good behaviour of students and to their high self-esteem and their desire to remain in school.

Generic Principal’s Desk Manual

 Background
 Theoretical Justification

Leadership and management of educational services and schools are evolving concepts and practices. Educational management and leadership as efficiency have had a long history, being focused for a long time on ideas about production from the world of industry. Social science influences have also shaped the course of educational leadership casting the phenomenon in a psychological or sociological paradigm. In recent times the concentration has been on accountability, using such terminology as key result areas, level of effort, deliverable/output, outcome and impact.

Generic Principal’s Desk Manual
Background
Theoretical Justification

Leadership and management of educational services and schools are evolving concepts and practices. Educational management and leadership as efficiency have had a long history, being focused for a long time on ideas about production from the world of industry. Social science influences have also shaped the course of educational leadership casting the phenomenon in a psychological or sociological paradigm. In
recent times the concentration has been on accountability, using such terminology as key result areas, level of effort, deliverable/output, outcome and impact.

REPORT

Background

Embedded in the OERU Strategic Plan 2001 –2010 is the belief that education reform
is achievable and sustainable through the using a participatory and iterative approach
in the formulation of sub-regional plans, and when the beneficiaries perceive them to
be responsive to their development needs.

REPORT
Background

Embedded in the OERU Strategic Plan 2001 –2010 is the belief that education reform is achievable and sustainable through the using a participatory and iterative approach in the formulation of sub-regional plans, and when the beneficiaries perceive them to be responsive to their development needs.

Developing a Generic School Manual
Draft Report
Mandate

To develop a draft generic school manual for students and parents with inputs from broad
stakeholder consultations, perusal of relevant documentation and related reports conducted by the respective MOEs the OERU, and other Regional and InternationalOrganisations/Institutions

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The workshop proceedings summarized in this document was the first in series of activities that have been planned to follow the Student Attitudes Survey, conducted throughout the OECS in 1998-1999. The dissemination workshops for the survey results identified a number of measures, at the sub-regional and national levels, that could strengthen the foundation of positive school-related attitudes and behaviours and optimal academic performance.

Summary, strategies and recommendations

Introduction

The Consultation on Education Reform of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
(OECS), held in Antigua in July 1991, was part of a large process. This paper not only puts the
Consultation in its context, but reports on the end product: the Education Reform Strategy that
was developed and approved by the OECS.

OECS DEVELOPMENT CHARTER

PREAMBLE

The Governments of the Member Countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States on behalf of their peoples MINDFUL that our States are an integral part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with whose members we are closely bonded by a common heritage and shared
institutions; with whose economies ours are closely integrated; and with whose
Governments we work in partnership in the international community to advance the
interests of our peoples;

OERU STRATEGIC PLAN

OVERVIEW OF THE OECS EDUCATION REFORM

Education Reform In The Eastern Caribbean

The establishment of the OECS and its Secretariat provided a conducive environment to foster
activities that aim at improving the quality of human resource within the sub-region. Similarity in size of
population compared with the remainder of the Caribbean allows for a naturally cooperative approach
to social development.

FINDINGS

The number of students who completed survey questionnaires in each country is shown in the
following table. The number of students absent on the day of administration is also indicated, to
provide an estimate of the generalisability of the results to all students in the country. That is, the
higher the percentage of students who were absent when the survey was administered, the less
confident we can be that the results represent the entire student population.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The workshop proceedings summarized in this document was the first in series of activities that have been planned to follow the Student Attitudes Survey, conducted throughout the OECS in 1998-1999. The dissemination workshops for the survey results identified a number of measures, at the sub-regional and national levels, that could strengthen the foundation of positive school-related attitudes and behaviours and optimal academic performance.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The workshop proceedings summarized in this document was the first in series of activities that have been planned to follow the Student Attitudes Survey, conducted throughout the OECS in 1998-1999. The dissemination workshops for the survey results identified a number of measures, at the sub-regional and national levels, that could strengthen the foundation of positive school-related attitudes and behaviours and optimal academic performance.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Rationale
During the years 1998 and 1999 the OECS Education Reform Unit conducted a Student
Attitude Survey in the nine OECS countries. This survey resulted from a concern that
students in the Eastern Caribbean were displaying signs of alienation from the
educational process. The aim of the survey was to “better understand students’ hopes,
fears, aspirations and ambitions as well as their attitudes towards school work and their
future lives,” (OERU 1999). The research process involved the use of structured
questionnaires completed by students and teacher ratings of students’ performance and
behaviour. There were also focus group discussions with out-of-school youth, parents
and teachers.

REPORT SUMMARY
BACKGROUND

Objectives

There is widespread concern throughout the Eastern Caribbean that youth are becoming
increasingly disaffected and disengaged from school, and that schools and teachers do not have the
capacities to prevent or overcome these problems. The Student Attitudes Survey was conducted
to" better understand students' hopes, fears, aspirations and ambitions as well as their
attitudes towards school work and their future lives." Consulting those most directly
concerned by education reform -- students themselves -- was seen as an important contribution to
education reform process.