Empowering Parents While Making Them Pay: Autonomous Schools and Education Reform Processes in Nicaragua
Contributor Name:
Sudakshina
Education sector reforms in Nicaragua provide valuable insights on the benefits and pitfalls of decentralization, especially since similar type of reforms is on the rise in Latin America.
The author explores the benefits and pitfalls of the school reform process under the Nicaraguan Autonomous Schools Program, which promoted school-based management. He states that:
- Decentralization was achieved through ministerial directives and not through legislation, which allowed for experimentation and learning by doing;
- As school-level fees would drop under the new law, new strategies should be explored to support schools and improve working conditions of teachers;
- Reforms created school councils, which managed schools;
- Schools councils had majority voting rights to parents and allocated resources derived partly from fees charged to parents;
- Reforms did not necessarily reduce central administration.