Browsing by Author "Moges, Fanta"

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    An Assessment of the Management Capacity of the Woreda Education Offices in the Amhara Region
    (Addis Ababa University, 2001-05) Moges, Fanta; Shibeshi, Ayalew (Associate Professor)
    The purpose of this study is to assess the management capacity of WEOs and to identify the major problems of management at WEOs in the Amhara Region. Organizational structure, qualification and experience of educational managers and staff authority and functions of management such as planning, decision making, allocation and utilization of resource and information flow were used as indicators to assess the management capacity of WEOs. To this end, the study was conducted in 5 zones, 22 WEOs and 105 schools. 20 ZED and 88 WEO officials and experts and 105 school principals were used as the subjects of the study to obtain the necessary data. Questionnaire, document analysis and unstructured interview were the instruments used for data collection. The data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed using percentage and mean rank statistical instruments. Findings from the data analysis revealed that no attention was given to educational management as a discipline even though every manager at all levels of the educational system should have been equipped with the necessary managerial skills in order to manage the system efficiently and effectively. In most cases, the less qualified persons are assigned as heads of WEOs. WEOs' education managers as well as other employees lack skills in and insights in to planning and management. Regarding the organizational structure, many of the positions in the WEOs are low graded and there is only one position for graduates in each WEO. There are 2 to 13 vacancies in each woreda. Besides, the authority delegated to them is not adequate enough for doing the job. Not only are the resources in the education sector inadequate, but also the available scarce resources are not properly utilized. Unfair distribution, late arrival, improper utilization and poor handling of instructional materials, following the wrong trend of budget allocation, failure to release budget on time, procuring poor goods and services, inability to utilize the allocated budget and to handle conflicts are exactly attributed to inefficient management. In sum, these findings indicated that WEO has no capacity to manage the education system. Following the findings and conclusions drawn, it is recommended that the REB in collaboration with the concerned sector bureaux- Regional Planning and Economic Development Bureau, Regional Finance Bureau, Regional Civil Service Commission and ANRS council need to reclassify positions in the WEOs, develop new organizational structure, make wider study and revise the criteria used for selecting and appointing heads of WEOs and school principals, and develop different training packages in the area of educational planning and management to train employees that work in all levels of the education system