An Assessment of the Management Capacity of the Woreda Education Offices in the Amhara Region
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Date
2001-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
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
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Keywords
Amhara Region Woreda Education Offices