An Assessment on the Management Capacity of the Education Department in the Ministry of Defense
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Date
2003-06
Authors
Yohannes Asgedom
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to make an assessment of the management capacity of the EducationDepartment and to identify the major problems of management at theEducation Department in theMinistry of Defense. Organizational structure, shortage of man power, qualification and experience of the education department, and division heads, staff authority andthe management practices such as pharming,organizing, directing, controlling, utilization of resource and information flowwere used as indicatorsto assess the management capacity of the Education Department.To this effect, the study was conducted in 2 primary, 3 secondary schools andthe member staff in theoffice of the Education Department were used as subjects of the study to obtainthe necessary data.Questionnaire, unstructured interview, document consultation and personalobservation were the instruments used for the data collection. The data collected through thequestionnaire were analyzedusing the t-test, ANOYA, percentage and mean rank statistical instruments. Findings from the data analysis indicated that no attention was offered tomanagerial practices eventhough every manager at all levels of the education system should have been equipped with thenecessary managerial skills in order to manage the system effectively and efficiently. In most cases,individuals are assigned as the education department and division heads being members of the armyregardless of the qualification required for the positions. The educationmanagers and other employeesin the Education Department lack skills and insights in management. There are1-2 vacancies in each
division of the Education Department. In addition to this, the authority delegated
to them is notadequate enough to do the job. The mishandling of instructional material, latearrival, improper utilization of resources, inadequate provision unfair distribution and the failureto release budget ontime, procuring poor goods and services and to manage conflicts are exactlyattributed to inefficientmanagement. In general, these findings revealed that the EducationDepartment has no capacity to manage the education system. In line with the findings and conclusions drawn, it is recommended that theMinistry of Defense incollaboration with the Federal Civil Service commission and Ministry of Finance need to classify revise the criteria used for selecting and appointing heads of the divisionspositions in the Education Department, develop new organizational structure,make wider study andfurthermore the MOD needto develop different training packages in the area of education management totrain employees thatwork in all levels of the education system in the Education Department.