5. CHAPTER FIVE: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
5.6 Theme Four: Sustainable Practices in Resource Generation and Management
5.6.3 HODs Perceptions in Resource Sustainable Practices
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responsibilities to wardens. The view on policies was an eye opener to me that there were challenges on operation and functionality of schools regarding educational resources.
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All 32 (100%) participating HODs suggested the following as possible sustainable practices:
careful selection of materials and facilities, having proper facility inventory, avoiding resource wastage and damage, arranging proper space and storage for resources and scouting for quotations to compare costs. Also, 31 (97%) said categorising resources and keeping periodic verification of stocks were also best practice. A total of 30 (97%) participants said that schools had to form plans to achieve objectives. Another 29 (91%) reported that having constant flow of funding in schools was another sustainable practice. These responses portrayed a need for a crucial focus on comprehensive packages of technologies and engaging on internal and external strategies to sustain resources in schools.
I also interviewed HODs in FGIs on this matter. One view they brought forward was the issue of ICT equipment usage. In this regard, one of them responded as follows:
A school can use a card with barcodes to tell who is holding what resource at what time. The laboratory technician can give printouts for stock book checks for the availability or lack of resources in the whole school. (Mega HOD 8) and ICT specialist he explained.
In addition to this, another HOD said:
ICT usage makes it easy for the office in charge of the resources to check inventory, thus ensuring that resources are well looked after. (Masiko HOD 8).
One Miko HOD echoed the same view that:
The ICT equipment can be used to check and manage inventory even for servicing and repairing resources and for back up purposes. (Miko HOD 7).
Another best practice raised was that of establishing relations with other institutions to assist in funding of schools. Several of the participants suggested:
It is important to develop a rapport and friendship with suppliers, communities, NGO’s, companies. Creating a database for funders with similar vision to that of the school can sustain educational resources. (Mega HOD 6).
A participant HOD from Malta added:
Suppliers can offer huge discounts when buying from them in bulk, thus making the purchase of resources even cheaper. (Malta HOD7).
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The same idea of funding flows to schools came up also at Miko school:
Investing on fundraising strategies, like selling from Agriculture and Home Economics products can help support schools with funds for maintenance of educational resources. (Miko HOD 3).
A participant from Mass said:
We should be involved in the school budgeting for our departments so that we can know the state of the school coffers to avoid demanding more resources where there is actually no money, that is, mind the rate at which needs and requirements of resources occur. (Mass HOD 3).
Some participating HODs suggested the involvement of all stakeholders to help sustain educational resources.
Working hand-in-hand with stakeholders and specifying what is expected of each of them on the care of resources could bring sustenance of educational resources.
(Masiko HOD 6).
This same view came up at Malta.
Determining the state or condition of the resources, especially text books when taken by the learners as stakeholders can help the school know what to expect at the end of the year when collecting them back. (Malta HOD 4).
This view was also raised at Mango school:
Carefully conscientising all relevant stakeholders involved, that is, learners, staff and community on the need to preserve or save resources. This can minimise the chances of misusing resources and the reckless handling of school facilities by people who lack knowledge about the importance of concerning themselves with educational resources. (Mango HOD 3).
Other HODs raised the issue that HTs should monitor resource usage in schools.
Administrators should monitor the usage of resources like electricity, water, stationery; remind learners and staff on the need to save resources; conduct routine checks on unnecessary use of educational resources and facilities. This would avoid solving problems untimely, but instead promote the aims of education. (Malta HOD 3).
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HODs quantitative and qualitative responses agreed to a high extent with those of HTs.
Having proper facility inventory through the use of ICT and having constant flow of funding in schools were the most common sustainable practices. In addition, they suggested proper budgeting and planning for resources in the departments and involving all stakeholders concerned with processes of resource generation and management in schools. This meant decentralising the resource processes and improvements by promoting stakeholders control over what happens in the schools with regards to physical and material resources.
I went on to analyse the school strategic plans (SSP) to complement data gathered from questionnaire and interviews. I found that only one out of the six schools had a strategic plan in place. When analysing the SSP of Mango high school, the following information was gathered: the vision and mission statement of the school. There was focus on academic and student services. The SSP was supported by adequate and appropriate staffing (ref. Section 5.2, Table 5.1). On the other hand, there was no financial plan for the operation of the school.
There were no ongoing operations of the school like maintenance plan regarding resources.
There was no capital renewal and replacement plan for the school resources. The plan did not specify strategies for correcting problems in the future regarding resources in the school.
Regrettably, the other five schools reported that there were no strategic planning conducted in their schools.
One HT specifically mentioned that:
I do not understand what a strategic plan is. This is because there is no document specifically prepared so as to carry on with this task. (Miko HT).
This sentiment was shared by the other schools although some did not put it as convincingly as in the above HT‟s response.
According to Daily and Huang (2001) many businesses including schools implement a proactive strategic tool known as an environmental management system (EMS) to gain a competitive advantage. Strategic planning provides a framework so that the most important priority of the school, the students‟ educational achievement is taken care of (Daily & Huang, 2001). Matei and Dogaru, (2012) suggest that various elements of a strategic plan contribute directly to the understanding and formulation of policy priorities and goals in organisations.
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Evans (2007) emphasises that strategic planning helps with fundraising as an additional benefit. Donors are more likely to support a school that has a clear vision and a strategy to make it happen. Gumbi (2009) also advises that budgeting should start with SSPs and that to achieve objectives of the school depends on the availability of resources. Therefore, information regarding SSPs suggests that the schools lacked better operational efficiencies.
They also seemed to lack long-term strategic planning skills and sustainable approaches for the management of resources.
Caldwell (2006) is of the view that physical and material resource evaluation and planning should occur on a regular basis to ensure that the resources allocated to any institutional function are adequate for the effective conduct of that function and its current demand. Yun (2010) highlights that at the end of each strategic plan cycle, members of the organisation engage in a review of its collective achievements, challenges faced and current realities visa- a-vis its vision, mission and goals, in order to plan for the next cycle. Unfortunately, as could be observed from document analysis, nothing much was done by the participating schools in this regard. It seemed that HTs had inadequate understanding of strategic planning processes.
Seemingly, there were no tight or logical connections between mission, vision, goals, actions and responsibilities in schools. Thus the schools seemed to need to have facilities plans linked to academic, student services and financial planning for the proper operations of resources. These should be broadened to include ongoing operations, preventive maintenance, deferred maintenance, capital renewal and replacement of resources.
This theme was about participants‟ views on ways of sustaining educational resources. One dynamic that came out was the importance of having a constant flow of funding in schools.
Another one was the need to establish internal and external partnerships to support schools.
Another one related to involving in decision making all stakeholders concerned with school resources. Responses implied that decentralisation of resources could be best approached by establishing structures and processes that enable groups of people to discuss new directions, lead proactively and try new approaches to education sustainability.
Daily and Huang (2001) argue that education management practices should include documentation of commitment, policy, planning, implementation, measurement and evaluation, and review and improvement. Therefore, implementing sustainable practices for educational resource generation and management in schools require the application of the
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systems theory. The interaction of systems and sub-systems of an organisation contribute a lot to the environment in terms of input, feedback, processes and output of a school as a social system (Vide Chapter 3, Section 3.4.1). This means, everyone involved with resources should be knowledgeable about legislation related to resource mobilisation and management.
Daily and Huang (2001), Ehiametalor (2003) and Aishatu (2010) emphasise that the school environment has a formative influence on its activities. Thus, policy implementation helps managers look at all aspects of schools and planning how they wish to move forward. Also, where there was need to show collegiality, it did not seem to show. Hence, motivation and effective communication were essential elements of collegiality in resource sustainability. In this case, it was quite disturbing that SSPs were not operational in the schools yet they are the core of sustainability. Consequently, the lack of strategic planning in schools resulted in an inability to plan high level goals and difficulty in translating the goals into reality.