Post on 08-Jun-2015
description
Akin Jimoh
ajimoh@devcomsnetwork.org
Background
Definition of Public Participation
Stages of Participation in education
Why Public Participation in Education
Responsibility of the Education Journalist
Case Study: How one community’s
concerns reached a national audience
The attitudes that parents, communities,
employers and the media have towards
schools, and the support that these groups
can give, can make an enormous difference
to the quality of education children receive.
Where communities take an active role,
children’s access to education, the quality
of teaching and learning, and school
environments can improve significantly - ESSPIN Briefing Note 6
In view of this, open, participatory information
and communication processes lie at the heart
of changing societies and individual behaviour.
But they need to be put at the service of the
community, who want to be informed, to
understand and contribute to the debates
and decisions that affect their lives – at
community, national and international
levels.
Public Participation is a framework of
policies, principles, and techniques
which ensure that citizens and
communities, individuals, groups, and
organizations have the opportunity to
be involved in a meaningful way in
making decisions that will affect them,
or in which they have an interest.
School Based Management Level
Public Policy Formulation Level
Communities have an important role to play in ensuring all children are
educated and for raising teaching and learning standards in schools.
Public participation includes information exchange, public consultation, engagement, shared decisions, and shared jurisdiction.
SBMC enhances effectiveness through decentralization of power
Policy implementation is improved with public consent and commitment
Community Participation yields higher quality decisions
There is a growing demand for public participation
The need for greater openness of decision processes
Mistrust of expert advice
Need to resolve conflicts when one rise
It influences government priorities and processes
The Need to set priorities
Community participation helps to seek consensus
Enhance public knowledge, understanding, and awareness
The need to share information
Community participation establishes/solidifies legitimacy
Participation is fundamental to democracy
Leads to effective allocate of scarce resources
Leads to community ownership
Govt CSO
Provide Linkage
,
Community
MediaMedia
The media owes the public a crucial responsibility and must set agenda to
focus public attention on the Education Sector
Beyond looking at the failures of the
government on education, journalists can
publish success stories that bring into spotlight
the efforts of concerned bodies and citizens
e.g. International agencies, CSOs, Religious
bodies, Foundations, Philanthropists etc
towards advancing education in Nigeria.
To amplify the voices
of citizens and help
them to be involved in
development process
Promote the needs
and demands of
citizens
Perform its role as a watchdog to help demand that government works and deepen democratic values
Play the umpire role, by helping
enlighten/remind citizens of their roles
and government of their responsibilities
Influence government priorities and
processes
Manchar Lake in Sindh province, Pakistan, is one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes. It is a major source of water in the region which is occupied by Pakistan’s poorest.
The lake supports an estimated half a million people through a variety of economic activities such as fishing.
The recent land drainage project by the government of Pakistan in the early 1990s to improve the drainage of waterlogged agricultural lands in northern Sindh polluted the lake with agricultural chemicals and industrial waste pour into the lake from the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD).
Between 2005 and 2007 Panos London, Panos South
Asia, Shirkat Gah and the community of Manchar Lake
worked together to tackle the barriers that were
preventing the local community’s views from being
heard.
By sharing their contacts and expertise, and combining
different communication methods including:
1.Theatre
2.Debate
3.Media
Panos’ approach recognise the media as a
sector in its own right, with its own interests
and constraints, rather than purely as a
conduit for information.
Panos therefore enabled two journalists to
spend several days at Manchar Lake,
together with local CSO workers and
community members during a public debate
tagged people’s assembly.
The vivid personal stories that resulted provided both the motivation and the raw material for a variety of media outputs.
1.NGO newsletter2.Documentary television3.Radio features4.Current affairs television5.Other media coverage including five Sindh newspapers and the BBC radio Urdu Service and online Urdu Website.
It brought different actors together generating new relationships and inclusive dialogue and in doing so, helped to bridge the communication gap between ‘the governed’ and ‘the governors’.
Success include:Community ownershipFocus on voicesInteractive theatre: inclusive and accessibleBringing together interest groupsEngaging the local elite
Making direct voices of affected individuals central to the
public debate, enhances the relevance, legitimacy,
inclusiveness and accessibility of that debate
Using a number of communication methods, and producing
different outputs in order to engage a variety of audiences, is
important
Building relationships and mutual understanding between
communities, NGOs and the media significantly increases
awareness and strengthens advocacy campaigns
Local stories can raise national interest if they are conveyed
well
Involving local elites and gaining their support is crucial in
reaching higher-level policymakers
The media are important part of civil
society, reflecting different voices,
competing interests and the clash of
opinions within it. They should do more
to help articulate needs and demands,
shape opinion and attitudes, and
provide a vehicle for political and
cultural expression.