Mandates & Accountability

Effective management and work practices for the achievement of national learning goals are dependent on the clarity of mandates regarding responsibilities and allocation, independently of where those responsabilities are allocated (Prichett & Pande 2006). In many education systems there is confusion about education functions across levels of government and a lack of shared understanding amongst officials about these responsibilities.  This confusion could be because of lack of legal clarity on the responsibilities, or gaps in the knowledge of the officials responsible, or failures in accountability systems for ensuring that these functions are effectively fulfilled (Adelman et al. 2019). 

Drawing on the organization and management literature (Nadler & Tushman 1980; Gibbons 2003; Prichett 2015), the concept behind this indicator is that coherence between officials’ understanding of the allocation of responsibilities matters for the outcomes produced by public education systems. When different parts of the system fail to work together, learning outcomes will fall short of what is possible. Given that these difficulties are enhanced when there is a vacuum in the legislation regarding responsibility for the execution of each of the core functions of the education system, this indicator will try to measure the extent to which these are defined, and the relevant actors are aware of those mandates. It will also measure the extent to which there are processes of transparency and accountability to help ensure that those mandates are being fulfilled. The 9 questions included in this questionnaire will measure the coherence, transparency, and accountability of bureaucrats.