Insitutional Management of ICT4E Programs

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INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL ICT IN EDUCATION

PROGRAMMES

Lessons for Developing Countries

By Alex Twinomugisha

Global E Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI)

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NonCommercial‐ShareAlike. For more information on this license, please visit the

Creative Commons website at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc‐sa/3.0/



Introduction

The successful planning, deployment and utilization of Information Communication

Technologies (ICTs) in Education requires dedication, visionary leadership, strong

management and effective collaboration. One of the key challenges that developing

countries face is how to institutionally cater for ICTs in Education. Key questions

that have to be answered include who is institutionally responsible for the program,

what function, authority and experience do they have, should a separate “unit” or

department or office be created, how should it be staffed etc. This paper sets out to

answer these questions by drawing on experiences in the more developed countries

as well as developing countries.

This paper uses the generic term “institutional arrangements” to refer to lines of

responsibilities and which “unit” or department or office in the organizational

structure is tasked with planning for and implementing ICTs in Education programs,

how it should be organized and how it should staffed.

Defining ICTs in Education

Perhaps, a first step is to understand what ICT in Education means and entails.

ICT in Education refers to “an umbrella term that includes any communication

device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer

and network hardware and software, satellite systems, etc. as well as the various

services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and

distance learning in education.”1 ICTs can contribute to solving some of the major

challenges currently facing educational systems globally especially in the areas of

improving access, quality and efficiency of education.

The successful integration of ICTs in Education requires a careful consideration of

several issues such as curriculum, pedagogy and teacher preparation strategies.

1 Defined by Dr. Patti Swarts, GeSCI Education Specialist



Emerging Trends

As developing countries have adopted national ICT in Education programs, it has

often fallen to the Ministry of Education (also called Department of Education in

some countries) to take the lead. Within the Ministry of Education itself, the

“traditional” Informational Technology or IT unit has usually been tasked with

leading these ICT in Education efforts. In a few countries, the ICT in Education

program has been led by the Ministry in charge of telecommunications or some

other national ICT planning body.

However, tasking the Ministry of Education’s traditional IT department or even

indeed another ICT focused body outside the Ministry poses severe challenges to,

and some would argue makes it impossible to achieve, the effective integration of

ICTs in Education and to realize the benefits that ICTs can offer in improving the

educational system as a whole. This is because the traditional IT unit’s principle

role is focused on infrastructure provision to support the productivity of theMinistry. These units are meant to acquire, install, service and maintain the

Ministry’s IT or ICT infrastructure in support of the Ministry’s day to day activities.

Their role is essentially one of institutional support akin to the finance or

administration units. They are often staffed with technicians, programmers,

engineers or computer scientists who do not understand or are ill trained or

prepared to undertake policy and strategic planning involving both technology and

educational issues dealing with learning and teaching. In addition, these units are

usually under staffed.

Ministries of Education, especially in developing countries, therefore need to

reconsider how they institutionally position the responsibility for ICTs in Education.

Institutional Arrangements in Asia, Europe and the Americas



A survey of the institutional arrangements that have been adopted in countries that

have a longer tradition of ICTs in Education such as India the United Kingdom (UK)

and United States (US) is informative. Broadly, two main approaches are to be

encountered:

1. An autonomous or semi autonomous external organization outside the

formal structures of the Ministry of Education but funded primarily by the

Ministry of Education. This is the approach taken by the UK with the British

Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA),2 Ireland with

the National Center for Technology in Education (NCTE)3 and India with the

Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET)4. In many cases, these

organizations are set up as Not For Profit organizations or Trusts with

charitable status and independent management and Board of Directors

usually appointed by the Ministry of Education.

2. An internal unit that is part of the formal structures of the Ministry of

Education. This unit could be separate or combined with the traditional ICT

unit. This is the general approach used in the US. The US Department of

Education has, as part of its organizational structure, an Office of Educational

Technology (OET). This unit is distinct and separate from the traditional IT

unit (in this case called the Office of the Chief Information Officer‐ OCIO).

The OET is responsible for maximizing “technology's contribution to

improving education. OET develops national educational technology policy

and implements that policy department‐wide supporting the goals of No Child

Left

Behind and other initiatives”. On the other hand, the OCIO is

headed by a Chief Information Officer and is responsible for advising and

assisting “the Secretary and other senior officers in acquiring information

2 http://becta.org.uk 3 http:// www.ncte.ie4 http://www.ciet.nic.in/



technology (IT) and managing information resources”. The second case

where the ICT in Education and IT units are combined can be found in the

State of Virginia in the US. Even then, the two are really semi‐independent

sub‐units reporting to one head. This is also the same approach used in

Namibia.

An interesting scenario worth dwelling on, especially with an increasing emphasis

on decentralization of social services in the developing world, is that arising in

Federal States such as India, Australia, the US and Canada where education is also

usually a state concern. In these countries, there is usually a “central” or federal

level ICT in Education Unit (or committee in the case of Canada and Australia) as

well as individual state ICT in Education units. Usually, the central or federal level

unit or committee will be responsible for devising national policies and strategies

and for advising and providing guidelines to the state units. In most cases, the

federal Ministry of Education will provide funding to both the central and the state

ICT in Education units.

Pros and Cons of the two types of institutional arrangements

An autonomous or semi autonomous external unit presents some advantages such

as:

Ability to attract and suitably remunerate professional and specialized staff

outside the restrictions of the civil service

Flexibility in prioritization and focus due to autonomy

The challenges to such an autonomous external unit, especially for resource

constrained countries are many. The biggest challenges are a consequence of what

might be termed the “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome. These challenges include:

Loss of influence within the Ministry since the external unit is operating at “a

distance”



Loss of funding especially when the Ministry of forced to make budget cuts

Marginalization of the unit in the Ministry’s core day to day activities and plans

Other challenges include:

An expectation that the unit will be financially self sustaining in some form

which is usually very unrealistic

An inability to attract and retain specialized and experienced staff.

These challenges are indeed faced by many autonomous or semi autonomous

entities that have been set up in many African countries and as such they must be

kept in mind when determining whether to set up the unit externally or make it a

formal part of the Ministry’s internal structures. These challenges will in many cases

tend to suggest that the ICT in Education unit stands a better chance of attracting

continuous funding and having an impact on the Ministry’s overall strategies and

plans if it remains a core part of the Ministry.

Role of the ICT in Education Unit

Whether it is an internal part of the Ministry’s structure or an external independent

entity, the ICT in Education unit’s roles relate directly to improvement of teaching

and learning using ICTs. Specifically, the units are responsible for:

1. Formulating and recommending policies on the use of ICT in teaching and

learning to the Ministry and to government in general

2. Developing, managing and monitoring implementation plans and strategies

3. Acting as strategic advisors to the Ministry and the government on ICT in

Education issues

4. Brokering, managing and coordinating partnerships

5. Undertaking research and analysis and making recommendations to schools,

other educational institutions, the Ministry and Government on matters of

ICTs in Education



6. Undertaking procurement of ICT infrastructure, software and applications,

content, systems and services where cost‐efficiencies and sustainability can

be realized by bulk purchases or centralized procurement

7. Fostering dialogue on ICT in Education issues through hosting forums,

workshops, conferences and bringing together key stakeholders regularly to

contribute to the national ICT in Education activities and plans

8. Enacting technical standards and operating procedures and guidelines for

schools and other educational institutions

What is important to note here is that these units are mainly about providing

leadership, advice and expertise in the areas of policy, strategic planning,

coordination and project management. These units do NOT undertake

implementation activities although they may oversee implementation5.

Skill Sets and Profiles of Staff for an ICT in Education Unit

As can be surmised from the role of ICT in Education units discussed above, the

types of skills required to fulfill these roles is not in any way related to the skills

often possessed of “technologists” or “techies” who run the traditional IT unit. The

following general types of personnel, skills and profiles will instead be required:

Head of Unit Skills: leadership, strategic and business planning, project design and management,

educational management, policy formulation.

Profile: somebody who has proven leadership and management experience with

large and complex projects, experience with change management, visionary and

able to manage and motivate large teams of experts and specialists, able to work

with and manage a diverse range of stakeholder interests, preferably with a prior

experience in teaching or working in an academic or training institution or a related

government, public or private entity

5 An interesting deviant is CIET and the State Institutes of Education Technology (SIETs) which are

heavily involved in deployment, mainly of audio-visual equipment, and training





Profile‐ experience developing and implementing monitoring and evaluation of

large and complex programs preferably in the education or training sector.

This is not a comprehensive list of skills and job profiles but is only a summary of

some of the more relevant and critical ones to have in the ICT4E unit. The actual

numbers, profiles, types and mixture of skills will depend on the particular

Ministry’s priorities, capacities, strategies and plans.

Basic Setup and Staffing Plan for an ICT in Education Unit

A basic organizational setup and staffing plan for an ICT in Education unit could look

like this:

Head of the Unit responsible for managing the unit, providing leadership,

advising the Ministry and Government, leading negotiations with Partners,

leading the policy and implementation plan making processes, raising funds.

This should be somebody with real authority preferably at senior management

level or equivalent.

A project management specialist who will ensure day to day coordination of thevarious partners and their activities, over see/ monitor the implementation plan

once its in place, ensure efficient communications with all stakeholders both

internal and external (including things like updating website), act as secretary to

the working groups or taskforce committees, update the ICT4E website and

oversee and monitor contracts signed by the Ministry to deliver ICT4E products

and services. This person can also work with a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

consultant if there is no dedicated M&E person internally in the Ministry.

An educational technologist to provide strategic advice on ICT matters,

undertake research on promising practices in the field, provide expert input into

the policy and implementation plan, oversee some activities like developing and

enforcing ICT standards, connectivity issues and maintenance and technical



support in schools, review proposals and projects with a focus on ICT

components, and liaise with the traditional IT unit as and when required.

A curriculum/ content development expert to provide strategic advice on

teaching and learning issues and the integration of ICTs in the curriculum, liaise

with the curriculum development and teacher training units on a day‐to‐day

basis, be a focal point for content based projects/ partners, oversee evaluation of

digital content, and review proposals and projects with a focus on content and

training.

Admin/ secretary/ support person

With limited resources or in the initial stages, M &E could be better done by an

external/ independent entity to ensure objectivity and limit bias. If the Ministry

doesn’t have an M&E unit, then perhaps consultants can be used or else the role of

school inspectors could be expanded to include an “ICT brief”.

This is but an example of a basic staffing plan. Individual countries and Ministries

should carefully consider their own plans, strategies, priorities, resources and

constraints within their own contexts and environments when making their basic

staffing plans.

Approach to Implementation

In undertaking actual implementation activities including delivering and installing

the ICTs, training teachers, maintaining and servicing the equipment and even in

monitoring and evaluation, the Ministry of Education often relies on a variety of

independent and external organizations that include public organizations (e.g. the

power or telecoms company), NGOs and private sector organizations. The nature of

the relationship between the Ministry and these organizations usually takes several

forms including:



Contractual, or customer‐supplier relationship especially where the Ministry is

paying,

Partnership, especially where the NGO or private sector company is providing

significant resources,

Or a combination of both relationships.

In a few other cases, the Ministry has set up external organizations specifically to

handle implementation such as the National Educational Technical Support and

Service (NETSS) Center in Namibia6. The Australian government set up education.au

Limited7 to undertake development of content. In other cases, the government funds

an existing NGO such as is the case in Canada where the federal government funds

SchoolNet Canada which distributes computers to schools.

The role of the ICT in Education unit in this case is to monitor the performance of

these external organizations to ensure that the implementation plans, technical

standards and policy requirements are being met.

ICT in Education Committees and Working Groups

As well as having a dedicated policy and strategy units, most Ministries of Educationhave also established ICT in Education committees, working groups or task forces.

These are usually composed of members of various stakeholder groups including

other government ministries, public organizations, NGOs, schools, universities and

private sector organizations. The role of these committees is largely that of

providing strategic advice and input to the policy and strategic planning process,

ensuring participation of the wider stakeholder body, and ensuring coordination

across various other sectors.

For example, in Ireland, the Department of Education has set up a National Policy

and Advisory Development Committee whose primary function is “to advise the

6 See http://www.netss.org.na/ 7 See http://www.educationau.edu.au



Minister for Education and Science on the role of Information and Communication

Technologies (ICT) in the Irish education system”8. The State of Virginia in the US

also created The Virginia Educational Technology Advisory Committee (VETAC)

“dedicated to serving the Commonwealth's educational community by advising the

Board of Education through the State Superintendent for Public Instruction on

educational technology matters.”9 Australia has established the Australian

Information and Communications Technology in Education Committee (AICTEC)

which is “a cross‐sectoral, national committee responsible for providing advice to all

Australian Ministers of Education and Training on the economic and effective

utilisation of online technologies in Australian education and training.”10

Apart from the national cross‐sectoral committees, another important committee or

working group to consider is an internal Ministry inter‐departmental committee.

Such a committee would comprise of heads or senior staff of key units or

departments such as curriculum development, teacher training, planning and

finance and administration. This committee will ensure that there is buy‐in and

support across the board in the Ministry, that all units’ inputs are captured, that all

units are kept in the loop and that the ICT in Education unit is able to leverage the

resources and expertise available to these other units. Such a committee should bechaired by the highest civil servant in the Ministry (usually called the Permanent

Secretary, Secretary General or Chief Director in most Ministries and Departments

of Education) to ensure leadership of ICT in Education initiatives from the top. Such

a committee could meet at least once every quarter to discuss projects, progress and

plans.

Lessons for Developing Countries

From an analysis of institutional arrangements in the more developed world, the

following lessons can be taken as encouraging or promising practice:

8 http://www.ncte.ie/npadc/"9 http://www.pen.k12.va.us/Div/VETAC/ 10 http://www.aictec.edu.au/aictec/about



The ICT in Education unit should be separate from the traditional IT unit. Where

the two are combined, the ICT in Education sub unit should have a large degree

of autonomy and independence.

The ICT in Education unit is responsible for providing leadership, advice and

expertise in the areas of policy, strategic planning, coordination and project

management and not responsible for implementing projects, maintaining or

servicing equipment.

Establish an ICT in Education national committee that brings together the

diverse range of stakeholders including schools, other government departments,

key NGOs and private sector companies to provide strategic advice to the

Ministry of Education and the ICT in Education Unit. This Committee could meet

once or twice a year or as necessary and provide input into any policies and

plans under consideration.

The Ministry of Education should establish an internal inter‐departmental ICT in

Education committee that comprises of heads (or deputy heads but preferably

the heads themselves) of key internal departments such as curriculum

development, planning, teacher training, the traditional IT department and

finance and administration.

Implementation should be left to the private sector or suitably qualified public

and NGO sector organizations. In this case, the ICT in Education unit’s role is to

monitor the performance of these external organizations to ensure that the

implementation plans, technical standards and policy requirements are being

met.



The staffing of the ICT in Education unit should be biased towards educational

experts in curriculum, pedagogy and teacher preparation. However, these

experts must have experience and a good understanding of ICTs. The Unit should

also have an in‐house educational technology expert. The Unit could also call

upon the Ministry’s traditional IT unit for support in highly technical matters.

Insitutional Management of ICT4E Programs

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