Abstract
The decentralisation of educational administration has been widely advocated as a strategy to promote local participation in education. However, the fact that this advocacy has a long history raises the question why decentralisation has not been achieved in more educational systems. The answers to this question are many and complex. Among them are difficulties with the implementation of reforms. The present study examines some of these difficulties in Kerala State, India. It determines that although Kerala has a strong reputation for political participation, the rhetoric of decentralisation in the educational sector has not matched the reality there. The lessons to be learned in this context have wide implications for the theory and practice of decentralisation in education.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
N. K. Ambasht (Eds) (1996) Elementary Education in Panchayati Raj National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration New Delhi
Asian Development Bank. 2001. Education and National Development in Asia: Trends, Issues, Policies, and Strategies. Manila: Asian Development Bank.
Christopher Bjork (2003) ArticleTitleLocal Responses to Decentralization Policy in Indonesia Comparative Education Review 47 IssueID2 184–216
Mark Bray (1985) ArticleTitleEducation and Decentralisation in Less Developed Countries: A Comment on Trends, Issues and Problems, with Particular Reference to Papua New Guinea Comparative Education 21 IssueID3 183–196
Mark Bray (2003) Control of Education: Issues and Tensions in Centralization and Decentralization Robert F. Arnove Carlos A. Torres (Eds) Comparative Education: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local EditionNumber2 Rowman and Littlefield Lanham, MD
Committee on Decentralization of Powers. 1997. Final Report, Vol. I. Kottayam: Government Press.
Diana Conyers (Eds) (1982) The Role of Decentralization in National Development Studies Institute of Social Studies The Hague
Kiran Dhingra (Eds) (1991) Improving the Information System for Planning the Quality of Primary Education: The Case of India UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning Paris
Caroline Dyer (Eds) (2000) Operation Blackboard: Policy Implementation in Indian Elementary Education Symposium Books Oxford
Victor M Fic (Eds) (1970) Kerala, Yenan of India: Rise of Communist Power Nachiketa Publications Bombay 1937–1969
Edward B Fiske (1996) Decentralization of Education: Politics and Consensus Washington, DC The World Bank
Richard W Franke Barbara H. Chasin (1997) ArticleTitlePower to the Malayalee People Economic and Political Weekly (29 November–5 December) 32 IssueID48 3061–3068
Richard W Franke Barbara H. Chasin (2000) Is the Kerala Model Sustainable? Lessons from the Past Prospects for the Future Govindan Parayil (Eds) Kerala: The Development Experience – Reflections on Sustainability and Replicability Zed Books London 16–30
R Gaiha (Eds) (1997) Decentralization: The Indian Experience Food and Agricultural Organisation Rome
Ganesh, K. N., and C. Ramakrishnan. 2000. Education and People’s Planning Campaign: The Kerala Experience’. Paper presented at the International Conference on Democratic Decentralisation, State Planning Board, Thiruvananthapuram, 23–27 May.
Kathy Gaynor (1998) Decentralization of Education: Teacher Management Washington,DC The World Bank
Alec Ian Gershberg (1999) ArticleTitleEducation ‘Decentralization’ Processes in Mexico and Nicaragua: Legislative versus Ministry-led Reform Strategies Comparative Education 35 IssueID1 63–80
E.Mark Hanson (1998) ArticleTitleStrategies of Educational Decentralization: Key Questions and Core Issues Journal of Educational Administration 26 IssueID2 111–128
Stephen P Heyneman (1997) ArticleTitleEducational Choice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union: A Review Essay Education Economics 5 IssueID3 333–339
Government of India. 1986a. National Policy on Education. New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education.
Government of India. 1986b. Programme of Action. New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education.
Government of India. 1992a. National Policy on Education (Revised Version). New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education.
Government of India. 1992b. Programme of Action (Revised Version). New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education.
Jain, Shilpa. 2001. Rethinking Decentralization for Nurturing Learning Societies. http://www.swaraj.org/ shikshantar/resources_jain_2.html, accessed 26 March 2004.
M. M. Kappor T.H. Sreedharam J. C. Goyal (Eds) (1994) Educational Administration in Kerala: Structure, Processes and Prospects for the Future Vikas Publishing House New Delhi
Ratheesh Kumar (2003) ArticleTitlePolitics of School Reform Movements: DPEP and Primary Education – The Kerala Experience Perspectives in Education 19 IssueID1 28–42
John Kurien (2000) The Kerala Model: Its Central Tendency and the “Outlier” Govindan Parayil (Eds) Kerala: The Development Experience – Reflections on Sustainability and Replicability Zed Books London 178–197
Henry Maddick (Eds) (1963) Democracy, Decentralization and Development Asia Publishing House Bombay
Srilekha Majumdar (1999) Infrastructure and Educational Administration Marmar Mukhopadhyay Madhu Parhar (Eds) Indian Education: Developments Since Independence Vikas Publishing House New Delhi 229–243
Noel M McGinn Susan Street (1986) ArticleTitleEducational Decentralization: Weak State or Strong State Comparative Education Review 30 IssueID4 471–490
Noel M McGinn Thomas Welsh (Eds) (1999) Decentralization of Education: Why, When, What and How? UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning Paris
Ka-ho Mok (2003) Centralization and Decentralization: Changing Governance in Education Ka-ho Mok (Eds) Centralization and Decentralization: Educational Reforms and Changing Governance in Chinese Societies Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 3–17
Mullikottu-Veettil Mukundan (2003a) ArticleTitleDemocratic Decentralization and Primary Education: A Comparison of Continuity and Change in Two Districts of Kerala (India) Asia Pacific Education Review 4 IssueID1 27–38
Mullikottu-Veettil Mukundan (2003b) The Control of Education: A Multilevel Analysis of Continuity and Change in Two Districts of Kerala, India Dissertation The University of Hong Kong
B. A. Prakash (Eds) (1994) Kerala’s Economy: Performance, Problems, Prospects Sage New Delhi
B. Powis (1999) Bottom-up Approaches to Decentralization: The People’s Campaign in Kerala Master’s thesis University of Sussex
Dennis Rondinelli James McCullough Ronald Johnson (1989) ArticleTitleAnalyzing Decentralization Policies in Developing Countries: A Political-Economy Framework Development and Change 20 IssueID1 57–87
Dennis Rondinelli James McCullough Ronald Johnson (1981) ArticleTitleGovernment Decentralization in Comparative Perspective: Theory and Practice in Developing Countries International Review of Administrative Sciences 47 IssueID2 133–145
Amartya Sen (1997) Radical Needs and Moderate Reforms Drèze Jean Sen Amartya (Eds) Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives Oxford University Press New Delhi 1–32
State Planning Board. 1998. Asoothranasahayi: Vidhyabhyasa Meghala [Planning handbook: Education sector]. Thiruvananathapuram: State Planning Board and General Education Department, Government of Kerala.
T. M. Thomas Isaac (Eds) (1998) Janakeeyasoothranam: Sidhanthavum Prayogavum [People’s planning: Theory and practice] State Planning Board Thiruvananthapuram
T. M. Thomas Isaac (2000) ArticleTitleJanakeeyasoothranam: Evidevare? [People’s planning: How far?] Mathrubhumi Weekly 28 IssueID78 6–9–51
T. M. Thomas Isaac W Franke Richard (Eds) (2000) Local Democracy and Development: People’s Campaign for Decentralized Planning in Kerala Leftword New Delhi
T. M. Thomas Isaac K. N. Harilal (1997) ArticleTitlePlanning for Empowerment: People’s Campaign for Decentralized Planning in Kerala Economic and Political Weekly 32 IssueID1 and 2 53–58
Thomas Isaac, T. M., and P. Heller. 2001. Decentralisation, Democracy and Development: People’s Campaign for Decentralised Planning in Kerala. http://www.ssc.wisc.edn/∼wright/DeepDem.pdf, accessed 27 March 2004.
Olle Tornquist (2000) The New Popular Development of Politics: Kerala’s Experience Parayil Govindan (Eds) Kerala: The Development Experience – Reflections on Sustainability and Replicability Zed Books London 116–138
UNESCO. 1982. The Decentralization of Educational Administration. Bangkok: UNESCO
UNESCO. 2000. The Dakar Framework for Action – Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments. Document from the World Education Forum, Senegal. Paris: UNESCO.
United Nations. 1962. Decentralization for National and Local Development. New York: Division for Public Administration, United Nations.
Vijayanand, S. M. 2001. Issues Related to Administrative Decentralization and Administering of Decentralization: Lesson from the Kerala Experience. Paper presented at the Workshop on Decentralization, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, 31 May–1 June.
Paul Wallich (1995) ArticleTitleA Mystery Inside a Riddle Inside an Enigma Scientific American 272 IssueID3 37
N. V. Varghese (1997) Decentralization of Educational Planning in India: An Assessment of Training Needs R. Govinda (Eds) Decentralization of Educational Management: Experiences from South Asia UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning Paris 138–163
World Bank. 1997. Primary Education in India. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
World Bank.1999. Education Sector Strategy. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mukundan, MV., Bray, M. The Decentralisation Of Education In Kerala State, India: Rhetoric And Reality. Int Rev Educ 50, 223–243 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-004-2621-7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-004-2621-7