The challenge of policy implementation : a comparative analysis of vocational school reforms in Albania, Kosovo and Turkey

Abstract

Between 2002 and 2005 the European Training Foundation (ETF) launched a peer review programme for South Eastern Europe. Although its main aim was to provide policy recommendations to national policymakers, it also endeavoured to contribute to capacity building and regional networking. In 2006 the ETF shifted its focus from peer review to peer learning, with the main objective being to contribute to national stakeholder capacity building through in-depth analyses and comparisons of education and training systems and policies in different countries. In 2006 the peer learning project concentrated on the issue of financing vocational education and training (VET) in Albania, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244) and Montenegro. Through interviews and discussions with national stakeholders and peers, four peer policymakers and four peer VET experts from Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro gained a deeper understanding of differences and similarities in the financing of VET in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro. In 2007 the project focused on the impact of VET policies on schools and school management in Albania, Kosovo and Turkey. One policymaker, one school director from a donor-supported pilot school and one from a non-pilot school were selected as peers from each country. National coordinators were appointed to coordinate self-study and preparations for the peer visits. Two peers from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro were also invited. European Union (EU) VET expert, Ronald Sultana, author of this report, provided external expertise. The experts were engaged and coordinated by Agmin Italy and the team was led by two ETF staff members. We are grateful to all the people we interviewed during our peer visits to Albania, Kosovo and Turkey for their patience in answering our questions and for providing us with food for thought. We are particularly grateful to our ETF colleague Sam Cavanagh for his consistent support. We would also like to thank the team for the open, friendly, professional and intensive discussions that provided an enriching learning experience for all of us. We conclude that policies, people, places and pace are important dimensions of any policy implementation process. We understand that policy design and policy implementation are very complex processes and that policies are implemented, interpreted or adapted in different ways in line with these dimensions. We have learned that the more stakeholders – in particular, school directors and teachers – involved in the policy design phase, the easier the implementation of reforms. We firmly believe that ministries have the responsibility to steer reforms (often donor-funded) and to develop – from an early stage – strategies for mainstreaming innovative approaches that prevent inequalities between schools and teachers. We also feel that the role of school directors and teachers is systematically underrated in reforms. This report describes the rich experiences that came out of the 2007 peer learning exercise. The ETF peer learning instrument proved to be a very powerful learning tool for peers, as sharing experiences and comparing success stories, failures and mistakes helped them to better comprehend the local contexts in which reforms are taking place and why policy initiatives seem to work better under particular circumstances. Although it may seem that this exercise led to more questions than answers, questions can also help peers in dealing with daily problems. We considered it very important to share our learning with a much broader group of interested people in the field of education, and so we held a regional conference in Istanbul on 3-4 December 2007, involving some 100 policymakers and school directors from all over South Eastern Europe. This report – which reflects the intensive discussions of peers over a period of 10 days in Albania, Kosovo and Turkey – should, in general terms, be considered as an instrument for knowledge sharing. It will form the basis for the stakeholder discussions on policy impact on schools and school management that the ETF aims to promote in 2008 by organising dissemination meetings in Albania, Kosovo and Turkey. We hope that this report will increase the understanding of policy reform processes and that it will ultimately contribute to more efficient and effective policy implementation.