2.1 The Socio-Ecological Model

"...the supervision of schools by the education authorities can be an effective tool to monitor and improve education quality..."

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION

Research focusing on school management has stressed the relevance of good governance and regular monitoring in relation to reducing pupils’ and teachers’ chronic non-attendance. As emphasized below, the supervision of schools by the education authorities can be an effective tool to monitor and improve education quality. Post-colonial trends towards school autonomy in African countries have advocated for “a profound shift in the role of school supervision from exercising administrative control to demanding accountability and offering support”(De Grauwe, 2007:709). School supervision services can be broadly classified into two types: (i) those that focus on teachers, who are responsible for the quality of the education provided; and (ii) those that focus on the school, which is the central element impacting the quality of education through its overall functioning and the achievement of positive interactions between the principal, teachers and parents. Furthermore, supervisors, in their role of ministry officials, are intermediaries between the Ministry of Education and the schools (ibid.: 110).

Yet, the low performance of supervisors is of concern in many African countries, which is principally linked to the poor resources allocated for a very demanding and multifaceted mandate. As a result, there is a limited number of supervision visits and little time spent in schools, poor attention given to the follow-up to supervision, and a concentration of time and efforts on administrative activities rather than teacher support. Furthermore, schools located in remote rural areas are often neglected (ibid.).