Participatory School Self-evaluation as a Tool for Transformative School Performance
The paper aims to explore the engagement of school stakeholders for transformative school performance through participatory school self-evaluation. I visited community schools in the Dhading district on a regular basis from January to May 2022. I interacted with the teachers, students, parents, management committee members, as well as local government representatives, and commonly they shared that our school is in a bad situation. While talking with the teachers, they said parents don’t give priority to their children and studies. Parents also said teachers don’t come to school regularly and don’t teach properly. In addition, the head teacher said teachers don’t follow my advice and school norms, as well as that nobody supports me. Further, management committee members said teachers don’t teach properly and are not dedicated. Children’s said we have to travel so far to school, and we don’t have proper sanitation, drinking water, a library, extracurricular activities, or educational materials, so how can we study well? I visited 19 schools where more than 70% of the population represented the Chepang community. Among the 19 schools, 3 were secondary level, and the remaining 8 are basic level. While visiting 19 schools, I found an average 55% learning achievement in 1–5 classes and a 47% learning achievement in 6–9 classes in the 2078 B.S. education calendar. But while giving the primary-level students the opportunity to read a national newspaper, 50% of the students couldn’t read properly. Throughout my visit, I found no mechanism or practice where all stakeholders gather and discuss the common agendas or issues of schools. Finally, as an action research approach, I conducted a two-day participatory school self-evaluation workshop in three secondary level schools, where all stakeholders were presented. Finally, all participants realized they have individual responsibilities to make a better school and committed to active engagement in the coming days. The research is based on observation, informal discussion, in-person interviews, and field-based experience. The study was conducted based on the child-friendly school standard for quality education developed by the department of education in Nepal in 2010. The paper is useful for researchers, teachers, educators, and many more who are involved in the education field. The study ultimately contributes to the use of school self-assessment tools for transformative school performance.
Keywords: school self-evaluation; stakeholder engagement; participatory approach; transformative school performance