i) Formation of district education boards

There is poor governance at the district level; hence, education reforms will not bring about any sustained improvement until district governance of education is improved. Hence, there is a need for forming a District Education Board in each district to strengthen district education governance.

ii) Sustained district education reform

Focus should be on transformation of each district based on its education needs rather than using ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for improving quality, access and equity through a well-coordinated approach.

iii) Whole school improvement plan

School head teachers may act as ‘pedagogical leaders’. They must prepare whole school development plan for improving student learning outcomes which includes; school facilities including ICT, teachers’ development as reflective practitioners, learning environment, community engagement, co-curricular activities, curriculum enrichment, literacy and numeracy, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, budget, monitoring and evaluation and documentation.

iv) District education monitoring plan

The existing cadre of ‘education supervisors’ may be replaced with ‘school inspectors’ working at schools-cluster level to monitor schools performance based on key indicators of quality, access and equity.

v) Teachers continuous professional development

Except key seminars etc., teachers’ professional development may be arranged at the school level for making it more practical and responsive to their professional development needs who are able to learn by doing.

vi) Teachers’ role in curriculum development/enrichment

Currently, teachers do not have any role in curriculum development/enrichment for improving student learning outcomes. Teachers need to improve their action research and inquiry skills to improve their curricular practices.

vii) Students’ assessment and annual examination

Variations in assessment and examination at the national level which needs to be seriously addressed by broadening the scope of assessment/examination by including students’ comprehension, application, analytical, critical and problem-solving skills, which will eventually contribute towards improving the quality of education.