Abstract
This article made an analysis of the involvement of senior management in the implementation of the Results Based Management System in schools. This was amid concerns from educators that they were finding it difficult to effectively and meaningfully implement the RBM System in schools. The interpretivist/constructivist research paradigm underpinned our study, hence a qualitative research approach was employed. This was a case study of two schools. The population for the study was sixty-eight (68) schools both primary and secondary with a teacher population of nine hundred and forty-nine (949) teachers. Two schools (one primary and the other secondary) were purposefully selected to participate in the study. Thus, twenty-nine (29) teachers and the two (2) school heads became the sample for the study. Included in the sample were the District Schools Inspector and the Education Inspector in the district. Data were generated through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and document analysis. As such these instruments enhanced the triangulation of the data generated. Data analysis was done concurrently with data generation. Major findings were that senior management in education, starting with the school head through to Head Office personnel, were not visible in schools and the district to assess whether the RBM System was meeting its intended objectives. Of further concern to educators was senior management’s failure to address issues of educators’ training, availability of resources, incentives and feedback which indeed were the province of senior managers. The study recommends that senior managers engage themselves in word and in action in the implementation of RBM.
Highlights
The Results Based Management System (RBM) was introduced in Zimbabwe in 2005 as a performance management tool to address issues of service delivery in the public sector to which education belongs
Mayne (2007) avers that successful implementation of RBM rests on an array of factors that include: effective capacity building which calls for knowledge and skills for the implementers; availability and utilization of performance information; building an organisational culture of results; developing results frameworks; regular demand for results; availability and allocation of resources that include reference documents to be used during the implementation process; and communication about what RBM is, what it means, its value to the organization and how it should be employed
Based Monitoring and Evaluation was a key component of the Results Based Management System, teachers at the two schools under study indicated that it was nonexistent on the ground
Summary
Mayne (2007) avers that successful implementation of RBM rests on an array of factors that include: effective capacity building which calls for knowledge and skills for the implementers; availability and utilization of performance information; building an organisational culture (that is, addressing the values, attitudes and behaviours of members of the organization) of results; developing results frameworks; regular demand for results; availability and allocation of resources that include reference documents to be used during the implementation process; and communication about what RBM is, what it means, its value to the organization and how it should be employed All these factors demand strong leadership support from senior management (Bester, 2012). This study sought to establish how senior management supported the implementation of RBM in schools
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