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| Introduction |
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Advocacy for education is the pursuit to influence policy formulation, decision making and implementation of reform, and change for the development of quality education. Education in Sri Lanka appears to have moved on with directions from the centre and minimum involvement and participation by the stakeholders and civil society organisations in influencing policies and practices to make them more relevant and of high quality.
The policy process lacked continuity and coherence resulting in abrupt reversals that were disruptive in terms of delivery creating problems for children. Decision making at the centre in reforming and introducing change was more influenced by the western ideology and models valued by ‘captive minds’ than evidence based information from realities of the context and experience of those who were involved in the process of education. In using information related to change, it was on most occasions used to justify the decisions made and was sought after the decisions to validate the course taken than before the decision to inform it. The situation, although leads to reactive percussions in isolation, will not effect pro-active information channeling from a wider spectrum of discerning society to envision prudent decisions.
On the other hand, the research in the field of education, mostly undertaken on individualized initiatives by the academics who do not always consider policy influencing as a part of their venture, seemed to have proliferated through scholastic passions and donor interests making the link between the researchers and policy makers tenuous. The result being, the efforts of highbrow policy analysis seldom impinging on policy formulation in education making them yielding and ephemeral.
The Coalition for Education Development (CED) enshrines the idea that stronger nexus among researchers, policy makers and civil society groups is essential to formulate steadfast, viable educational policies of wider application and make insightful decisions. It also believes that the top-bottom approach of decision making coupled with bottom-up and lateral communication with the participation of Civil Society Organisation, frontline service providers and other stakeholders synergises the shaping of policy through their cohesive and continuous interventions. The CED, thus aims to develop the capacity of Civil Society Organisations to advocate for an evidence based policy formulation and informed decision making. It also seeks to galvanize them to campaign for rational and equitable mobilization of people and resources with a view to supporting the reforms and programmes for educational development to the highest possible level.
The Coalition for Educational Development framework documents how its mission is translated into action. It sets out the issues identified for advocacy in concurrence with its partner organizations along with rationale and elaborates its scope and projects planned at the national level. It also overviews a road map for a pervasive system of advocacy which would bring more contingents into limelight in the future. |
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