Gestión del medio forestal

According to Cockrel (2010:3), Education Policy guides society and the educators with regard to the ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ within the education system. In other words, what society wants to be taught, who will implement the Policy formulated, how the operation must be conducted, how the set objectives are to be measured, who will measure, with what criteria, and when must the final measurement be carried out in order to achieve the needs and aspirations of the society? In their attempts to find answers on the importance of Policy in education, researchers make use of the above questions during their inquiries as

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guidance. Their inquiries have led to the merits of Policy in education, as will be discussed below.

 According to Cockrel (2010:2), Policy in education is important, because Policy helps to prevent programmes in education from being blocked by controversy as regards what is to be taught, and who has to do the teaching. Policies direct how the adopted programmes are to be implemented in the education system. For example, the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) of 1994 was launched to direct basic education (DCDE, 2007:4). Policy also prescribes instructional and evaluation methods, such as child-centred and formative assessment strategies in education (Cockrel, 2010:2). Without the above directives, there will be chaos or confusion regarding the monitoring and assessment of policy outcomes.

 Policy is important in education because it prevents learner dropout by means of empowering the learners and the youth in areas of health, civic participation, an increase in the Gross Domestic Product and income tax revenues, as well as competiveness in the global economy, and crime reduction (Belfield & Levin, 2007:1; Kronick, 2011:2).

 Policy in education is important because it helps one to deal with issues that divide citizens into factions. Since education affects society as a whole, all sectors of the society from all disciplines (statisticians, medical doctors, economists, non- governmental organisations, churches) are currently involved in education planning activities. This helps the entire community to, despite their diverse disciplines and interests, tackle education goals with a united front (Cockrel, 2010:3).

 Chang (2006:11) also articulated that Policy in education provides the necessary step in promoting the emergence and effective implementation of action plans, programmes and projects. Policy provides workable plans for implementations. Policy is thus important in education, because it provides implementation guidelines.  Policy is important in education due to its characteristic of providing an understanding of issues in the public arena. In this case the average man on the street, through Education Policy, is provided with the realities in his life. A free and compulsory Education Policy is thus understood as accessibility towards the acquisition of basic skills, irrespective of socio-economic status (Cockrel, 2010:3).

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 Policy is important in education, namely to boost national competiveness within the context of globalisation. In this way policy produces the skills, attitudes and personal qualities necessary for effective performance in the workplace. It is this accumulation of skills, knowledge and other capabilities that can be sold by individuals to employers for a wage. On the international level, Policies are used by the state to direct learning in ways that may enable individuals to compete for shares at the World Trade. Policies also shape learning to produce high-quality human capital that is crucial for the ‘life-blood’ of a modern internationally competitive country’s economy (Rikowski, 2004:152-155).

 Policy in education is important to society as a whole, because it affects the way we make a living and our quality of life, and it controls the quality of education. Acts of parliament (that evolve into Education Policies) specify the main national goals and areas of focus, and how education is to be achieved. The focus could be on science and technology, or on adult literacy. Thus, a country’s Education Policies usually define how many of its people are literate and participate in the development of society. Most often the citizens of countries with free and compulsory education enjoy a quality lifestyle, and participate in its development (Cockrel, 2010:3).

 Cockrel (2010:1) also posited that Policy enables the intervention of multi- disciplinarians (teachers, researchers, bio-chemists, carpenters, non-governmental organisations, churches, private companies), as well as the interaction among the subject-matter of various specialists, to effect solutions to social problems in education. Policy in education thus strengthens and enriches the input into policy- making, thereby addressing all sectors of the subjects in education.

 Chang (2006:11) and Cockrel (2010:4) believe that clearly-formulated Policy can play an important ‘operational’ role as a reference for action in education. Policy can help guide decisions and future actions in the development of education, including the interventions of international and bilateral cooperation agencies in a coherent manner. In order words, a country’s Policy determines if it will receive donations from donors such as the World Bank and UNESCO, or benefit from joint education programmes with an international organisation, or non-governmental organisations.  According to Tisch, Levin, and Kilpatrick, (2005:1-2), Policy is essential in education

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are made in areas of equity with regard to resource distribution and accessibility opportunities. Education Policy prepares all learners to be capable of civic participation in a democratic society, and to meet global economic challenges in an increasingly ‘small world’ (Tisch, Levin, and Kilpatrick, 2005:6).

Based on the afore-going discussions, it can be concluded that policy is necessary to avoid confusion and chaos in the running of the education system. Areas of concern include instruction, mandated authorities, evaluation strategies, and timeframe for implementation. It also includes the sustainability of the Policy in the long term, its relevance to societal needs and aspirations, budget limits to enable development, and the attainment of goals. Policies are essential for the efficient running of the education system. Without Education Policies, there is bound to be chaos, with no path or direction as to ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘who’, and ‘when’ (i.e. instruction method, assessment strategy, programme duration, the coverage of curricula skills, as well as duties of the mandated Bodies) on the provision of education and its development.

The choices and strategies of the Education Policy adopted by a country not only provide the type of work-force and trade patterns of the nation, but also define the country’s developmental standards and the quality lifestyle of its people. Globalisation has made the sharing of information and technology requirements among countries easy and essential towards the provision and development of education at national levels. Globalisation has also made it easier to cooperate on international levels, and to benefit from bilateral agreements and donations, i.e., from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The researcher believes that the importance of Policy in education is summed up by our ancestors, the knowledgeable men who used unwritten guidelines to direct informal and formal education. The unwritten policies directed both informal (which was continuous within the community) and formal (at initiation schools) education. The Athenians who first practised Western education, implemented Policies that were used for orderliness, namely to achieve the set goals, and to prevent chaos.

Having discussed the importance of Policy in education, in the next section the researcher will focus on the determinants and issues that influence policymaking. This will guide the researcher to evaluate (in Chapter 3) if the relevant determinants are used in policymaking.

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2.2.3 The determinants and the principles that guide and influence policymaking in