15 July 2009
Budget procedures are an important instrument for the financial management of education systems. There is a burning need to enhance skills for the result-based use of resources in favour of successful education policy reforms.
As response to this need, the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office in cooperation with the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO organized, on 7-9 July 2009, a sub-regional workshop to develop national capacities in results-based planning and budgeting in education. A group of 20 specialists in education financing from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan completed the training programme specifically tailored for ministerial staff who are engaged in educational financing and budgeting reforms.During the training, the participants were introduced to strategic principles of results based planning and budgeting and became familiar with related models and tools. They were also equipped with knowledge and skills for medium-term financial planning, monitoring expenditures, how to cost education per student, and other relevant issues. Good practices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and European Union were also shared at the training sessions.
The planners and administrators became more aware of education financing and budget procedures, including the choice of financing methods as result-based regulatory mechanism.
“Many participants said that they felt now more responsible for the use of resources, when they understood better how to deal with education expenditures, affected by economic constraints”, Dr Inna Melnikova of UNESCO said. “They were particularly happy with the ‘hands-on’ exercises and exchange of good practices which would help them to translate financial commitments into practical terms.”
The workshop was organized as part of UNESCO’s capacity development activities aiming at orienting Member States in the sub-region toward more evidence-based education policy making and planning.
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/unesco-trains-education-specialists-in-result-based-planning-and-budgeting