Change Management In Maldives Education System: A Case Study Essay On Public Organization.

Basics of new curriculum framework in Maldives

Discuss about the Management Of Change In Public Organization.

The education system in Maldives is very much influenced by the traditional system of schooling. The traditional schools in Maldives were called as edhuruge, madhrasa or makhtab (Allais, 2010). These were the schools that were privately owned by the private owners and were financed by them only. Edhuruge were the schools where the children were gathered in houses and the aim of these schools were to teach Quran, make the children learn about the Dhivehi which is the vernacular language of Maldives. Edhuruge were the schools that were very much formal in nature and have similar curriculum all over. Madhrasa were the schools that have wide range of curriculum and have many objectives in terms of education unlike edhuruge. As far as the present schooling is considered, it has been analysed that it is the amalgamation of western style of schooling and traditional schooling style (Allais, 2014). Understanding the nature of the new framework and identifying the changes that has been made can help in examining the challenges that has been faced by the stakeholders in order to implement the changes.

After the merger of western schooling style in the education system of Maldives, it has been analysed that it is experiencing a great change from the last decade and the change is continues in nature. The reform or change in education system in order to develop the education quality in Maldives has started in the year of 2007 (Ali, 2006). A reform committee was formed at that time that was responsible for approval and implementation of the changes that are being recognized or identified to improve the education system of Maldives. After so many consultations, various drafts for National curriculum framework have been formed. In the year 2011, the first draft for national curriculum framework has been developed. As per the changes made in the curriculum, it has been analysed that it was the outcome based curriculum that believes in developing skills, values, and attitude. As per the new national curriculum framework, the student life is divided into 4 phases (Pugh, 2016).

As far as the latest version of National Curriculum Framework is considered, it has been analysed that it was launched in the year of 2015. The major aim of this national curriculum framework was to promote the holistic approach in the field of education. This requires emphasizing on the elements like knowledge, skills, values and attitude (Wilson, Grizzle, Tuazon, Akyempong & Cheung, 2014). In order to develop the same, it is required to place a great foundation of skills and knowledge in the early years of the education for the children. This is because if the foundation of education amongst the children is strong then it would help them to develop better understanding of the subjects in their future. As far as the phases of student life are concerned, the range of curriculum become narrow as the phases pass and the students have to concentrate on the concepts of the particular subjects. The wider knowledge framework in the early education helps them to understand the basic concept of every subject. In addition to understanding of skills and knowledge, it is required to develop attitude and shared values as well.

Mechanism of curriculum development in Maldives

The National Curriculum Framework of Maldives is grounded on some of the fundamental principles of Islamic framework. These principles can be derived after following a process of consultation regarding the national and regional development of the nation and the society in Maldives. There are several institutions that are involved in framing the national curriculum for the education in the nation (Amadio, 2013). Those are MOE and National education council. These councils provide some of the objectives of the education system in Maldives.

Educational development centre is another institute that has to play their role in converting these national development objectives into the objectives of designing the education system. As and when these objectives and the policies made, the same are passed by the Minister of education, EDC starts its work by drawing the national framework for the subjects, text books, guides for the teachers and other resources.

The change from a National Minimum Curriculum to a National Curriculum Framework (NCF) aims to enhance the flexibility of the curriculum so that it can results in better teaching process that can better meets the needs of the individuals. This will certainly create new encounters on teaching grades; challenges that can only be faced if the investment in the sectors such as infrastructure, support and human resource is done (Bray & Adam, 2001). Necessary tools and services are required in order to implement the NCF very effectively. These include the additional policy documents which will be produced by the Ministry of Education and Employment to support implementation. The NCF considers education as an unceasing ride that has initiated with early education and includes three cycles of schooling that results in development of higher education. It is a curriculum which aims to serve for the three educational service providers: state, church and independent schools whilst acknowledging variation in the educational provision caused by the independence of each sector and the ethos of each school (Hoque, Samad, Siraj & Ziyadh, 2012). The MUT recognizes the need for seamless transitions in the three cycles of education, changes from one school to another, and shifts to higher education. This will require added consistency which shall only be attained through standardisation of the learning outcomes, the educational entitlement of each learning area and the benchmarking exams held during the three educational cycles. The list of objectives of NCF includes the progress of long term aswell as short and medium term goals along with the aim of achieving high rate of educational system. The inclusion of specific goals provides the necessary vision which must be communicated effectively to be shared by all stakeholders (Mohamed, 2013). The policy which will be employed to meet these ends needs to take into consideration the fact that education must drive the information and should not only be based on the statistics and figures. The ultimate aim of education is to lead an individual to reach his/her full potential to be educated and skilled. 

Curriculum change in Maldives

As discussed that National Curriculum Framework has undergone many changes, thus it is required to develop a strategy in order to implement the same. The implementation of National Curriculum Framework not only requires the efforts of the institution but also require pedagogical reform. This is because all the traditional ways of schooling has been replaced by the education system that is more focused on students and are based on outcomes. The approach of learning has also been changed as the culture of the teachers, parents and other stakeholders have developed a mutated value system from the traditional times (Latheef, Gupta & Gupta, 2007). One of the major variations that the NCF incites is that teachers should favour the classes made up of individuals. The execution of the NCF constitutes a national change programme that will have multiple points, competing burdens, many stakeholders, inherent strains, competition for resources, concurrent activity and sub-initiatives, etc. the implementation program is being phased and divided into various sections but still linked with many risks. There are many challenges that are faced by the policy makers as well and the other stakeholders. Some of the challenges are related to the support from the government, maintenance of the support, financing, and shifting of the policies etc. not only the government but the implementation of the New Curriculum Framework require the support from other stakeholders in order to teach the student as well as to train the teachers at the same time. The teachers require developing their understanding about the new concept and elements of syllabus that has been designed for the students. At this time, leadership is the most important factors at the governmental and administrative level. Strong leadership can lead to better implementation of change. Capacity building within the Directorates, Colleges and Schools to secure ownership, championing and stewardship for the NCF implementation programme is a key to success (Shareef, 2010). To manage the change and implement the new system, it is required follow the following approach:

1. To develop strategic attention and path
2. To prioritize the actions and the strategies to be implemented
3. To allocate the resources and frame the budget for implementation of change
4. Identifying and resolving the obstacles
5. Effective communication between all the stakeholders

1. Communication: This is first and the foremost requirement to implement the change. Communicating the new National curriculum framework to all the stakeholders including teachers, leaders, student and parents is very important. This helps all the stakeholders to know about the changes that have been made and also prepare them to accept those changes (Manik, Qasim & Shareef, 2014).
2. Documentation: a document has been prepared that involves the explanation of the key responsibilities of all the practitioner that are involved in the process of making the change and implementing the new National Framework curriculum in the nation. Along with the roles, it is required to document all those policies that are associated with the implementation process.
3. Implementation of the board that has to fulfil all the following responsibilities:

• To develop strategic attention and path
• To prioritize the actions and the strategies to be implemented
• To allocate the resources and frame the budget for implementation of change
• Identifying and resolving the obstacles
• Effective communication between all the stakeholders

4. Setting up a working group and different other boards that helps in reviewing the implications of the change in the education system and extend that change in the higher education system in Maldives. Setting up of different other boards is required to manage the change implementation process and take the corrective actions at the time of requirement (Shea, Jacobs, Esserman, Bruce & Weiner, 2014). After implementation, it is required that the process needs to be monitored and for this purpose and a panel been established.
5. Trainings: it is also one of the most important strategies to implement the new national curriculum framework. It has been analysed that it is required to train the leader and the teacher is the educational institution at the time of any of the change is implemented in the curriculum or any of the related policy (Bennie & Newstead, 1999). This is because teachers and the leaders are the one who needs to manage such change in real and implement the same. Training the teachers as per the curriculum requirement is necessary so that they can teach the student fairly and with efficiency.
6. Development of ethical framework: Ethics are the very important element that is linked with the education system. It has been analysed that framing the ethical framework is required in order to implement the new national curriculum framework in the nation. Developing the ethical framework provide the guidelines in terms of ethics to the institution so that they can implement the changes without practicing anything unethical and remain bounded in the ethical boundaries.
7. Participation in international studies: This is also one of the most important frameworks to be developed. Participating in the international studies conferences helps to know abo the new and updated patterns of study and education which can be implemented in the education system of Maldives to be make it better and efficient.

When any of the change needs to be implemented, it is required to design the strategies in order to bring the change. This is because change brings obstacles and challenges that need to be overcome in order to make the change efficient. Various stakeholders have different perspective regarding the reform of change that has established in the National Curriculum Framework in Maldives. There are resistance to change as well and different stakeholders face different challenges at the time of making the changes (Orrill & Anthony, 2003). Following is the discussion that helps in understanding the perspective of the different stakeholders and the challenges that are developed in order to implement the National curriculum framework:

Efforts in implementing the change

Curriculum developers are the stakeholders of this process who develops the curriculum after analysing the various consultations. Every subject area is under some of the curriculum developers. curriculum developers has to design the syllabus of the subject and take decision over the content, text, diagrams that needs to be included the text books along with the learning guide for the teachers that helps the teaches to teach the students.  At the time of developing the curriculum and conducting the relevant activities, the curriculum developers have to face many challenges that re:

At curriculum designing level: The first challenge that has been faced by the curriculum developers is of training, some of the curriculum developers lack the training that is required to design the curriculum for the students. In addition it, when the curriculum needs to be designed, it is required to read research many journals and books. Lack of these resources also acts as the challenge for those curriculum developers to design the overall curriculum efficiently. Internet played a significant role in research activities and lack of internet has also become a great challenge in order to develop the curriculum by the curriculum developers (Mohamed & Ahmed, 2000). If they do not have the proper internet connections then it would be very difficult to research the materials. Internet helps the curriculum developers to update their recent knowledge which may not be there if they cannot be able to access the internet.

At implementation level: This is the most crucial part of making the change. At this time of implementing the National curriculum framework, teachers play a very critical role in providing the feedbacks about the implementation. This also acts as the challenge. This is because the curriculum developers have to depend on the feedback of the teachers and if the feedback is not genuine then it affects the efficiency of the curriculum developed by the curriculum developers. Lack of regular communication and interaction between the teachers and the curriculum developers may also affect the whole process in negative way (Badugela, 2012). It is required to align the school and educational institutions activities with the objectives of the curriculum and if they are not aligned then it becomes a challenge for the curriculum developers to implement the curriculum in the education system.

Management is very important to bring the change. The leader at the educational institute should know how to bring the change effectively. It has been analyse that National Curriculum framework focuses too much on   the outcomes an ignored the content issues. This left teachers helpless and they do not have the effective content to teach. Thus the teachers have to make their own content and prepare themselves to make the student learn about the various topics. At this level, resistance to change has triggered because of various factors (Kuipers, Higgs, Kickert, Tummers, Grandia & Van der Voet, 2014). Individual attitude and values can be the most important and crucial resistance to change. If this concept is considered as the organisational change then it has been analysed that group level resistance may also exist. Management can change needs to be done by the teachers, leaders and other staff members of the school and if they lack the leadership qualities then it acts as the great challenges for the change to be implemented effectively.

As far as the teachers are considered, it has been analysed that the knowledge of the teachers also act at the major challenge in order to implement the change. It has been analysed that the teachers in Maldives have very ,low content knowledge regarding the subjects such as mathematics, science etc. This acts as the main challenge because the teachers restricted to accept the new National curriculum framework which is without any content. As far as the training part is considered, it has been analysed that inappropriate training session and lack of effective training results in inefficient teacher’s knowledge (OER Commons., 2018). If the teachers do not have the knowledge and if they are not trained how can they accept the changes and forward it to the students. The education authorities have not delivered better training to the teachers that are required to be conducted for successful and efficient implementation of the change and new National Curriculum Framework. Providing the training to all the teachers regarding the implementation of National curriculum framework is not the only challenge but relevancy of curriculum and practices of teaching is also a big challenge. Provision of training is not the only solution but it is required to deliver the training effectively so that it can have any impact on the teachers and the training should made the teachers flexible enough to accept the changes made. any change may reduce the motivation level of the teachers towards their field because at the time of making other learn, they themselves have to make efforts in learning the things and unlearning the things that they have till now (Hayes, 2014).

Another most important component of new national curriculum framework is innovative pedagogical practices. These practices require extra knowledge and deep approaches along with knowledge and deep understanding of the applications such as simulations and games. These changes have been made in order to make the students understand the actual and real life problems (Rasheed., 2018). This helps the student to know about these issues and problem and understand the approaches to resolve the real life problems. Hence, it is, the teachers have to play pedagogical role of teacher and have to support these practices. As far as the present teachers are considered, it has been analyse that they are certification level and are not trained for conducting these types of practices. 

Leadership plays a very important role in bringing the change in the educational institutions. The implementation of National Curriculum Framework also requires efficient leadership skills in order to bring better and efficient change. Generally, principle of the schools acts as the leader of the schools in order to take administrative academic decisions. It has been analysed that efficient leadership skills of the principle allow him to allocate the tasks properly to each and every members of the school who are the participant for the change process. If the leaders are not effective and knowledgeable then it becomes difficult for them to implement the change in the school. The instructional leadership of the principal directly affect the student’s achievement in negative or positive way.  This suggests that the instructional leadership of principle has the purpose to support efficient learning and teaching.

It has been analysed that when the change is being implemented in the schools, it is required to have proper monitoring and support. It has been identified from the analysis of the Maldives schools that monitoring and support was not there from the supportive bodies. The supportive bodies’ such as government has not provided proper support to the educational institutes to implement the change. Infrastructure is also one of the most important factors that have acted as the challenge for the schools to bring the curriculum change. Infrastructure in terms of provision of school relevant materials and tools were not properly available and this leads to inefficient change.

Concern has also been shown for the document that has been prepared regarding the curriculum development framework. It has been analysed that the framework or the documents have not been shared with the teachers properly. Communication in this case has become the challenge. Most of the teachers have not received the newly developed framework and this created a very severe problem of ineffective change and unstandardized educational culture in the schools. This is because some of them have accepted the change while some of have not yet implemented the same. It is the topic of great concern. The national curriculum development or framework has been formed in order to bring standardization in the educational system all over but due to ineffective communication, it has resulted in a negative way. As far as the other aspect if the problem is considered, it has been analyse that the document that has been prepared was less in content a thus resulted in a new issue for the teachers to understand the same. As discussed that most of the teachers who were there in the schools and educational institution are at certified level and thus their level of understanding is not that much. The new National Curriculum framework is difficult to be understood by them and thus it becomes a problem and a challenge for accepting such changes.

When the change is implemented, it has been resisted by many stakeholders. The reform of National Curriculum framework was the biggest challenge that has been faced by the teachers. This is because they have to develop some of the skills such as pedagogies, learning, content etc. along with new process of teaching and learning. It has been analysed that the roles and responsibilities of the teacher is bringing the change in the education system and implementation of the system is comparatively very high than the other participants (Orrill & Anthony, 2003). This is berceuse successful implementation of the change hinge on the factors that are related to the teaching quality, teaching policies and strategies, willingness of teacher too tech and learn, knowledge of the subjects, skills of teaching, attitude of the teachers towards the change, professional skills of the teacher etc. thus, it is very crucial to analyse and monitor the roles and responsibilities of the teachers at the time of implementing the new education system. It has been analysed that the perception of teachers towards the new and reformed curriculum was really different and contradictory in nature. Some of them have given positive reaction while some of them were so much negative regarding the reforms made. It can be perceived that there are driving and restraining forces influencing the teachers to undertake their roles and responsibilities to implement the new national curriculum (Manik, Qasim & Shareef, 2014). This requires recognizing the factors that drives the positive and negative attitude of the teachers towards this reform. In appropriate training structure designed for providing trainings to the teachers to implement National curriculum Framework is the most important and crucial challenge that has been raised by the teachers. As discussed about the stages of the education phase for the student, the teachers for stage 1 suggest that they do not have proper knowledge and information about the curriculum change. This left the in the dilemma that whether they are using the correct curriculum or not. Most of the teachers how have the knowledge about the changed curriculum has many queries regarding the same but there is no portal for them to share their issues and problems. It has been identified that even the leaders of the teacher council do not have the idea to resolve the queries (Kiggundu & Nayimuli, 2009). Unresolved queries are the biggest problem that has been faced by the teachers. This results in teachers continuing the application process being unsure and uncertain about several mechanisms of the curriculum. Thus, there is a probability that this might leads to resistance amongst the teachers regarding the change as they are still not totally aware to the NCF. Teachers repel when they are obligated to accept new methods of doing things or when they are mandatory to change the practices they have been undertaking. Moreover, teachers may neglect the changes made if they are not satisfied with the same. Therefore, in order to bring the necessary changes, it is required to serve those teachers by satisfying their individual and organisational needs. This motivates them to accept the changes made (Lunenburg, 2010).

Most of the teachers who have participated in training sessions that was held earlier to the implementation of the new National Curriculum Framework suggested that they were not at all happy and satisfied with the workshop of 7 days. Even though the training that has been provided to the teachers was conducted by the leading teachers who are the ambassadors of the reformed curriculum, it was not found to be so beneficial. This is the reason why it is required to identify the factors that has affected the teachers and restricted them to adopt the new curriculum framework.

In the end, it has been concluded from the overall scenario that there were various obstacles that has been faced by the teachers in order to implement the new curriculum framework Hence it is necessary to examine that the teachers of stage 1 are performing their roles and duties as per the guidelines of the new curriculum framework or not along with the identification of the factors that are affecting the implementation of NCF in the education system.  

It is required to overcome the challenges that have been faced by the different stakeholders at the time of implementing the reformed National curriculum framework. Thus, there are several strategies recommended for those stakeholders and the implementers in order to implement the changes effectively.

Better communication: it is required to communicate the changes that have been made in the reforms properly. It has been analysed that communication is the most effective tool in implementing the changes. It is required to communicate them and interact with all the stakeholders and ensure that the correct information has been provided to them. Better communication helps in communicating the correct data n information and thus the implementation can be done effectively (Duch, 2005). Standardization can also be maintained only when the uniform information is being communicated to every stakeholder.

Trainings: as per the discussion in the report, it has been analysed that there are many issues and challenged that are faced by teachers because of the lack of training. This is the only reason that the teachers become the resistance for the change that needs to be implemented. Provision of trainings to the teachers helps in making them understand the change properly so that they can implement the same effectively (Manik, Qasim & Shareef, 2014). This is because they are most important stakeholder that participates in the change process and bring the change effectively. Giving different types of trainings to the teachers help them to have clear idea about the change that has been made in the curriculum and it is also required to train them regarding the new teaching skills that may be required by them to teach the new curriculum to the students.

Better documentation: one of the challenges that have been discussed above is the challenge of documentation. It is required to document all the relevant things along with the content that might be required by the teachers at the time of teaching. If the teachers do not have the content, then it is impossible for them to teach the students. It has been analysed that most of the teachers are from certified level and the changes that has been made are of very high standards that are difficult to be grasped by those teachers. Thus spending on the skills labour and workforce is another strategy to overcome these challenges that have been discussed above. 

Conclusion:

This report concludes that the new National Curriculum framework has been made as per the merger of the traditional and western style of schooling. Thus, the changes that has been made in the curriculum needs to be implemented and it is a very difficult task to be conducted. A reform committee was formed at that time that was responsible for approval and implementation of the changes that are being recognized or identified to improve the education system of Maldives. For this improvement, the national curriculum framework was designed. The major aim of this national curriculum framework was to promote the holistic approach in the field of education. This requires emphasizing on the elements like knowledge, skills, values and attitude. Several strategies like communication, documentation, different types of boards have been selected for implementing and monitoring the practice of bringing change in the education system of Maldives (Allais, 2010). However, it has faced many challenges such as resistance by the teachers and other stakeholders, lack of trainings, inappropriate communication of the changes etc. it has been recommended that training should be provided to the teachers in order to bring the change. Strategies like better communication and documentation should also be used at that time of implementation in order to get the more effective results and successful implementation.

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