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The Budget and a Monitoring System: Key Determinants of the Success and Sustainability of School Development Planning

Abstract This paper discusses two aspects that are critical in achieving the goals of a school development plan. These are; a specific budget and a close monitoring mechanism. The paper first makes a theoretical overview and analysis of the school development plan introduced to secondary schools in Botswana in the early 1990s as a teaching and learning improvement strategy. It then gives brief comparisons of school development planning in Botswana and selected educationally advanced educational settings elsewhere notably England and Australia. The paper proceeds to examine the monitoring system and the budget variables as critical determinants of the effective realization of the aims and objectives of school development planning. Interviews conducted on nine school heads supplement the otherwise predominantly theoretical analysis of the paper. The paper makes two important conclusions: First, that school development planning is necessary for schools to implement the curriculum objectives in a more structured and harmonious way as a team. Second, that it needs financial support and a sustained monitoring system linked to it if the aims and objectives are to be achieved. The paper not only provides new knowledge on school improvement to school leaders, it also targets personnel in Ministries of Education (particularly in developing countries such as Botswana) who have control over the distribution of funds to schools and who are responsible for the oversight of the delivery of quality education in schools.