Abstract:

In 2010, a new initiative was launched between the Palestinian Authority and five European member states - Belgium, Germany, Finland, Ireland and Norway- to support the education sector in Palestine, called the Joint Financial Arrangement (JFA). As a pooled fund, the JFA supports the Education Development Sector Plan of the Palestinian Ministry of Education (EDSP). The joint contributions make up for 40% of the development budget for education in Palestine.

Intense coordination between the European Countries and with the Ministry of Education leads to progress in foundational reforms and policy making combining the rich national expertise with the European experiences. The European member states share responsibilities and support with Finland focusing their support on Preschool and inclusive education, Belgium on TVET, teacher development, ICT and technology, Germany on School construction, school access and secondary education, Ireland on curriculum development and basic education and Norway on management reform and emergency.

Furthermore, the JFA strengthens the existing management instruments in the Ministry like the institutional M&E system, a planning and budgeting system, an annual sector review and yearly audits. These instruments are intrinsically linked with policy making and implementation and with each other: an Annual sector review feeding into an M&E system which forms the basis of the annual work plan and budget.

By focusing both on policy reform and on institutional strengthening simultaneously, the JFA is a unique instrument that offers insights into how major policy reforms happening simultaneously influence each other and how the intrinsic relationship between educational policy and management tools unfold within a Ministry. This is a relationship which is often overlooked by external projects, programmes and external policy advice.

Additionally, because the JFA is also a financial mechanism, coordination between JFA, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance is intense. This allows to be aware of the broader picture in which a Ministry of Education has to function, financial cycles and nationwide priorities it has to adhere to in policy development and implementation.

Finally, because of the highly complex situation of the Palestinian Territory, with the ongoing Israeli occupation and economic blockades, an internal political divide and humanitarian crisis and isolation in Gaza, the involvement of the JFA in policy making made the partners highly aware of how policy and politics can be very closely related and influence each other. In its starkest example, it shows how curriculum development is a translation of a nation’s identity, how it can come under intense political scrutiny and can even be used as a political weapon. Another example is the school construction which happens at occupied terrain, leading to demolishment of buildings and equipment, lobbying and emergency planning.

For the participating countries in the Joint Financing Arrangement, the experience in Palestine gives a bird’s eye view on an entire educational sector and how a Ministry deals with all its challenges. It gives concrete and sometimes raw insights jnto what to take into account when educational innovations turn into policy, are upscaled and institutionalized and how politics can criss-cross decision making.

Keywords:

Education, policy, curriculum development, school construction, policy implementation, international cooperation.