EDUC-7104                                       Policy Studies                                            3(3+0)                                   

The world of public policy has become an increasingly small one as a consequence of dramatic changes to global political and economic institutional structures and to nation states themselves. These changes at the structural level of the global system have impacted upon the work of public organizations either directly or indirectly and have broadened the field of action in policy studies. This course intends to give students’ fundamental understanding of Education policies of Pakistan. Objectives of this course are to make students able: to examine the influence of political and organizational factors on policy process; to understand how to implement a policy in its true spirit; to apply analytical tools for the effective implementation of policies and programs; to explore into the ethical challenges confronting public policymaking and the normative obligations of public actors in serving the public interest; to apply statistical techniques in policy analysis and decision-making analysis. This course will help learners promote constructive debate on theoretical, methodological and empirical issues in policy analysis and will encourage them to have greater interaction between the world of academia and the world of practice.

Objectives

After studying the course, the students will be able to:

1. Develop different types solutions to public problems based on principles of micro and macroeconomics
2. Examines the influence of political and organizational factors on policy process
3. To implement the policy in its true spirit
4. Focuses on the instruments available to government to achieve policy and program objectives (e.g., regulation, grants-in-aid, purchase of service contracting, loan guarantees, direct payments, procurement, and vouchers).
5. To apply analytical tools to the effective implementation of policies and programs
6. Explore the ethical challenges confronting public policymaking and the normative obligations of public actors in serving the public interest. 
7. To Apply statistical techniques in policy analysis and decision-making analysis

Course Outline

Unit-1: Applied Micro and Macroeconomics for Policy Decision-making

Basic principles of micro and macroeconomics by emphasizing applications to the solution of public problems.

Unit-2: The Policy Process

Examines the influence of political and organizational factors on the various stages of the policy process including problem identification, developing alternative responses, assessing the political feasibility of alternative responses, generating political support, budgeting and resource allocation, and implementing policy decisions through both public and private institutions.

Unit-3: Policy Tools

Focuses on the instruments available to government to achieve policy and program objectives (e.g., regulation, grants-in-aid, purchase of service contracting, loan guarantees, direct payments, procurement, and vouchers). Students learn that the choice of instrument affects the operation of programs and their success at meeting objectives. Additionally, students investigate the challenges of managing the complex public-private collaborations from either direction.

Unit-4: Policy Implementation

Build on the analytic tools’ students have already honed. It will help them learn how to apply those tools to the effective implementation of policies and programs in the public and not-for-profit sectors and through public private partnerships. There is an “art” to leading and a “science” to managing systems. A successful leader/manager combines both sets of skills. Students will learn the tools and techniques of implementation, including selecting strategies, weighing alternatives, planning for contingencies and developing assessment tools. Other skills to be learned include preparing budgets, which are the circulatory systems of programs, and developing schedules that ensure that plans are realized.

Unit-5: Values, Ethics, and Public Policy

Explore the ethical challenges confronting public policymaking and the normative obligations of public actors in serving the public interest.  Students are exposed to a variety of ethical issues ranging from questions of justice and social equity, liberty and individual freedom, and globalization to issues confronted in a professional setting (e.g., conflict of interest, lying and deception, and whistle-blowing, to name just a few).

Unit-6: Education Policy Practicum

Students will work collectively to develop a policy brief on a selected education topic.  Together, students will examine a variety of questions and issues relate to this topic. Each week students will work in teams to research answers to key questions and present findings to their classmates.

Unit-7: Policy Analysis

To think analytically, and to apply analytic thinking to master the essential steps of any policy analysis: identifying the problem, specifying goals and constraints, examining policy alternatives, and assessing the available evidence.

Unit-8: Statistical Analysis for Policymaking

Application of statistical techniques commonly used in policy analysis and decision-making analysis including measures of central tendency, correlation, analysis of variance, and multivariate analysis. Students study actual policy problems to demonstrate applications of techniques.

Unit-9: Policy Evaluation

Introduction to the use of qualitative and quantitative evaluation of social programs. The course reviews rationale for evaluation and its use in budgeting, policy assessments, research and development, and program improvement. The course addresses experimental and quasi-experimental designs, selection bias, and methods of overcoming problems and includes an introduction to the use of cost-benefit analysis.

Recommended Texts

1. Bowe, R., Ball, S. J., & Gold, A. (2017). Reforming education and changing schools: Case studies in policy sociology. NY: Routledge.
2. Mingat, A. and Tan, J. P. (2013). Tools for education policy analysis. Washington, DC: The World Bank. www.worldbank.org

Suggested Readings

1. Bengali, K. (1999). History of educational policy making and planning in Pakistan. Islamabad: Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
2. Cairney, P. (2016). Policy and policymaking in the UK. Retrieved from, https://paulcairney.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/polu9uk-handout-autum-2016.pdf
3. Hameed-ur-Rehman, M., & Sewani, S. M. S. (2013). Critical Analysis of the Educational Policies of Pakistan. Dialogue (Pakistan), 8(3).

N.B: All Education Policies and related documents from 1947 to 2017 are the part of recommended books.