The study identified the following factors as being necessary for effective implementation of DEM:
1. The existence of clear and detailed decentralization policies and plans
2. Strong support and political will from the national and local officials and education managers
3. Adequate financial support through strategic programs and projects to pilot and institutionalize DEM
While these factors stood out as the contributing factors to the successful implementation of DEM, there are also remaining challenges to deal with. These include the following:
1. Capacity of educational managers to handle decentralization — Almost 75% of the Southeast Asian countries reported the need to have properly trained education managers to carry out decentralization programs.
2) Sustaining adequate funding to implement DEM — Only four Southeast Asian countries (Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) have been able to provide adequate financial support to sustain DEM implementation using regular national/ local funds. The rest rely on foreign technical assistance to support DEM implementation, and find it challenging to sustain adequate level of financing
once foreign assistance projects end.
