STAKEHOLDERS IN EDUCATION 1

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African proverb.

The above proverb appears veracious when we speak of the roles and contributions
played and paid respectively by different stakeholders in the development of an educational
institution. Stakeholders are individuals and groups of people within and outside the
community whose primary objective is laid in the prosperity of an educational institution and
in nurturing well-informed learners who will contribute for the betterment of the society.
Stakeholders, in particular, but not limited to, are students, teachers, parents, administrative
staffs, community members, board members, and elected officials. “ Stakeholders may also
be collective entities, such as local businesses, organizations, advocacy groups, committees,
media outlets, cultural institutions, and organizations that represent specific groups.” (The
Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). Because all stakeholders do not share the similar goal,
their role varies accordingly. The objective of this essay is to outline the word
‘stakeholder’ in various contexts, give details of stakeholder’s role in an educational
institution and last but not the least is to discuss a project that can be undertaken by a
stakeholder in collaboration with an educational institute.

Stakeholders are individuals and groups who invest in the welfare of an institution
with the objective of personal, professional, social or financial interest. Stakeholders are “any
group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s
objectives” (Freeman 1984). Primarily, “ the subject of stakeholder theory has traditionally
been the company. When the theory is applied to higher education institutions, this implies
that the term itself expands to take other important external actors and networks into account”
(Maassen 2000). Thus, on a pragmatic level, it is desired that external representatives, i.e.
stakeholders, will participate in the improvement process. In recent years, it has been
observed in developing countries that external stakeholders are playing a vital role in
improving student’s attention on social and environmental issues through public-private
partnership programs. Olsen considers “ stakeholders as a part of the service enterprise
model, and points out that the higher education institution is dependent upon external actors”
( Olsen 2005).

Different stakeholders participate in different ways with a functional common agenda.

Government, the most influential of stakeholders, exerts its influence to confirm productivity
and justice in a country via nourishing the next generation of learners, leaders, and
employees. In most countries, the primary task of MoU or Ministry of Education (the
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coherent part of a government) is to render and regulate policy. Additionally, some MoU’s
externally observe educational institutes and evaluates their performance on (inter)national
scale. Primarily, law enforcement agencies uphold ‘law and order’ situation and provide
safety and security to individual and groups. Religious groups attempt to maintain moral code
among the citizenry.

Parents, the most important of stakeholders, send learners to educational institute

hoping that children will be equipped with the necessary knowledge required to survive on
their own in the future. Students and teachers are profoundly conjugated with one another
where the former pursuits to learn the skills and the latter endeavor to teach. Teachers also
play the role of (a) mentor, advisor, and counselor. The primary responsibility of a governing
body is to retain order and implement regulations within the institution. Additionally, they
hire professionals and instructors to run the institution. Another fundamental role is played by
external body of stakeholders (e.g. Non-Governmental Organization, student focus group,
alumni association) that does not directly control the movements of the institution but in
frequency update the educational institutes about the outside world by arranging seminars,
symposium, cultural functions, and training. In fact, in recent years, it has been found that the
external bodies of stakeholders are also playing the role of negotiator between different
stakeholders of an educational institution. They also arrange teachers training, aware
stakeholders regarding environmental conservation, manage community learning, and call
upon dialogues and discussion. All stakeholders together can make up an enlightened
institution which will aim at shaping responsible citizens.

Besides providing the satisfactory academic performance required for employability,

academia is also concerned in developing skills among learners who will work on climate
change and who will share the responsibility of saving the environment with other members
of the community. Higher education institutions have a multipurpose nature centered round
academic knowledge, and involving the extension, application and dissemination of
knowledge (Geiger 2004). In this regard, I have formulated a project, where three
stakeholders will function together to execute a training of the students of Law Department
on the issue “Legal Framework for the Conservation of the Environment and Endangered
Species.”

It will be a two-days-long training program, for the graduate students of Law

Department. This project will include the three stakeholders, the students (Masters of Law),
STAKEHOLDERS IN EDUCATION 3

the governing bodies (Dhaka University, Bangladesh) and an NGO called BELA (Bangladesh
Environmental Lawyers Association). Dhaka University was established in 1921 and it is
enrolling students in the Masters program since the inception of the Department of Law. It is
a publically funded research university and does not prefer institution interference of private
NGO. BELA, on the other hand, promotes environmental justice and contribute in the
development of sound environmental jurisprudence. BELA, as a stakeholder, shows its
interest in training the graduating students of law believing that students should have a
comprehensive understanding of policies and practices in the preservation of endangered
species, climate change and agricultural lands from non-eco-friendly industrialization. BELA
hopes that the training program will fill the gap of the existing syllabus of the department
where environmental jurisprudence has been given no importance also it will encourage the
inclusion of issues of climate change and legal framework.

Objective: 1. Informing students about the existing laws of the country for saving the
environment.
2. Actions to file a legal document against non-eco-friendly industries
3. Capacitate students to approach the local government for climate change
awareness

Approach: 1. Collaborative and collegial model of educational management will be

taken into consideration to negotiate with students and the governing body
of the university.
Duration: Two days
Costing: BELA will primarily train 35 (22M and 13F) students and will provide
necessary resources (e.g. hiring professional, providing room and research
tools) from private funding.

Problems: 1. Governing body did not allow interference of NGO in academia

2. Students do not have enough time to a two-days-long program
3. BELA has limited funding so they will train only 35 students believing that
the process will continue in the future
Outcome: Students will be able to distinguish between a normal misdemeanor and a
crime against environment also they will be able to advocate issues of
endangered animals within a legal framework
STAKEHOLDERS IN EDUCATION 4

Bibliography

~. (n.d.). http://www.quoteswave.com/picture-quotes/390966. Retrieved 12 17, 2018, from

www.quoteswave.com: http://www.quoteswave.com/picture-quotes/390966

Bjørkquist, C. (2009). Stakeholder Inflence in Higher Education. Karlstad: Karlstad

University Studies.

Geiger, R. (2004). Knowledge and Money . California: Stanford University Press.

Olsen, J. P. (2005, 04 29). Centre for European Studies. Retrieved from Center for European
Studies :
http://www.arena.uio.no/publications/workingpapers2005/papers/wp05_15.pdf

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2014, 25 09). Retrieved from The Glossary of Education
Reform: https://www.edglossary.org/stakeholder

Note: Situations used in this essay for the purpose of scrutiny are purely fictitious and not
based on any real data. Any relevance with an actual event or situation is purely
coincidental.