Jordan provides an excellent case to study the role of accountability in improving the quality of education and healthcare service delivery. This study analyzed new and existing data on the public health and education sectors to find that despite high investments in government expenditure, the quality of services in these sectors remains low.
The study recommends 3 keys to improving those services: accountability, incentives, and monitoring. Improving the performance of service providers will help to capitalize on resources already-invested in the infrastructure of these systems and to maximize the quality of services.
Chapter 1: Introduction: Accountability and Quality of Service Delivery
This chapter gives the background on why Jordan’s health and education outcomes remain low despite high public expenditures, and showcases international measures for accountability as well as connecting the methodology of improving services to international standards and the need for performance-based systems.
Chapter 2: Education Quality, Teacher Effort, and Accountability
This chapter studies the current education outcomes and statistics and as well as indicators for quality of services provided and teacher accountability, while comparing Jordan with international standards, and showcasing some best practices for increasing accountability and incentivizing educators.
Chapter 3: Healthcare Quality, Provider Effort, and Accountability
This chapter studies the current healthcare statistics in Jordan as well as the indicators for quality of services provided. It compares Jordan’s outcomes with international outcomes and highlights best practices for increasing accountability in healthcare professionals.
Chapter 4: Conclusion and Policy Recommendations
This chapter explains the conclusion of this study: that across both service sectors, provider effort was found to be low on average. However, increasing principal and CMO monitoring of providers may yield tangible improvements in teachers’ and healthcare providers’ effort in the workplace. This chapter deals with changes that policy makers can implement.
The Last Mile to Quality Service Delivery in Jordan (PDF)