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Annexes

3. The presence of an influential both short-term and long-term agendas in mind –
communication platform that focuses on another aspect of the pace dimension.
CMS policy formulation and implementation
5. Policy implementation is supported by
Effective CMS policy implementation is unlikely to sound content development, professional
take place if those promoting the policy do not have service delivery, and well-trained staff
strong leadership in the field, with the power to
monitor compliance. Survey responses for the educa- The test of successful policy development is, ulti-
tion sector suggest that CMS policy formulation and mately, successful implementation. With regards
implementation is facilitated when consultation is to CMS, at least three aspects need to be carefully
carried out across both vertical and horizontal axes. considered: CMS content, service delivery, and staff.
Survey responses also suggest that when there is a Needless to say, the modalities in which CMS are
lack of communication between the education and delivered vary according to context and sector. CMS
the employment sectors, CMS policy is unlikely to content in education settings, for instance, can be
be successfully implemented. But the formal estab- taught across the curriculum or as a separate subject;
lishment of a communication platform between the it can be provided by external guidance practitioners,
different sectors, while necessary, is not sufficient of school counsellors and/or by teachers. Regardless of
itself to guarantee the success of CMS policy imple- the mode of provision, however, it is important that
mentation. It is therefore important to identify the guidance practitioners have sound knowledge of the
key players, as who pushes the reform can have an subject, and have been properly trained. It is also
impact on how implementation unfolds, if it does important that the CMS programmes are developed
so at all. Key players include policy makers, policy on the basis of careful research. Those countries
practitioners, experts, and researchers; their influ- that reported successful CMS policy implementation
ence varies on their profile (e.g. low/middle/high- confirmed that such success depended on having all
level officials, obscure/representative practitioners), three core elements in place: sound content, profes-
which sector these actors come from, and whether sional service delivery, and well-trained staff.
their contribution to the communication platform is
more or less action-orientated. 6. Monitoring of the CMS policy
implementation process
4. CMS policy design and implementation as
both a short- and long-term process that is Practically all the respondents of the survey
planned and gradual highlighted the fact that the success of CMS policy
implementation relies on adequate evaluation and
Pace is another important issue that has to be monitoring of each step of the process. Continuous
addressed when considering the success of CMS evaluation is therefore at the heart of policy imple-
policy implementation. Most of the survey respon- mentation, given the number of challenges that nec-
dents expressed themselves in favour of gradual and essarily arise in transforming ideas into action.
incremental implementation of CMS policy. The pro- Annexes
cess, however, has to be continuous and sustained. 7. Conclusion
Those steering the implementation process have
important decisions to make as to when to speed up This study has suggested that the success of CMS
or slow down the pace. They also need to work with policy implementation depends on a number of

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