In the Benin Health example, the Ministry of Health gave the local health management committees decisionmaking power and control over resources. The committee is directly involved in preparing the health center's annual budget for submission to the ministry. It is responsible for collecting and accounting for funds paid to the health center for services and drugs and also manages the procurement and inventory of drugs. Representatives of local committees serve on the board of the government's new drug procurement agency and on the government's central Health Sector Coordinating Committee, giving them a voice in national policy. Each community is required to provide a building as a school for its children.
Parents elect school board members for three-year terms.
School board members, who are legally authorized to manage the schools, work with the Ministry of Education to establish annual budgets for the schools. Once the ministry transfers the agreed-on amount of money to the boards' bank accounts, the boards recruit, select, hire, pay, and manage the teachers and curricula. The boards and the teachers jointly allocate funds for teaching materials. Each local board monitors teacher performance and, if necessary, takes the necessary steps to fire teachers for whom poor performance or absenteeism is a problem. About 25 percent of schools in El Salvador now have such arrangements in their schools.