The Use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in Measuring the Relative Efficiency of Secondary Schools at Al-Qadisiyah Province-Iraq

Abstract

This study aims at measuring the relative efficiency of secondary public school at Al- Qadisiyah province-Iraq for the academic year (2014-2015), by using Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) according to VRS. Using the size of schools, the number of teachers and number of classrooms as inputs, and the number of students successful as output. The results concluded that Alfaliq, Albashir, Alfirdus and Al- Shamia parapartory schools have achieved full efficiency, and Alfaliq is a reference school for inefficient schools in the Al-Qadisiyah province, while Albashir, Alfirdus, and Shamia are references to most of the inefficiency schools in the Al-Qadisiyah province. The study has found that there are wastes by 21% in the use of inputs of schools in this province, where its efficiency average 79%, while the scale efficiency has indicated the possibility of expansion in the schools of this province by 14% until the size and economic optimum is achieved. Also, 19% of the schools in the province suffer from a significant increase in the number of students admitted, and 77% of those schools do not reach the optimum economic size, which reached only 5% of those schools. The results indicate that the schools in Al-Qadisiyah province to reach the current number of successful students and achieve full efficiency, it should reduce the input of students enrolled from 22848 to 12582 students, or 45%, and the number of teachers from 1631 to 968 teachers, or 41% and classrooms from 565 to 438 Hall, or 22%. Therefore, the decision maker’s in school administrations, which do not achieve the efficiency required by studying the reasons that lead to the order to know the weaknesses in their inputs to be able to exploit the resources available to it well by comparing these inputs with those in reference to them. In addition, a political educational must be drawing process of accepting students in school in the province scheduled so ensure that students assemble in a school without the other, and in the area without the other, as well as planning for the establishment of new schools or the expansion of old schools, especially in the districts and areas of the province to accommodate the growing numbers of students. Key words: Al-Qadisiyah Province, Efficiency, DEA, Scale Efficiency, Peers Schools.