1999 Prospective, Stock-Taking Review of Education in Africa
Africa's education systems aren't just full of problems and failures.
There are also valuable experiences worth learning from and sharing. Since
1998, ADEA has initiated the Prospective, Stock-Taking Review of Education
in Africa, an ongoing process that engages Ministries of Education across
Africa to look back, assess, and analyze what has worked in their countries.
This exercise has produced a rich stock of experiences, taken from the work
of 25 country teams and five ADEA Working Groups, that will help countries
build on past and present accomplishments.
The synthesis document
of the Prospective, Stock-Taking Review and the following reports,
classified by country and Working Group are now available online.
Country
Working Group
Identifying Effective Responses to HIV/AIDS
At the 1999 Biennial Meeting in Johannesburg, ADEA committed itself
to undertake activities in the area of HIV/AIDS and education. Using the approach
of the Prospective, Stock-Taking Review
of Education in Africa which focuses on assets and positive experiences,
all Ministers of Education were invited in April 2000 to identify and analyze
promising approaches and interventions in the education system that address
the problems and issues caused by the epidemic.
Case studies could cover either (i) the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education
sector and its implications for sector management (mainly, in terms of its
effects on teachers, students, financing, management, etc), or (ii) ways by
which the education sector can respond to the challenges of HIV/AIDS through
the transmission of appropriate information, knowledge, skills, and values
(the curricular challenge).
Activities
One year since the initial invitation letter, 32 Ministries have expressed
their interest to participate in the initiative. With 10 of them (Burkina
Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zanzibar), ADEA has agreed on the topic and methodology of the case study.
Seven other countries are close to signing an agreement (Angola, Burundi,
Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Togo). Below is an overview of participating
countries and the selected themes.
Seminars to assess progress of case studies
As with the Prospective Review, one essential component of the HIV/AIDS
initiative is to invite country teams to seminars to discuss the progress
of the case studies. The objectives of the seminars are: (i) to assist the
study teams in completing the studies through peer review and expert advice;
and (ii) to exchange experiences. The first seminar, with 8 West African countries,
took place in Ghana, in March 2001, in connection with a UNESCO meeting on
HIV/AIDS and education for ECOWAS countries. A seminar for countries in Southern
and Eastern Africa is scheduled for July 2001, in Swaziland.
Findings
Although it is too early to draw any conclusions, one finding is that all
but one of the case studies focus on curriculum approaches to fight the epidemic,
rather than on the management and system-survival challenges. Ghana is the
only exception, describing the process of developing their strategic plan
for HIV/AIDS interventions in the education sector. Only recently have Ministries
started programs to manage the impact of the epidemic on their education systems.
The discussions of the first seminar suggested that the following three
approaches may enhance the impact of HIV/AIDS programmes: (i) use of adolescent
peer groups to diffuse and develop appropriate knowledge, skills and values
throughout the age group; (ii) including HIV/AIDS in the school curriculum,
and providing relevant and attractive didactic materials to both teachers
and pupils, and (iii) the involvement of NGOs in designing and implementing
HIV/AIDS education programmes.
Themes and Topics by Participating Country
COUNTRY
|
THEME
|
TOPIC
|
| Angola |
Educational
Programs |
Evaluation of the Population and Family Life Education
program at primary schools |
| Burkina Faso |
Educational
Programs |
Assessment of the experimental program to involve the whole
village of Gaoua in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and STDs |
| Burundi |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of on-going HIV/AIDS programs; this process will
be followed by an analysis of one or more promising experiences |
| Congo |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of on-going HIV/AIDS programs; this process will
be followed by an analysis of one or more promising experiences |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
Educational
Programs |
Assessment of the impact of the anti-HIV/AIDS clubs at schools,
which exist for both students and for teachers |
| Ghana |
System
Management |
Documenting the process and politics of formulating the Strategic
Plan for HIV/AIDS in the Education Sector |
| Guinée |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of on-going HIV/AIDS programs; this process will
be followed by an analysis of one or more promising experiences |
| Liberia |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of on-going HIV/AIDS programs; this process will
be followed by an analysis of one or more promising experiences |
| Mali |
Educational
Programs |
Assessment of the impact of three initiatives: (i) Education
and Family Life Education, (ii) AIDS leaflets and (iii) anti-AIDS clubs |
| Namibia |
Educational
Programs |
Assessment of the impact of the My Future is My Choice
and other HIV/AIDS programs |
| Niger |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of on-going HIV/AIDS programs; this process will
be followed by an analysis of one or more promising experiences, especially
those concerning anti-AIDS clubs |
| Senegal |
Educational
Programs |
Evalutation of HIV/AIDS related activities in the areas of
(i) training, (ii) information dissemination/awareness raising, and (iii)
production of learning materials |
| Swaziland |
Educational
Programs |
Assessment of the impact of the HIV/AIDS School Intervention
program |
| Tanzania |
Educational
Programs |
Evaluation of the TANESA School Program in Mwanza region |
| Togo |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of on-going HIV/AIDS programs; this process will
be followed by an analysis of one or more promising experiences |
| Uganda |
Educational
Programs |
Inventory of completed interventions with the aim to analyze
what has been successful |
| Zanzibar |
Educational
Programs |
Assessment of the impact of the School Health Clubs
program |
