This is the first issue
of the ADEA Newsletter devoted entirely to what has been called the
"heart and soul" of ADEA. It focuses on what the ADEA Working
Groups have achieved in 1998. It also provides contact information
for those interested in knowing more about their activities. Because
of the growing importance of the Working Groups in ADEA and the experience
they have developed over time, increased coverage of Working Group
activities will be given in the future in the ADEA Newsletter.
ADEA's Working Groups
have been called the "heart and soul" of ADEA. This is related
to the central role accorded to professionalism in ADEA. Clearly,
educational issues have their political dimensions, where opinions
need to be expressed. However, what characterizes ADEA's tripartite
partnership - consisting of African Ministers of Education (the policy-makers);
their external financing and technical partners (the agencies); and
professionals working on education in Africa (the Working Groups)
- is the belief that the most fruitful way for these constituencies
to work together for the development of education in Africa is to
do so on the basis of solid, professional understandings of the issues.
ADEA's professional grounding comes from the Working Groups.
The Working Groups are
engaged in three types of activities: advocacy work, analytical work,
and capacity-building. They are quite autonomous, with each one operating
according to its specific institutional environment and programmatic
needs. Also, due to their specific histories and configurations, they
are at different levels of development and maturity. Currently, Working
Group "leadership" and "coordination" are assured
by an "agency" (this term includes Ministries of Education
and development agencies). Although "led" by an agency,
some Working Groups are "coordinated" (i.e., the implementation
of their activities) by another body, in most cases an African institution.
At present, there are
eleven working groups. They are (with the lead and coordinating agencies
in brackets) are: Books and Learning Materials
(British Department for International Development); Distance Education/Open
Learning (Ministry of Education, Mauritius); Early Childhood Development
(Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Finance
and Education (Canadian International Development Agency; implemented
by CODESRIA, based in Dakar); Education Statistics
(Swedish International Development Authority, implemented by UNESCO/Harare);
Education Sector Analysis (UNESCO); Education
Research and Policy Analysis (International Development Research Centre);
Female Participation in Education (Rockefeller
Foundation); The Teaching Profession (Commonwealth Secretariat for
the Anglophone section and the French Ministry
of Foreign Affairs for the Francophone section);
Higher Education (World Bank); and, Non
Formal Education (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,
in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNESCO and the
Club du Sahel).
Eight of the current Working
Groups were established in the first 3-5 years of ADEA's (then DAE
- Donors to African Education) existence. The themes for these Working
Groups were defined largely by the issues identified in the World
Bank's seminal 1998 study Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies
for Adjustment, Revitalization, and Expansion - the same document
that provided the initial mandate for DAE. Three of the Working Groups
(Distance Education/Open Learning, Early Childhood Development, and
Non Formal Education) have been established in the past three years.
This is the first annual
issue of the ADEA Newsletter devoted to all the Working Groups. Other
issues will continue to focus on individual Working Groups, with updates
on all Working Groups' activities. The growing maturity of the Working
Groups and their importance in ADEA argues in favor of increased coverage
of their activities in the Newsletter.
Building professsional
networks
The articles that follow
demonstrate a number of points the Working Groups have in common.
For one, many Working Groups are building professional networks and
communities around their respective topics. This has led to the sharing
of expertise and experts between countries, thereby improving the
availability of cost-effective Technical assistance" with proven
knowledge and experience in the African context. The following articles
demonstrate several examples of this. Working with the African Publishers'
Network (APNET), the Books and Learning Materials Working Group is
building a cadre of African book development specialists. Through
its regular meetings and shared work programs, the Statistics Working
Group is providing an example of the sort of professional socialization
that develops into a professional community, which should help bring
about improvements in the quality of the technical work, in the development
of sustainable capacities and in the creation of international standards
in statistics. Both sections of the Teaching Profession Working Group
have actively promoted intra-African sharing of expertise. The Female
Participation Working Group has built extensive advocacy and research
networks aiming at promoting educational opportunities for girls.
Increasing coordination
Another point that emerges
is the increased levels of multi-dimensional coordination between
the Working Groups and, through them, between Ministries of Education,
between agencies and between Ministries and agencies. The Books Working
Group, for example, is working with the Statistics and the Female
Participation Working Groups. All Working Groups involve numerous
ministries and agencies, thereby promoting consensus around their
respective issues. For example, the Higher Education Working Group
operates closely with the Association of African Universities and
the Female Participation Working Group incorporates the Forum for
African Women Educationalists (FAWE). Increasingly, Working Group
meetings are attended by members of other Working Groups.
Disseminating results
and experience
It is in this context
that the more mature Working Groups are emphasizing the dissemination
of their work. This is a sign that a number of them have reached a
stage of maturity where this has become necessary. Three Working Groups
now have internet web sites (Statistics, Sector Analysis, Non Formal
Education), and three have their own newsletters (Sector Analysis,
Non Formal Education, Teaching Profession). Furthermore, in order
to provide more readily available access to all sorts of information
on Working Groups, the ADEA Secretariat is developing a computerized
database that will include extensive information on the Working Groups'
activities, contact people, products and outcomes (see
article in this issue). Once completed, this database will be
distributed to Ministries of Education and agencies. At a later stage,
it will be put on the ADEA's Web Site.
Much of the strength of
the Working Groups comes from their focus on the issues, their professionalism,
their pragmatism, their broad-based memberships, their flexibility,
and their networking. It is clear that they have "come of age".
For this reason, the Newsletter will provide increased information
on their activities and their accomplishments.
Richard
Sack
ADEA Executive Secretary
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